“The old will die and the young will forget,” declared David Ben-Gurion, the ideological father of the European colonial/settler project, Zionism. Few quotes so succinctly sum up the stated goal and vision, idealism, and delusional nature of Zionism. Meanwhile, nothing more accurately reflects the collective consciousness of Palestinians than the shared memory of what began 65 years ago during the Nakba, or catastrophe, with the forced exile of 750,000 people from their land and the universally recognised right to return home. Today, six million Palestinians remain forcibly displaced from their homes, often many times over, as is now the case with Palestinian refugees within Syria, Palestine and throughout the world. It is this history that paves the crossroads at which we find ourselves as Palestinians. Last weekend, Palestinians in North America, of the shatat, came together for a conference in Vancouver for the purpose of remembering this history and reaffirming our commitment of the universally recognised right of return, and the struggle for liberation. The word shatat refers to the Diaspora, and literally translated means pieces, shattered and scattered. The definition is fitting, as since the onset of Zionism our people, like our homeland, have been continuously divided and subjugated with the ultimate goal of being erased from history, the records of which we know are written by the powerful. The power of the conference that took place at the University of British Columbia was reflected in the diversity of participants and the organising committee that represented a coming together of the “old” and the “young”, which were given equal value and voice. Students, in partnership with community groups of all ages and parts of North America, highlighted the work and the importance of learning from the memories and experiences of previous generations who must then step aside and make room for the new generation to be empowered. Today, while six million Palestinian shatat live outside the homeland (four million living within historic Palestine), and while our land has been almost completely colonised, our memories remain strong, refusing colonisation. One of the main themes consistently repeated by many of the speakers was that the Palestinian struggle is part and parcel of a greater global resistance to colonialism, imperialism and Zionism. Strong connections were made between the struggle of the indigenous people of North America resisting land and resource exploitation, and the roles of the US and Canadian governments and their complicity in the continuation of these policies. We were reminded by indigenous people here to pay respect to the land of North America, and the conference opened with — and was involved throughout with — native people who shared cultural traditions and welcomed us onto their land. We drew parallel lessons from the experiences of indigenous rights activists, who reminded us that we are building on the work and legacy of our past and current political prisoners, ancestors and martyrs, without which we would never be where we are today. We also had an interesting discussion that I co-facilitated about the role of movements in the US, and drew inspiration from people risking their lives and defying dictatorships in the Arab world. We brainstormed ways in which to most effectively connect as anti-militarism/anti-war, civil liberties, prison/justice, immigration activists, etc. Participants had many questions and shared their experiences and challenges with regards to organising in such a hostile climate in the US and Canada, especially on university campuses. When those with power insist on doing all they can to ignore, silence and/or crush our history, this demonstrates the vital importance of sharing stories, and documenting our history and experiences — and not just as passive observers. That is why in 2012, the Israeli Knesset passed a “Nakba Law” to “punish public institutions for any reference to the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1948 as a catastrophe or ‘Nakba'”— a feeble attempt at silencing history and the truth about the dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland. There were also ongoing and heated discussions and debates about the issue of representation, and strategies of how to reclaim our historic rights and the right of the Diaspora to be a part of state building and the decision making process. Perhaps the only thing everyone in the conference did agree on is trying to find ways to get rid of the current corrupt “leadership”. When the dispossession of a people from their homeland is minimised, blurred and even erased, what is needed is active memory that can provide direction for future steps. The erasure of history is fundamentally an expression of power. When we defy the obstacles, beginning by recording and asserting our presence, we will be victorious. My Palestinian mother grew up in the old city of Jerusalem. Before 1948, Palestinian Muslims, Christians and Jews all lived together in Jerusalem in relative peace and mutual respect. Recalling that past provides a vision for an alternative future — one involving rights and tolerance, rather than the domination of one ethno-religious group over others. Zionist colonialism was predicated on the hope that Palestinians who lived the Nakba would die and the new Palestinian generation would forget. Yet despite 65 years of sheer force, domination and military and media control, we are proving that not only have we remembered, but that everyday we are growing stronger, more organised and united to reclaim our land and our rights. Soon the conference will issue recommendations for ways in which to build beyond our shared memories, and to engage with our Diaspora in finding new means of securing the right of all of our six million refugees to return back home.
The writer is a Palestinian shatat currently residing in the Bay Area. She has worked for the past decade as a campaign strategist and community organiser and lived and worked in occupied Palestine from 2005-2007.
