Deir Yassin massacre remembered in Belfast

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Saturday April 12, 2008 15:52

by Ciarán Ó Brolcháin - IPSC

ciaranobrolchain at hotmail dot com

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Belfast today held a white-line picket to remember the 60th anniversary of the Deir Yassin massacre. This was one of the many incidents that took place in the lead-up to Al Nakba, the Catastrophe, when the Zionist forces proclaimed the state of Israel and 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.

'We Will Return!' - Remembering the Nakba

On 9th April 1948, as pat of Plan Dalet, Zionist forces stormed the village of Deir Yassin, a peaceful village on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Despite having a non-aggression pact with the Zionist forces, the village’s inhabitants were herded together, men, women and children, and murdered in cold-blood. Twenty five of the village’s survivors were subsequently paraded through Jerusalem before they themselves were executed.

The massacre of Deir Yassin was to prove a key component in driving the Palestinian people from their lands. In all, some 750,000 peaceful people were expelled from their lands and 531 villages, towns and cities were destroyed in the name of founding the racist State of Israel.

The number of refugees currently refused the right to return to their homes, now stands at an overwhelming 6 million.

Over 60 people took part in today's white-line picket on the Falls Road and listened to Jamal and Mohammed, two Palestinians living in Belfast, talk about their families' experiences during the Nakba, the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people for justice and to achieve the right of return, and the importance of international solidarity.

The mural was then officially unveiled by John McCusker of the Belfast IPSC, who reminded the people present of the upcoming calendar of events to remember the 60th anniversary of Al Nakba both in Belfast and throughout Ireland.

One end of the road...