On the eve of 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, a Jewish Israeli and a Palestinian Arab from occupied Hebron speak about the importance of remembering the expulsion and dispossession of Palestinian Arabs during the establishment of the Jewish state and working for the Palestinian right to return home.
 

As many Israelis and Portland-area Jews prepare to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, there is another commemoration taking place in the Palestinian diaspora around the world and in Portland. Approximately nine million Palestinian refugees will mark the 60th year of the Palestinian expulsion and dispossession from what became the state of Israel on May 15, 2008. Because so few people outside the Palestinian community know of the story of the Palestinian expulsion and dispossession and in order to begin the steps toward reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians, Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights and American Friends Service Committee are co-sponsoring an event at Reed College, Vollum Lecture Hall, on April 1st, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. entitled “Acknowledging the Past; Imagining the Future: Palestinians and Israelis On 1948 and the Right to Return."

The two speakers at the event are Muhammad Jaradat and Eitan Bronstein. Mr. Jaradat is the co-founder of Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights based in Bethlehem, in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Badil (Arabic for “alternative”), has the mission to advance the application of international law in the formulation of a just resolution to the Palestinian refugee crisis and to increase refugee involvement in finding durable solutions. Mr. Bronstein is representing Zochrot (Hebrew for “remembering”), an Israeli advocacy and educational organization based in Tel Aviv dedicated to raising awareness about the Palestinian expulsion and dispossession among Jewish Israelis. For more information about Badil and Zochrot, see www.badil.org and www.zochrot.org. The event is FREE and open to the public.
Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights is a Portland-based grassroots organization that advocates for a US foreign policy that promotes adherence to and compliance with international human rights norms by all countries including Israel.

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
The event is co-sponsored by the following organizations: Friends of Sabeel North America, Jews for Global Justice, Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land—Central Lutheran Church, Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Northwest Jews Against the Occupation, Chaverim—Reed College, and Middle East Cultural Dorm—Reed College.

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