A so-called “My Return Tournament” was staged by ”Olive” a Palestinian organization Youth in the UK in partnership with “My Return” Campaign in a move aiming to speak up for the refugees’ inalienable right of return to Palestine.
Eight sports teams took part in the contest which was held in London city. Every team represented a Palestinian village or camp in an attempt to boost youth and children’s ties with their homeland. Brochures comprising historical information about Palestinian cities and towns were also handed out to the participants.
Children and youth raised the Palestinian flag and chanted “Free Palestine” and “Return is our right”.
The participants signed a petition pitched in the sports ground to support Palestinians’ right of return to their homeland.
Chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain Dr. Hafez Al Karmi along with Executive Director of the Palestinian Return Center (PRC) Tareq Hammoud honored the winning team which was named after the Israeli-blockaded Gaza city.
“We wish that the next Tournament would be staged in Jerusalem” said Dr. Karmi. “Palestine will forever preserve its Arabic and Islamic identity”.
“My Return” international campaign continues to garner widespread support across several world countries with signatures on the petition demanding Palestinians’ right of return to their homeland reaching up to 500000.
Despite the lockdown measures implemented nationally and internationally as part of the anti-coronavirus fight the campaign continues to exert a pull on human rights advocates and online platforms. The petition has been signed by Palestinian refugees from over 180 countries.
The initiative has also received letters of encouragement and appreciation by dozens of renowned diplomats journalists and academics from the Middle East Africa Europe and the Americas.
The campaign is officially adopted and backed up by the Jordanian Lebanese and Turkish parliaments.
“My Return” initiative is an international campaign launched by the Palestinian Return Center (PRC) in partnership with Palestinian and international human rights partners and NGOs in order to amass the largest possible number of signatures showing Palestinians’ unyielding commitment to their right of return to their homeland—a right guaranteed by International Law and relevant UN resolutions.
The endeavor officially saw the day in Jordan before it was launched in Lebanon and Turkey.
The campaign comes at a time when efforts have been intensified by Israel and its allies most notably the US to negate Palestinians’ refugee status and as a result rescind their right of return to their homeland and delegitimize any institution providing assistance to the refugees such as UNRWA.
The right of return refers to the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland from which they have been expelled since 1948. It implies both first-generation refugees and their descendants regardless of their place of birth or residence and their political social and economic condition.
