May 12, 2009, Jerusalem, Israel: Palestinian and Israeli human rights activists are gathering this week to mark the 61st anniversary of the Naqba (“day of catastrophe”) on May 15.

The term is used by Palestinians to describe the expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of Israel in 1948. During the first Israeli-Arab war, more than 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed. Of the roughly 150,000 Palestinians who remained in the area that became Israel, tens of thousands were internally displaced.

On the 61st anniversary of the Naqba, Palestinian refugees are still unable to exercise their basic human right to return to their homes.

The Alternative Information Center (AIC), a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization and partner of The Advocacy Project, is commemorating the Naqba with a series of events this week at the AICafe in Beit Sahour, from 7 to 11 pm:

May 12: Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights will give a speech about Palestinian refugee issues and right of return in the peace process.

May 16: Three generations of refugees from Aida Refugee Camp will share their own experiences and perceptions of the Naqba and the right of return.

May 19: Discussion with members of Zochrot (“Remembering”), a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Naqba and make it accessible to the Israeli public. A reading, with music, of poems and pieces from different experiences of resistance will follow.

In addition, from May 9-19, the art exibition “Good Morning Yafa” by Yusef Katalo, with paintings about the Naqba and the right of return, will be shown at the AICafe.