The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is holding an International conference entitled “The Ongoing Nakba”. The conference will highlight the different mechanisms which Israel deploys in maintaining the ongoing expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians.
The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) is holding an International
conference entitled “The Ongoing Nakba”. The conference will highlight the different mechanisms which Israel deploys in maintaining the ongoing expulsion and dispossession of Palestinians. It will take place on 15th of January 2011, at Brunei Gallery, SOAS University from 10am to 5pm.
The conference will make the case that the Nakba is a real and
contemporary issue and not simply an event in Palestinian history.
A key argument made is that the goals and aspirations of the Zionist project did not end with the founding of Israel but has continued to this day. One of the main consequences of this is an Ongoing Nakba where Palestinians continue to be displaced, expelled and ethnically cleansed from their home and land in Palestine with their right of return denied.
A universal theme will be identified that combines the first Nakba
with the ongoing Nakba. That is Israel’s desire for more land without the indigenous Palestinians and its drive to Judaise Jerusalem. It will provide an historical look at the early phase of the Zionist project outlining its ideological aspirations and what they entail. The historical origins of the Nakba will be followed by a number of presentations on the different mechanisms that are used to continue the Nakba.
Renowned academics, politicians, and activists will participate in the event. Professor Salman Abu Sitta, Palestinian researcher who writes about Palestinian refugees and Palestinian right to return to Palestine and Professor Nur Masalha, Professor of Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History and the Holy Land Research Project at St. Mary’s University College will take part in the conference.
Also, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Head of Palestinian Initiative Movement and, Dr Phyllis Starkey, a Former British Labour party politician; ex-British member of Parliament will be engaged in conference sessions.
Dr Hosam Hafez, Head of Political Section Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement and international human rights activist, and Ben White, a freelance journalist and writer specialising in Palestine/Israel will participate in the event.
A number of topics will be presented to cover, Birth of the Nakba, the impact of Israeli laws in creating more refugees, House Demolitions and ongoing creation of refugees, how the Wall has made more Palestinians into refugees and denied access to their land, how settlements create more refugees and The impact of the policy of Judaisation and eviction from Jerusalem.
Added to this will be a session outlining the legal rights of Palestinians and the most effective ways to campaign for these rights.
The conference will mark the beginning of the 2nd Palestine Memorial week in the United Kingdom and Europe. The annual one-week event will be held from the 15th to the 22nd January 2011. The event commemorates the memory of Palestinian victims of the Nakba since 1948 until now.
General Director of the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), Majed al
zeer, believes that the “conference is a unique event bringing together distinguished academics, politicians, journalists, researchers and activists who will provide clarity and insight amidst the confusion”.
PRC is an independent consultancy focusing on the historical, political and legal aspects of the Palestinian Refugees. The organisation offers expert advice to various actors and agencies on the question of Palestinian Refugees within the context of the Nakhba
– The catastrophe following the forced displacement of Palestinians in 1948 – and serves as an information repository on other related aspects of the Palestine question and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It specialises in the research, analysis, and monitor of issues pertaining to the dispersed Palestinians and their internationally recognised legal right to return.
Admission and Participation is free. For further details contact us.
Palestinian Return Centre, 100H Crown House, North Circular Road, London NW10 7PN, Tel: +44 20 84530919, Fax: +44 20 84530994, website: www.prc.org.uk, email: info@prc.org.uk