Al-Awda convention highlights Palestinian right of return

By: Nasser Faris Marking 60 years of forced exile The Sixth International Al-Awda Convention took place in Anaheim, Calif., from May 16 to May 18. The event marked the 60th anniversary of al-Nakba ("The Catastrophe"). Al-Nakba marks the creation of the racist state of Israel and the violent expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land.

Al-Awda demonstration demanding the Palestinian right of return. Photo: Raymond White

Many hundreds of people from across the United States and other parts of the globe attended the event. Featured speakers came from all over the world, including Europe and Palestine.

The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation participated in and co-sponsored the convention, which called for the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland. A large group of ANSWER delegates and PSL members participated in workshops, lectures and discussions, film screenings, and a protest rally.

The event was held as Gaza endures a U.S.-backed Israeli siege and finds itself cut off from basic supplies, including food, gas, electricity and medical supplies. The populations of Gaza and the West Bank face frequent Israeli military assaults.

The ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians was addressed and condemned numerous times. Speakers also unanimously supported the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland and emphasized the inevitability of creating a secular, democratic state in historic Palestine.

The convention opened on May 16 with a powerful and as yet unreleased documentary. "The Sons of Eilaboun" includes the testimony of refugees who witnessed the massacre, point-blank slaughter and forced eviction of the sons and daughters of the village of Eilaboun. Their accounts provided evidence of the brutality, inhumanity, and illegal foundation of the Zionist entity created by imperialist British and Western forces aiding and abetting Zionist gangs. There was also a dramatic staged reading of some 1948 refugee testimony.

Richard Becker, West Coast regional coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, gave a rousing speech endorsing the continued Palestinian struggle for national liberation. Becker criticized the imperialist bias against Arab and Palestinian Arab populations in particular, citing President Bush's and Congressional leaders' visits to the Zionist state on the day of al-Nakba, while ignoring the Palestinian people living under occupation or in the refugee camps.

The evening of May 16 concluded with a lecture by Ilan Pappe, professor of history at Exeter University in London, who presented some hard evidence compiled in his most recent book, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine." This book documents the forced expulsion and massacre of Palestinians and the destruction of over 550 Arab villages to create the colonial settler state of Israel.

Toward a unified Palestine

May 17 began with a number of workshops and discussion topics including "Youth organizing for the return," "Prisoner campaign" and "Culture and resistance," led by Ziad Abbas from the Dheisha refugee camp, Dr. Anan Odeh, and former L.A. 8 defendant Michel Shehadeh, respectively.

A lecture by keynote speaker Dr. Salman Abu Sitta discussed al-Nakba and how to work toward implementing the right of return. Prof. Saree Makdisi and Dr. Ghada Karmi spoke about the necessity and inevitability of a one-state solution for Palestine. A heated discussion followed, which included many of the participants in the convention.

Dr. As'ad Abu Khalil later discussed how U.S. imperialism has attempted to divide the Palestinian people only to be confronted by greater resistance and struggle toward the right of return and one state for all of Palestine.

Dr. Haneen Zoabi, from the Tajamu' al-Watani al-Dimuqrati Party inside the 1948 borders of historic Palestine, also spoke about the hypocritical lie promoted in the West, especially in the United States, that Israel is a democracy. Palestinian citizens living within the Zionist state are blatantly discriminated against in all areas of life and do not receive the same treatment or benefits as Jewish citizens. At an ANSWER forum two days earlier, Zoabi had stressed the necessity of creating a unified leadership to strengthen the Palestinian struggle.

The evening ended with a banquet dinner honoring keynote speakers Archbishop Atallah Hana and Chief Justice Dr. Sheikh Taiseer Al-Tamimi from Jerusalem, Palestine. Both proclaimed that there will be no peace without the right of all Palestinians to return to their homes and land within a democratic state for all Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Protest for the right of return

The convention concluded with a morning panel including Karmi, writer Ramzy Baroud, Abu Sitta and Abu Khalil. The panelists answered questions raised by the audience and participated in a debate about the feasibility of working within the bourgeois democratic system by lobbying to create change in U.S. policy.

After the session, a caravan of nearly 30 cars, decorated with Palestinian national flags, drove six miles to Brookhurst Plaza in Anaheim, where hundreds of people joined a protest. The ANSWER Coalition and Al-Awda were the rally's principal organizers. Speakers at the rally included Nader Abuljebain, Al-Awda; Sana Ibrahim, Palestinian American Women's Association; Carlos Alvarez, ANSWER Coalition; and Shakeel Sayed, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.

Marylou Cabral, PSL candidate for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, District 5, stressed the PSL's unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian struggle in the fight against Zionism and imperialism.

The successful Al-Awda Convention highlighted the continued centrality of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and return.

Long live Palestine!

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