Spore Hosts: We remember, we resist

As the United Nations state: “The Nakba anniversary is a reminder not only of those tragic events of 1948, but of the ongoing injustice suffered by the Palestinians. The Nakba had a profound impact on the Palestinian people, who lost their homes, their land, and their way of life. It remains a deeply traumatic event in their collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes. In 2022, the UN General Assembly requested that this anniversary be commemorated on 15 May 2023, for the first time in the history of the UN”

(https://www.un.org/unispal/about-the-nakba/)

In recent months, a harsh regime has been introduced in schools aimed at controlling what can be said about Israel and Palestine by the children, and what should be taught by teachers. How is the brutal reality of what is happening in Gaza being conveyed to children, and how can they be protected from being subject to continued traumas?  

Together we will talk about remembrance and resistance, listen to personal memories and stories, and address the Nakba and its legacy in the present in a child- and family-friendly way. 

Program

5:00 pm   –   Film Screening  

The Tower, 2018, 74 min

Director: Mats Grorud

Arabic, English, French, with English subtitles  

Beirut, Lebanon - today: Wardi is an 11-year-old Palestinian girl and lives with her family here in the refugee camp where she was born. Her beloved great-grandfather Sidi was one of the first people to settle in this camp after being expelled from their homeland in 1948. The day Sidi gives Wardi the key to his old house in Galilea, she fears he has given up all hope of returning home. As she sets out to search for Sidi's lost hope in the camp, she collects the testimonies of her family over generations.

6:30 pm   –   Cold snacks & drinks

7:30 pm   –   We Remember, We Resist: a panel discussion  

On the 76th Nakba Day, the Palästina Kampagne invites you to remember the ongoing expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land since 1948. Contemporary witnesses and activists will use their family stories and personal experiences to make tangible what the Nakba - "catastrophe" in Arabic - actually means and why it has never ended. For a people fighting against their physical and epistemological extinction, remembering becomes an act of resistance.  

This is particularly important in Germany, where historical revisionist Nakba denial is being normalized and taught in Berlin schools with the brochure Mythos#Israel1948. The initiative "Schule fürs Erinnern" (School for Remembrance) will provide an insight into its educational work, which campaigns for schools free from political indoctrination. Historical photos as well as current press photos from Jenin and Gaza will illustrate the parallels between past, present and ongoing displacement.  

Panel peakers: Nora Ragab (migraion scholar), Ramsis Kilani (Palästina Kampagne), May Zeidani Yufanyi (Schule fürs Erinnern), Nabil Rachid (Witness Testimony). Moderated by: Jordine Schulz (Die Linke)