Activities lined up to commemorate al-Nakba

Peace for Life, in line with the call of the 2007 Amman conference on “Justice for Palestine”, enjoins its network to sustain participation in the worldwide action for solidarity with the Palestinian people through activities marking the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (2008).

PfL stands on the conviction that anyone who still believes in justice must undertake some form of action to remind the world that for millions of Palestinians, in the homeland and among the diaspora, justice has not been served and victimisation continues to this day. Such response is both urgent and imperative given the gravity of the injustice inflicted on the Palestinians, in which dispossession and occupation had been legally sanctioned by the international community.

The international conference in Amman and the accompanying mission were but initial steps to address the Palestine issue. PfL is moving forward to organising similar activities on regional or sub-regional levels. A conference on Palestinian advocacy is being planned for South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) to be held in India later this year. National initiatives are also being encouraged.

In the Philippines, where there is an active mass movement for social justice, it is essential to view the issues of Palestine and that of the Philippines as part and parcel of the same struggle, and establish the inexorable link between the roots of oppression that victimise both the Filipino people and the Palestinians. The struggle against the late-day global empire requires the recognition of the necessity for international action.

Philippine support for the Palestinian struggle through various undertakings is being planned as a sustained effort; long-term activities will include the formation of solidarity groups in various schools and churches. To facilitate the formation of such groups and to contextualise the Palestinian issue within the local resistance to empire and the suffering it engenders, PfL is organising a Philippine conference on Palestine to be held in cooperation with academic institutions sometime in July or August.

Also being planned is the holding of a week-long film festival on Palestine that will target the general film-going public and feature award winning feature films and documentaries.

Planned activities in specific areas

PHILIPPINES

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, the PfL Secretariat has called on the cooperation of existing sectoral organisations and NGOs to participate in the activities.

May 23 - A pre-scheduled programme organised by an alliance dedicated to children’s education, well being, and welfare is gathering some 300 children mostly from poor communities, internal refugees, and children of victims of extra-judicial killings. The gathering was initially meant to call to attention the condition of children in the Philippines, and at the same time make the children themselves aware of the national issues primarily the worsening corruption and moral bankruptcy of the current Philippine administration.

PfL is joining in. The activity will now include film showing and story telling about the children of Palestine. This group of Filipino children will be introduced to the children of Palestine for the first time. Activities for the children will include making greeting cards or drawings meant for the children in Gaza and the West Bank. (Reproduction of the art works will be framed for exhibition in selected places) also the children will be encouraged to write a letters (to Palestinian children, the United Nations, UNICEF). This is a full-day affair.

A press conference will also be held.

June 7 – A half-day gathering dubbed as “Youth Café” organised by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) Youth Program is another pre-scheduled activity where the issue of Palestine is being added to the original agenda. This is an informal gathering of young people where serious discussions of peace issues are complemented by singing and jamming, a sort of “hanging around” with social relevance. Participants include youth groups from NCCP member churches, the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP), International Movement of Catholic Students - Asia Pacific (IMCS-AP), and the Interfaith Youth Network of the Religions for Peace-Asia.

June 7 – To be held in the early evening (back-to back with the “Youth Café”), a prayer-vigil in response to the WCC International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel (ICAPPI) call to join the advocacy initiative for the Nakba anniversary. The Philippine activity is being organised by PfL, NCCP, and the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF). This will be a public event that will draw in from various organisations. The prayer-vigil will revolve around the reading of the “Prayer from Jerusalem,” prepared by the heads of churches in Jerusalem and the action week message “It’s Time for Palestine” both distributed by WCC. Some revisions will be made on the prayer to be more inclusive of other (non-Christian) faiths. The PfL “Pledge of Commitment: People of Faith in Solidarity with Palestine in Struggle” will also be presented. The gathering will end with candle lighting.

The NCCP has distributed the prayer to all its member churches with the request that it be used in the Sunday service on 8 June 2008.

Additional information on the WCC ICAPPI can be found at www.oikoumene.org

INDIA

From Mumbai, the participants to PfL Peace Pilgrimage and Solidarity Mission to Palestine/Israel have formed India-Palestine people’s solidarity forum on 22nd April. Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi joined the forum as a convenor. A press conference was held to announce the group’s participation in the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) action.

Scheduled activities by the newly organised Forum include the following:

May 9 – Seminar on Palestine

May 14 – Public meeting on the issue of the 60th anniversary of Nakba

Also being planned are film showings to various colleges on Palestine followed by discussions around them and a film festival on the Palestine issue. The group is also looking forward to expanding the Forum to include other parts of India.

SOUTH AFRICA

A national conference on Palestine is being planned this year. An initiative of PfL partners and Palestine mission participants from South Africa, it is one of the initial steps to open a serious discourse on the analyses and concerns raised by the “Amman Pledge of Commitment.” The national initiative is also envisaged as part of PfL’s movement-building as a South-driven and South-based, interfaith solidarity formation.

Related report:

Filipinos remember 60th year of the Palestine Nakbah