Today we met in Sliema to remember the Nakba and denounce the genocide in Gaza.
In the years and months leading to the 15th May of 1948 — the day the state of Israel was established — Zionist militias designed a plan for killing and expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands so that they could declare a state of Israel with the maximum amount of land and the minimum amount of Palestinians in it.
More than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their cities, villages and fields. Thousands of Palestinians were murdered and buried in mass graves, while the terrorized others were forced to flee to Arab countries, the West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli cities rose on the ruins of the Palestinian cities and villages, while millions of Palestinians were born in refugee camps, denied their right to return to their lands and homes.
To Palestinians, this is known as the Nakba — the Catastrophe.
A catastrophe that has been ongoing since then. Palestinians continued experiencing the occupation of the little land they had left, imprisonment, apartheid, theft of their resources, illegal blockades and, now, genocide.
Gaza has already lost 35,000 of its population to the Israeli genocidal aggression, most of them women and children. Right now, a million and a half Palestinians are crowded in the small city of Rafah, surrounded by Israeli troops preparing to massacre them.
At the same time, Gaza is starving and dying of disease due to Israel blockading the very basic necessities and destroying all infrastructure – hospitals, schools and refugee camps. From an open-air prison, Gaza has been transformed into a mass grave, a land of torture and extermination.
This unimaginable atrocity is taking place with the active support of many Western countries – including the United States, France, Britain and Germany – that continue to support Israel in its 76-year old quest to take over that land and to oppress the Palestinians.
We call for the immediate imposition of sanctions on Israel so that, as a first strep, it stops its genocide on the Palestinian people. There have to be strict sanctions on every level – military, political, economic and cultural.
In these deeply painful times, solidarity is needed more than ever. We will not forget the Nakba, we will not forget Gaza and we will not forget the Palestinians.
The event was organised by:
Moviment Graffitti
Embassy of the State of Palestine in Malta
Youth for Palestine
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Min-Nakba għal ġenoċidju – Attività ta’ solidarjetà f’Tas-Sliema ssejjaħ għal sanzjonijiet b’saħħithom fuq l-istat ġenoċidali Iżraeljan
Illum iltqajna f’Tas-Sliema sabiex infakkru n-Nakba u nikkundannaw il-ġenoċidju f’Gaża.
Fis-snin u x-xhur qabel il-15 ta’ Mejju tal-1948 — il-jum li fih twaqqaf l-istat Iżraeljan — il-milizzji Żionisti ħejjew pjan sabiex ikeċċu u joqtlu mijiet t’eluf ta’ Palestinjani minn arthom u b’hekk jiddikjaraw stat Iżraeljan bl-ikbar art u bl-inqas Palestinjani fiha possibbli.
Iktar minn 750,000 Palestinjan tkeċċew mill-bliet, l-irħula u l-għelieqi tagħhom. Eluf ta’ Palestinjani nqatlu u ndifnu f’oqbra tal-massa, filwaqt li ħafna oħrajn, itterrorizzati, ġew imġiegħla jaħarbu f’pajjiżi Għarab, fix-Xatt tal-Punent u f’Gaża.
Fuq it-tiġrif tal-bliet u l-irħula misruqa mill-Palestinjani, telgħu l-ibliet Iżraeljani. Miljuni ta’ Palestinjani twieldu f’kampjiet tar-refuġjati, imċaħħda mir-ritorn lejn djarhom.
Għall-Palestinjani din il-ġrajja hija magħrufa bħala n-Nakba — il-Katastrofi.
Katastrofi li minn dak iż-żmien ’l hawn ma waqfitx. Il-Palestinjani komplew iġarrbu l-okkupazzjoni tal-ftit art li fadlilhom, priġunerija, politika t’apartheid, serq tar-riżorsi, assedji illegali u, issa, ġenoċidju.
Gaża diġà tilfet ‘il fuq minn 35,000 tal-popolazzjoni tagħha sforz l-aggressjoni ġenoċidali Iżraeljana, ‘il biċċa l-kbira tagħhom tfal u nisa. Bħalissa, nofs miljun u nofs Palestinjan jinsabu mgezzin ġol-belt żgħira ta’ Rafah fejn l-Iżrael qiegħed jipprepara li jimmassakrahom.
Fl-istess waqt, Gaża qed tkompli ssofri l-ġuħ, l-għatx u l-mard wara li l-Iżrael waqqaf id-dħul tal-iktar ħtiġijiet bażiċi u kisser l-infrastruttura kollha – sptarijiet, skejjel u kampijiet tar-refuġjati. Minn ħabs mitfuh, Gaża nbidlet f’qabar tal-massa, art it-tortura u l-esterminazzjoni.
Waqt li għaddejjin dawn il-ħruxijiet li diffiċli anke biss nimmaġinaw, l-Iżrael qiegħed jibqa’ jirċevi appoġġ minn ħafna pajjiżi tal-Punent, inkluż l-Istati Uniti, Franza, l-Ingilterra u l-Ġermanja, biex jagħmel dak li ilu jagħmel għal dawn l-aħħar 76 sena – jaħtaf l-art Palestinjana u jgħakkes lill-Palestinjani b’kull mod possibbli.
Aħna qed insejħu sabiex ikunu impost sanzjonijiet fuq l-Iżrael ħalli, bħala l-ewwel pass, dan iwaqqaf il-genocidju tiegħu fuq il-poplu Palestinjan. Għandu jkun hemm sanzjonijiet totali fuq kull livell – militari, politiku, ekonomiku u kulturali.
F’dan iż-żmien ta’ wġigħ, tinħtieġ is-solidarjetà iktar minn qatt qabel. Aħna mhux ser ninsew in-Nakba, mhux ser ninsew lil Gaża u mhux ser ninsew lill-Palestinjani.
L-attività kienet organizzata minn:
Moviment Graffitti
L-Ambaxxata Palestinjana f’Malta
Youth for Palestine
