NEW YORK, Tuesday, May 16, 2023 (WAFA) - In the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas, the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People organized last night a special event and concert in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe) in the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York.
The event was attended by the Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador Cheikh Niang, the delegation accompanying the President, representatives of the Palestinian community in the United States of America, and a number of ambassadors and representatives of countries, agencies and organizations of the United Nations.
The event began with the presentation of several televised reports by the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed by an Israeli soldier while reporting on an army assault on Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank on May 11 of last year, as well as visual materials showing the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, including demolition, displacement and settlement, the situation of refugees and their camps and their hope for return, and the shooting of children and boys, arresting them, and causing permanent disabilities in their bodies due to shooting them with internationally prohibited bullets.
Niang opened the event, welcoming President Abbas, noting that the Committee is organizing this event for the first time at the headquarters of the United Nations General Assembly.
He said 1948 was a pivotal year in the history of the Palestinian people. It was the beginning of exile for millions of refugees, and the beginning of the eradication of entire families from their homes and lands. Currently, the Palestinian people are still suffering from continuous occupation and settlement, and the Nakba continues.
He added, "The Nakba marks the beginning of the historic struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and justice, a struggle that inspired and continues to inspire millions of people around the world. Rather, every day reminds us of those who suffered during the Nakba, as well as their descendants, and takes us on a journey of memories and steadfastness."
And he continued: "In 2023, we will still support the Palestinians to reach a permanent and just solution to their cause and their right to self-determination and independence in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions."
The President of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chaba Croce, said, "One of the first major tasks of the United Nations is to seek a just solution to the conflict in the Middle East for 75 years, as the question of Palestine remained unresolved on the agenda of the General Assembly."
He added, "Those who preceded us believed that during their lives they would witness the settlement of the conflict and the return to peace under the olive trees, and as a young diplomat in the region for decades, I never thought that I would find myself presiding over the General Assembly in the year 2023 with the same open files on my desk and without any horizon to close it. The fact is that I never thought that we would be farther today from the two-state solution than we were then. We are already appalled by the prolonged violence and acute tensions to a degree not seen in years, as it undermines the possibility of realizing our common aspirations of two peoples with enormous potential, living in peace and harmony and ending decades of violence. bitter conflict and the suffering of civilians on both sides.”
He continued, "We gather today to acknowledge and stand at pain and patience, but we gather often to celebrate hope, determination and steadfastness, just like the olive tree in a barren land. Millions of Palestinians have embodied patience, determination and steadfastness."
The Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said: "On the land of heavenly messages to mankind, on the land of Palestine, the Palestinian Arab people were born, grew, developed, and created their human and national existence through an organic and inseparable relationship between the land, the people, and history, with these opening words. The Palestinian Declaration of Independence expressed the Palestinian people's attachment to their land. Palestine was found to remain from eternity and forever.”
He added: "At a time when the world was formulating the Charter of the United Nations and adopting international conventions, the Palestinian people were deprived of their rights stipulated in those charters, and Israel 75 years ago displaced the majority of our people by force of arms. Attempts to forcefully displace our people, uproot them from their land, and strip them of their identity continue until now."
Mansour continued: "Holding this event at the United Nations headquarters, with all that this place symbolizes and with a UN resolution for the first time in the history of this organization, constitutes a long-awaited recognition of the historical injustice that befell the Palestinian people and continues to this day, and a clear expression of the need to put an end to it and embody their right in the land of Palestine, including the right of our people to self-determination and return, to the independence of their state with Jerusalem as its capital, and to live in freedom and dignity on their land.”
Mansour thanked everyone who supported the General Assembly's resolution on the Nakba and everyone who contributed to the commemoration and organization of this international event.
He said: "This anniversary comes when our Palestinian people are facing attempts to repeat the Nakba, and are suffering from a prolonged occupation, oppression and aggression, including against our people in the besieged Gaza Strip," adding: "This occupation must be ended and the resolutions of international legitimacy that have been adopted by a large number of people must be implemented in this room and by the international community as a whole.”
He continued: "Palestine is a land with a people, a living people who derived from it and crystallized its identity, civilization and culture, the culture of pluralism and tolerance, and Palestine remained present in the conscience of every Palestinian wherever he is, and from generation to generation our Palestinian people did not stop defending their land and rights and did not forget the right of their land. He did not lose his firm belief in the justice of his cause, and he did not and will not forget everyone who stood beside him in support of him.”
Mansour concluded his speech: "Our Palestinian people today, in all their places of residence, commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, and all free people commemorate this memory with us, and they demand with us the implementation of what the United Nations and its Charter have recognized as an inherent right for all peoples. We do not ask for more and we will not accept less."
Excerpts from the movie Al-Tantura were shown, documenting testimonies of soldiers who committed the Al-Tantura massacre, 24 km south of Haifa, which took place on the night of May 22-23, 1948, and claimed the lives of 230 people who were buried in mass graves on the village beach. Today, a resort and a parking garage stand over the bodies of the dead.
It also included traditional and patriotic songs of the Palestinian artist, Sana Moussa, "The Ambassador of Palestinian Heritage." Palestinian singer Nassim al-Atrash, a cellist and composer who was nominated for the 2023 Grammy Music Awards, performed a piece about the Nakba, titled “Bright Colors on a Dark Canvas,” accompanied by the New York Arab Orchestra, conducted by four Grammy Award-winning Eugene Friesen.
This event comes within the framework of the Committee's commemoration, with the assistance of the Palestinian Rights Division, of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba at the organization's headquarters in New York. For the first time in the history of the United Nations, this memory was commemorated according to a mandate granted by the General Assembly in a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 30, 2022, in which it requested the Division for Palestinian Rights, in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, dedicate its activities to “celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing a high-level event in the General Assembly Hall on 15 May 2023 and by publishing relevant archives and testimonies.”
The event was preceded by a high-level special meeting, chaired by the Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Ambassador Cheikh Niang. It included an important and historic speech by President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as speeches by the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, and representatives of regional groups and civil society.
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