ZOCHROT CONFERENCE - RETURN OF THE REFUGEES

Practices, Strategies, and Visions" at the Zionist Organization of American House in Tel Aviv.

22-24 July 2008

The large attendance at the conference – about 300 people – surprised even the organizers since the conference was not publicized in any major media outlets. On the morning of the conference certain influential American Zionists put strong pressure on the ZOA House to cancel the conference. The size of the audience proved that there are more people in this country who are interested in thinking about the return of Palestinian refugees and who understand that without their return the conflict will never end than is generally perceived.

At the conference Israelis and Palestinians presented new ideas for the return of the refugees and for understanding the meaning of such a return for life in this country. Here is a link to Eitan Bronstein's opening remarks and a link to the text "Preliminary Ideas on the Return of Refugees" presented by Norma Musih.

Here is a report of the Conference:

Tel Aviv conference organizes around the right of return

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9686.shtml
Nora Barrows-Friedman, The Electronic Intifada, 14 July 2008
 

All of the conference texts will be posted on the website soon.
Zochrot will continue to develop ideas for the possible return of Palestinian refugees and invites the public to take part in this process.

On Sunday, June 22, 2008, the art exhibit "Architecture of Destruction, Fear, and Subordination" opened at the Art Gallery at Zochrot, curated by Ariella Azoulay. About 100 people attended the exhibit opening.

Sedek 3, on the topic of the return of the refugees, is now in print and can be purchased at Zochrot (50 NIS). It will also soon be available for purchase through the website of Pardes Publishers www.pardes.co.il.

Also in print is the book by Noga Kadman, "On the Sides of the Road, on the Margins of Consciousness," (Hebrew) on the marginalization of the Palestinian villages destroyed in the Nakba from Israeli discourse. It can be purchased at Zochrot (70 NIS) (link to more info on the book on the website).

On Wednesday, June 24, 2008, there was a half-day tour to al-Shaykh Muwannis (northern Tel Aviv) led by Majdulin Beidas, a refugee from the village. Twenty-five people took park. At the end of the tour we visited the cemetery of the village, near the grounds of the General Security Services. The tour had been coordinated in advance with the police, including a joint visit to the cemetery, but despite this the GSS security guards stopped the tour and demanded that participants leave the area. Link to Benny Ziffer's blog (Hebrew)