DHEISHEH REFUGEE CAMP, BETHLEHEM, April 23, 2018—– As the 70th anniversary of the Nakba approaches, Shoruq Organization has launched a media campaign entitled ‘Station 70’, aiming to shed light on the plight of Palestinian refugees through the creation of documentary materials on the Nakba survivor generation, and activities aimed at elevating the voices of refugee youth. Organizers stress that their aim is to revive the ongoing struggle of Palestinian refugees by creatively engaging with different art forms and artists.
The campaign began on April 12 and will continue until Nakba Day on May 15th. It will include the production and publication of photographs and videos on the issue of refugees, their histories, and their struggle to return to their homes.
As the plight of Palestinian refugees reaches the international arena once again, the organizers of Station 70 emphasize that, "return is a right that does not fall merely into statute. Asylum is temporary, return is inevitable."
During the Nakba of 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes, over 500 villages were completely destroyed, and most of Palestine was occupied by the Zionist movement. Although the Nakba is commemorated every year on May 15, the campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestine began much earlier than May 15th, 1948; Zionist gangs attacked Palestinian villages with the aim of causing panic, entire towns were looted, and dozens of massacres were committed against the Indigenous Palestinians.
“Station 70 is a month-long campaign because we recognize that the atrocities of the Nakba could not fit into a single day of commemoration,” said an organizer at Shoruq Organization, “we invite you to explore the Station 70 materials and let them propel you to keep the cause of Palestinian refugees alive – so that they may one day return.”
Based in Dheisheh refugee camp, Shoruq Organization is uniquely positioned to speak to the plight of Palestinian refugees. Dheisheh is one of 58 Palestinian refugee camps administered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and was founded as a temporary sanctuary shortly after the 1948 Nakba. Today more than 15,000 inhabitants live on less than one square kilometer of land in Dheisheh refugee camp.
Station 70 calls on all to engage with the commemoration of the Nakba, to learn the stories of the Nakba generation, and to elevate the voices of refugee youth who inherit the struggle for the right of return using the hashtag #Nakba70.