umkahlil

I quoted from Ziad Abbas' very moving and inspiring "The Nakba Generation," in response to t "We Believe in Miracles," jointly written by British Seth Freedman, who immigrated to Israel recently from Britain and Asim Sidiqqui, who, according to the Guardian's profile is "a Muslim member of the Iraq Commission and the International Institute for Strategic Studies."

They write: "As part of the two-state solution, Israel needs to cease its occupation of all lands occupied since 1967 and remove all illegal settlements. Palestinians need to accept that resistance is over, and forgo, in return for reparations, their right to return to pre-1967 Israel. This requires agreement between all sides, including Hamas. " [bold is mine]

Most of the reader responses (Palestinians where are you?) to the joint post are positive and do not reflect the majority sentiment of Palestinians worldwide.

An excerpt that I just read this morning in Ziad Abbas' "The Nakba Generation" was perfect:

"Last month US President George W. Bush visited Palestine for some last minute negotiations before he leaves the White House. He came very close to my camp when he went to visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Once again, he denied Palestinian refugees the right of return. He doesn't realize how deeply the Palestinian refugees are committed to this right. He never met my uncle or the hundreds of children who learned strength, and commitment for the right of return from their elders. My uncle's generation handed their keys to the next generation, which has passed them on the next generation still. My mom passed away twenty years ago. She asked me to move her remains to the village when we go back. Those remaining from the Nakba generation are finally leaving. Instead of dreaming to live in their homeland, they dream of being buried there. Their children, such as myself and the next generation, the children who were born and play in the streets and dance in Ibdaa, now carry the heavy keys to their family homes, they carry on the struggle for their rights, and their dream to return home."

And I prefaced it: Neither Seth nor Asim nor anyone else may with a flourish of a pen may abnegate one's individual and inalienable right to return to one's home. From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

photo credit: