On the 16th of May the Palestinian Forum in Britain held an online event in commemoration of 72 years of the Nakba. The event was open to the public and was attended by hundreds of people across various platforms. The event was moderated by the well known Palestinian journalist Jamal Ahmed and included keynote speeches thoughts on the Nakba the future of the cause and even featured online dabke for the first time.
The event was opened by the head of the Palestinian Forum in Britian Dr Hafez Al karmi who reminded the audience that Palestinians live Nakba every single day and that it was not a one off event they hold onto their right to return to their homeland and inherit that right to their children and grandchildren. The young along with the old call for the freedom of Palestine in contrary to claims that the young will forget.
The opening speech was followed by the keynote speech which featured the appearance of the well known Palestinian academic Abdulsattar Qasem who reiterated that he was stating facts and not trying to be negative; Qasem mentioned that Nakba was not simply what happened in 1948 but Nakba is a series of disasters with multiple factors whether it is the withdrawing Arab nation support the financial crisis and multiple failures from the Palestinian leadership. Qasem Also encouraged Palestinian organizations and think tanks to gather Palestinian intellectuals to put forward a plan for the current situation as no plan has realistically been put forward since the Oslo agreement.
The speeches were separated by an artistic session by Khayri Hatem who resides in Canada he sang Palestinian folk music calling for justice for Palestinians; His participation was followed by a participation from Naser Khalaf a 13 year old whom before singing reiterated the fact that his residence in the Rashidiya refugee camp for Palestinians in Lebanon is on a temporary basis until his return to Safad. Khalaf also called on Palestinians in the UK to uphold their duties towards the cause taking advantage of the freedom and rights they benefit from.
Khadija Khweis a prominent Palestinian activist also participated in the event and gave attendees an insight into her daily struggle and harassment from the Israeli occupation. Khweis mentioned how everyday she faced a smaller version of the Nakba as she is constantly slapped with bans from entering Jerusalem. She was separated from her husband who was in the West Bank and banned from entering Jerusalem for months at a time. Khweis ended her speech by hoping all Palestinians whether they are in Palestine or refugees to meet in Palestine one day.
The event concluded with a great performance by Kefah Zureiqi and Fursaan dabke group who preformed in pre-recorded dabke video that many people praised.
