Sunday, July 06, 2008
An Apology Does Not Erase the Crime Committed in 1948
AN APOLOGY DOES NOT ERASE THE CRIME COMMITTED IN 1948
I was born in Acre and my mother was born in Acre.
My father was born in Sakhnin and my grandparents were born in Sakhnin.
I own the lands that my father and my grandfather left for me in Sakhnin.
While you accept any Jew from any where in the globe to come and live in Acre and/or Sakhnin, you want to prevent me from living in my own city and on my own lands. No one has a right to prevent me and the remaining Palestinian Refugees from returning to live in any part of Palestine and to get back the lands that were stolen from them in 1948.
An apology by the Israeli Prime Minister, as suggested by you, does not erase the ethnic cleansing crime committed in 1948. Acceptance of the Right of Return is the only criterion that opens the road for peace and reconciliation.
Nizar Sakhnini, 5 July 2008