UNMIA

Published online by Zionism-Israel, Ami Isserhoff

HIDDEN HISTORY, SECRET PRESENT: THE ORIGINS AND STATUS OF AFRICAN PALESTINIANS

By Susan Beckerleg, translated by Salah Al Zaroo

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project was made possible by a Nuffield Foundation, Social Science Award, administered by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

I wish to thank my colleagues working on European Union Avicenne Initiative Projects for their advice and support, in particular Salah Al Zaroo and Gillian Hundt. My husband Abudi Kibwana Sizi assisted during two visits to the Palestine. In the Nagab and Gaza many people helped to put me in touch with colleagues, neighbours and friends of African descent. They include Ibrahim Abu Jaffar, Adnan El Sanne, Fatme Kassim, and Shahada Ebbweini.
Last but not least, I wish to thank all the people of African descent who talked with me in Jeruslaem, Gaza and the Nagab. They are not named so that their privacy can be maintained.

INTRODUCTION

This report summarises the findings of a project has addressed a neglected and sensitive area of research about the history of Palestine. The history of the region has been turbulent and has involved the settlement of peoples from Asia, Africa and Europe. Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, Palestinians …

Article from Ami Isseroff

Jews dancing in the streets on November 29, 1947 to celebrate the Palestine Partition Decision

This letter by Zipporah Porath, from her book, “Letters from Jerusalem 1947-1948,” was written the morning after the United Nations voted to approve the Partition of Palestine into two states, paving the way for the establishment of the State of Israel.

The decision of the United Nations to partition Palestine embodied in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 was greeted by Jewish Palestinians with both joy and foreboding. The joy was expressed in the spontaneous celebrations that broke out on the evening of November 29, 1947 throughout Mandatory Palestine. The foreboding was expressed by Jewish leaders, who understood that the partition decision would almost inevitably lead to war. Chaim Weizmann remarked in December that the state would not be handed to the Jewish people on a silver platter. Soon after, the poet Natan Alterman wrote the poem, The Silver Platter, about the heroism of the young people who would be called upon to defend their new country. About 6,000 Israelis were killed in the 1948 Israel War of Independence. (First Arab-Israeli war). But these thoughts were far from the …

Saeb Erekat with Condoleezza Rice.

by Daniel Pipes
Jerusalem Post
November 29, 2007

Surprisingly, something useful has emerged from the combination of the misconceived Annapolis meeting and a weak Israeli prime minister, Ehud (”Peace is achieved through concessions”) Olmert. Breaking with his predecessors, Olmert has boldly demanded that his Palestinian bargaining partners accept Israel’s permanent existence as a Jewish state, thereby evoking a revealing response.

Unless the Palestinians recognize Israel as “a Jewish state,” Olmert announced on November 11, the Annapolis-related talks would not proceed. “I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state. This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state.”

He confirmed these points a day later, describing the “recognition of Israel as a state for the Jewish people” as the “launching point for all negotiations. We won’t have an argument with anyone in the world over the fact that Israel is a state of the Jewish people.” The Palestinian leadership, he noted, must “want to make peace with Israel as a Jewish state.”

Raising this topic has the virtue of finally focusing attention on what is the central topic in the Arab-Israeli conflict – Zionism, …

Lynn Provencio’s reply:

Interestingly, Ms. Gossage mainly takes issue with my characterization of the Arab speakers, that I criticized their comments and personal stories as being politically motivated rather than being stories of alternative peace efforts. She says I don’t show proper sympathy for their afflictions. This is especially true in the case of Ms. Wejdan. Ms. Gossage says I twisted facts to show them in a bad light. However, she didn’t say what facts were twisted or what was the correct interpretation, except in the case of Ms. Wejdan’s return trip to Gaza from the US.

As for the reasons behind Ms. Wejdan’s not being allowed back into Israel the first try, when she returned from the US, we are speculating where we have no facts. While I made the comment about associations rather off-handedly, it makes sense. Ms. Wejdan was a student sponsored by a prestigious American scholarship program, and her PA papers were good enough for her to go into Israel from Gaza and pass through customs at Ben Gurion and then Kennedy Airport on her way to the US. Her sponsors have extensive experience in bringing foreign students to the US to study, including Palestinians. Why did she …