Al-Nakba Awareness Project is a small Domestic Nonprofit Corporation registered in Oregon. Our purposes are:
(1) education regarding the history of Israel in historic Palestine, and
(2) mobilization, advocacy and support for non-violent efforts to bring freedom, justice and equality to the Holy Land.
None of these conditions, which Americans take for granted as bedrocks of democracy, exists there today.
We are an entirely volunteer organization with limited resources which we leverage by working in partnership with other local, regional and national organizations and with individual supporters who share our concern for truth leading to justice.
Contributions to defray our expenses and expand our efforts will be deeply appreciated.
Our work relies without political compromise upon:
(1) historical truthfulness;
(2) adherence by all peoples to universally recognized human rights and the international rule of law;
(3) recognition of the Palestinians as the victims, not the aggressors, in this six-decade conflict, and not co-equal with Israel in responsibility for its origination or continuation;
(4) concern for not only the wellbeing but the rights of Palestinians as an abandoned and largely helpless people who have been cruelly victimized, subjected to institutional as well as legal discrimination within both Israel and their territories which Israel illegally occupies, and denied justice, the right of self-determination, protection by the governing power, and an equal voice with other citizens of the world;
(5) condemnation of our own country's abuse-enabling support and protection of their occupier and oppressor, and our failure to comply with both international and U.S. law in so doing.
Our premise:There is a long history to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been egregiously distorted by Israel, the Israeli lobby and its nationwide network that heavily influences our government and media, and consequently remains largely unknown to most Americans.
We draw upon a principle identified and demonstrated early in the history of psychology by the "Gestalt" school of perceptual psychology: the solution to a problem is inherent in its component parts once a sufficient number of these are visible. A puzzle can't be solved with too many missing pieces. Israel has relentlessly concealed key historical pieces of its own formation and development, without which a clear vision cannot emerge that would yield a solution. We attempt here to identify the essential missing pieces including historical information expunged from the "official story," disregarded international laws, and suppressed voices of reason, realism and justice among Palestinians, non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews, and all too few Americans. Without the unwitting and misguided beliefs of most Americans in support of our corrupted leaders, this website and the other efforts of our Al-Nakba Awareness Project would be unnecessary.
The central piece denied and evaded by Israel is the Nakba("catastrophe" in Arabic) of 1948, when Palestinians were ruthlessly attacked, massacred and driven from their homes into refugee camps by Zionist terror groups, and never allowed to return in violation of international law. This is the deeply flawed foundation upon which Israel was established and upon which its entire subsequent society remains structurally unsteady, morally corrupt, legally culpable, and psychologically damaged. Israel has inevitably suffered from a "spoiled identity" (a concept of sociologist Erving Goffman) against which it defends by outright lies, hysterical accusations of "anti-Semitism" and other transparent defense mechanisms, and the consequences to its Palestinian victims remain tragic and ruinous.
This pathological system has been aided and abetted by the United States, which stands alone in the world as a supporter and defender of Israel. Without understanding this pathological relationship, leading to an alteration in US policies toward Israel, no just or enduring solution will be possible.
This conflict is typically framed as a contest between "two sides" or "two narratives" that either blames the Palestinians as "terrorists" or implies a non-existent symmetry: equivalence of violence, blame for the conflict, suffering, legitimacy of claims, and responsibility for finding a solution.
In truth, the Palestinians are an invaded, dispossessed, occupied, brutalized, blockaded, and segregated people who have the right to resist under international law and have steadfastly done so for many decades in largely non-violent ways.
1948 refugee in UNRWA camp
1948 UNRWA refugee camp
Separated by barbed wire from their home
A fictitious account omitting Israeli lawlessness and ignoring the lonely and rightful Palestinian struggle for justice has been relentlessly recited and perpetuated by the American press and entertainment media under influence of the pro-Israel lobby and social influence network.
Our position is derived not from any "narrative" but from the empirical evidence: the abundantly documented history, established doctrines of international law including United Nations resolutions and international court judgments, ordinary morality recognized by civilized peoples, and commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Until the Nakba is acknowledged, its crimes addressed and restitution provided, there can be no justice or justice-based peace. Toward the goal of justice, without which enduring peace will remain elusive, this web site is committed.
* The key in our logo, many of which are still held by Palestinian refugees expelled in 1948, represents the Palestinians' right to return under international law, and has remained a cherished symbol of their steadfast resistance against dispossession, occupation, and subjugation by the state of Israel.
The site is a primer, providing a basic chronological overview. We will continue to build it, with links to increasingly detailed materials.
Demand Freedom, Justice and Equality in the Holy Land
