The convention featured a panel of distinguished speakers, powerful documentaries, and workshops with a focus on expanding strategies for advocacy for the right of return. The three-day convention culminated with a car caravan of Palestinian flags that made their way to a large organized protest along the streets of Anaheim.
"We marked the 60th year of Al-Nakba and reaffirmed our unity and determination in the struggle to return," said Zahi Damuni, a founder of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC) and main organizer of the convention.
Damuni said their cause is to return to all of Palestine. He said their organization has resolved to redouble its efforts in developing its educational and charitable programs "to continue to empower the Palestinian community, until Return."
In 1948, Zionist gangs and Israeli military killed hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children and destroyed countless villages and towns in Palestine.
About 750,000 Palestinians fled to neighboring Arab countries, living as refugees. Israeli towns were built on the rubble of Palestinian towns. Today, Palestinians continue to live in forced exile worldwide and as displaced refugees in camps in occupied Palestine.
Keynote speaker Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, a leading scholar on the plight of the Palestinian refugees and their right of return, called Al-Nakba the "largest, longest operation planned ethnic cleansing in history." He referred to Gaza as the biggest concentration camp in the world.
"I call it the new Auschwitz," said Abu Sitta. "Who are the people of Gaza? They are the inhabitants of 240 [depopulated] villages."
Dr. Ilan Pappe, a leading historian on the Middle East, described Al-Nakba as "ethnic cleansing." He said with the "umbrella of the West," Israel has a "free license to continue the ethnic cleansing it wants to complete."
The convention had exhibits, film showings, presentations, and activist networking. The highlight of the convention was the banquet dinner featuring Bishop Atallah Hanna and Chief Justice Dr. Shaikh Taiseer Al-Tamimi as the main speakers. On the table before every guest was a note with a name of one of the hundreds of Palestinian towns or villages that were destroyed or occupied in 1948. The note read: "We remember…." Screens on both sides of the room flashed images of Palestinians holding deeds to their stolen lands and keys to their lost homes.
"Palestine is and will be Arab until the Day of Judgment," affirmed Shaikh Taiseer.
He called the right of return "our sacred right" and said Muslims will never give up the Al-Aqsa mosque or Holy Sepulcher. He promised to honor the martyrs and prisoners’ legacy and liberate Palestine, adding, "We will, God willing, pray all together in Jerusalem."
Like Shaikh Taiseer, Bishop Atallah emphasized Palestinian unity among Palestinian Christians and Muslims, calling them "one nation, one people."
Bishop Atallah told Palestinians to hold on to their land deeds and their keys because they will one day return.
"Today we emphasize that the right of return is as holy as Jerusalem. It is inalienable, non-negotiable, and sacred," said Bishop Atallah. "The occupation failed at killing the resistance and the evidence is you."
The premiere of the first of its kind Video Quilt project drew the most applause among convention attendees.
The video sews together excerpts of Palestinians and their supporters from all over the world voicing the right of return: "I am a Palestinian. We still hold the key and deed to our home in Lyd. We will return!" The Video Quilt project is ongoing and will be shown online at the Al-Awda.org website and at future events.
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition is the largest network of grassroots activists and students dedicated to Palestinian human rights.
