What Do You Know About Historic Palestine?

BY THE NEW ENGLAND COMMITTEE TO DEFEND PALESTINE (NECDP)

Forced displacement of 750,000 people

In 1947 and 1948, Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes in a wave of terrorist attacks by armed Zionist paramilitary groups, whose goal was to establish the Israeli state.These attacks included the infamous massacre in Deir Yassin, where 250 men, women, and childrenwere killed. Such attacks forced more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in more than 400 villages to allow for the creation of Israel on May 14, 1948.

This choice — to colonize a land already inhabited — meant abandoning the legitimate struggle for justice for the Jewish people in their home countries.

The gross injustice inherent in Israel’s creation and continued existence cannot be allowed to stand. For decades, the U.S. government has funded Israel with over $4 billion annually — much of it military aid to support an internationally denounced military occupation that subjugates the expelled Palestinians. As U.S. taxpayers, we have a crucial role in demanding that our government end all military, economic, and political support to the colonial-settler state of Israel.

Historic Palestine is the key

The only just solution is the establishment of a unified and democratic state of Palestine that includes all of Historic Palestine (most of which is today called Israel). This State would be populated by the displaced Palestinians and their diaspora and be open to people of all religions, races, and ethnicities, including Jewish people.

The “two-state solution” legitimizes the colonization of Palestine and the existence of a state foundedon the forced displacement of another people. It requires that the history of Israel’s creation, the plight of the indigenous people, and what existed before be erased and forgotten. It is unjust and will not bring peace.

A unified and democratic Palestine would recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to full self-determination and the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to and repossess their original homes and lands. It is the only legitimate basis for peace and justice.

New England Committee to Defend Palestine
www.onepalestine.org, necdp@onepalestine.org