Tuesday, December 12, 11:00 AM EDT

We are drawing close to Christmas and the end of the year! While we will not pause in our activism for Gaza and all of Palestine, this week's webinar will be the last of this year. We have big changes coming in 2024. Stay tuned! And our webinar this week is a special session, run by 7amleh.

Urgent Actions - You can always find our most recent urgent actions on Action page of the website.

Next Online Gathering - Week 50 - Workshop - Securing Privacy and Digital Safety in Emergencies, Wars, and Crises 

Full information on the gathering is here.

Zoom Meeting: Meeting Registration - Zoom (There might be a quick registration form, and please set an alarm for yourself for Tuesday.) 

Remember, if you'd like to receive a reminder about the gathering an hour before it begins, please use the registration form at the bottom of the page.

This Week's Entry - December 11 is the anniversary of the passage of U.N. Resolution 194 in 1948. It stated, “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.” You can read the full resolution here. Then, read this week's Kumi Now entry and get involved:

 Kumi Week #50: Right of Return

Week 50 of Kumi Now is now available on the website. Over 5 million Palestinians (first-generation refugees and their descendants) are recorded as displaced persons as a result of the Nakba (the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948). During and following the 1948 war, more than 600 Palestinian localities were depopulated and destroyed and over 800,000 Palestinians were dispossessed. Furthermore, another 250,000 Palestinians were forced from their native lands and homes, becoming internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Israel. The majority of the internally displaced refugees still live within a few kilometers from their former villages, while a majority of the Palestinian refugees in the neighboring Arab countries still live within 100 kilometers of the border to Israel and are denied the right to return to their homes.

Please read the essay on the Right of Return along with the story of Lubya Village. And here are some facts for you:

• Understanding the Right of Return. Just the facts... 

  • In 1948 over 1 million Palestinians, 73.2% of the native Palestinian Arab population, became refugees or IDPs.

  • More than half were driven out under direct military assault, while others fled after hearing of massacres committed in Palestinian towns such as Deir Yassin, Ad Dawayima, Eilaboun, Saliha, and Lydda.

  • More than 400 Palestinian cities and towns were systematically destroyed by Zionist and Israeli forces, while Jewish immigrants were quickly moved into Palestinian homes that remained.

  • In December 1948 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194, which states, "refugees wishing to return to their homes…should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date” and calls for compensation to those that choose not to return and for damage to property.

  • The Palestinian right of return has repeatedly been confirmed by the UN General Assembly.

  • There are now at least 6.6 million refugees and 427,000 internally displaced persons, 67% of the Palestinian population as a whole.

  • More than 4.6 million Palestinian refugees live in camps in Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon.

  • An additional 60,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank due to home demolitions, revocation of residency rights, construction of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian owned-land, the construction of Israel's Apartheid Wall.

  • Palestinian refugees are the largest and longest-standing population of displaced persons in the world.

  • In the over 70 years of Palestinian displacement, the UN has successfully repatriated refugees in numerous other conflicts, including Bosnia/Kosovo, Abkhazia/Georgia, Cyprus, Namibia/South Africa, and Iraq/Kuwait.

These are some of the rights as enumerated by the UDHR that are most violated by Israel’s occupation of Palestine.   

Learning More - To learn more you can read “Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return” from American Friends Service Committee. And we have a playlist of related videos on YouTube.

To register for the Online Gathering: Meeting Registration - Zoom

Background info: Week 50: Right of Return – KUMI NOW

See the full Kumi Now email for additional info, actions and resources Kumi Now - Week 50: Right of Return (sendibm1.com)