Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba.

*Nakba – “The catastrophe”
1948 was the year that the Israel state was established by expulsion and disposition of hundreds of thousands Palestinians from their homes and their lands, and more than 500 villages were depopulated and later completely destroyed.

Events around the world saw Palestinians demanding their right of return to Palestine through protests. People in Lebanon and Syria marched to the borders with nothing but voices and flags and in return were met with bullets.

21 peope have died so far today and who knows how many more injured.
10 in Lebanon, 8 in Syria, 2  in Gaza and 1 in the West Bank. It is become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’
Source – Gaza TV News

In this video, Palestinians are waving flags in Tel Aviv for the first time since 1948.

Another video showing Israeli army shooting at Palestinians at the Gaza border. A brave girl continues to wave the Palestinian flag.

Is that offensive?
Is it a curse word?
Is it a racist word?
Is it a degrading word?

No, it’s none of those. It’s a Country! A country that is denied its existance, a country whose people live in prisons in their own homes, a country whose people die everyday, a country which is occupied by Israel.

So why was it censored out of a song on BBC Radio 1Xtra?

During the Hip Hop Mix show with Charlie Sloth, Mic Righteous sang the words ‘Free Palestine’ they were filered out 3 mins into the song.

(Please right click the links and open in new window, my HTML is not working when I post links)

You can hear it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f15g4 the edit is 3 minutes in.

The show was on 11th February. Please make a complaint to http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/ then click on make a complaint in the left handside bar.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/13/bbc-palestine-lyric-mic-righteous

Whilst creating the page I also came across this beautiful poem via a FB page which is really fitting for the martyrs. I contacted the author who has given me permission to share it on my blog. You will find the links to his website and the FB page he created underneath the poem. I will also add his blog in the side bar under the title ‘blogroll’ so it will be easy to find.

POEM

These were not souls of the Innocent
For they chose to make their stand
They were born in quieter times and places
Before coming to Palestine’s land

These were not armed with weapons
Yet stood knowing against bullets and knives
They strongly resisted the fanatical poison
That has stolen too many lives

They shared ALL the life that was in them
They risked every thing every day
Gave their hearts and their souls and their smiles to Palestine
And nothing could chase them away

Evil could NEVER defeat them!
and though Death has come and then gone
These heroes were larger than either of those
The warmth of their courage lives on! <3

And we _ who continue their struggle
For ALL of our martyrs we cry
We shall carry them with us living their dream
SWEET PALESTINE SHALL NOT DIE!

Direct link to Poem
Blog – World is watching you
We are all Vittorio Arrigoni FB page

Direct link to my Fallen Heroes page

Click on the below two links for more information.

Saturday 14th May 2011 – End the seige on Gaza
Sunday 15th May 2011 – Demonstration in Solidarity with 3rd Palestinian Intifada

1975 - 2011

For the past 10 years Italian ISM volunteer, Vittorio Arrigoni has been a pro Palestine peace activist with the last two years living in Gaza.

Tattoo reads Resistance in Arabic.

On 14th April he was kidnapped, held hostage and threatened with execution for the following day by a small Salafist Jihadists group if Hamas doesn’t answer their demands of releasing their Salafist leader whom Hamas arrested last month. However, the group didn’t wait for the deadline they had given and had murdered him within hours, (as far as I know at the moment it’s a suspected hanging as cause of death). May I add, Vittorio’s heart was more Palestinian than his killers. His killer’s do not represent Palestinians.

Mourners gathered in Gaza and the West Bank to pay their respects to a courageous, pure hearted, dedicated humanitarian. He will be remembered forever for his work by all. My sincere condolences go out to his family, friends and to all those he touched, a true definition of a hero, a fallen hero. May God bless his soul and Rest In Peace.

~ FOREVER REMEMBERED ~

An Italian Pro Palestine supporter has been kidnapped by a small extremist group, Salafi’s in Gaza threatening exectution tomorrow afternoon if their leader (whom was arrested last month by Hamas) is not released.

It’s absolutely disgusting. Palestinians are prisoners in prisons, their own homes and their own country by Isreal yet this group does the same to a Pro Palestine supporter. They are as bad as Israel.

Read the full story here

Join this Facebook page ASAP to show your support for his release.

EDIT: He died, they killed him :’( they are sick sick monsters, he had such a beautiful heart and soul. May God bless him and R.I.P
I believe there is a conference at 4:00am so I’ll post a new post tomorrow regarding his death when I have more details and to honour this fallen hero, Vittorio Arrigoni Rest In Peace.

Now, The Promise was a 4 part tv drama shedding light on the Palestinian – Isreali conflict. Switching between 1940′s and present day Palestine, Peter Kosminsky wrote this compelling drama about an 18 year old girl, Erin (played by Claire Foy, pictured above), tracing her grandfathers life (Len, a British soldier played by Christian Cooke) in Palestine. Erin accompanies her best friend Eliza ( who’s going to complete her service with the Israeli army, to her Parents house in Israel. Len’s story portrays the events prior 1948 and Erin’s story portrays modern day.
Did you watch this series? If so, please tell me your thoughts.
If you didn’t watch it, you still have the chance as it’s available on 4od and released on DVD. Click the following link to watch the episodes, interviews with the cast and some further reading on the series.  The Promise

My review.
When I sat down to watch the first episode I wasn’t sure what to expect, but soon into it I was captivated and I found Peter Kominsky wrote it perfectly. I cried on all four episodes and even though the story of Erin and her Grandfather are fictional the historical, modern day and political events are true. It really showed the truth from both sides, Isreali’s and Palestinians. It gave a taste of what living in Palestine is really like and it pulled every single one of my heartstrings.
Beautifully written and beautifully acted.
I thank you Peter Kominsky, Channel 4, the actors and everybody involved in this drama for bringing truth to our screens.

With the success of the last Convoy from Britain to Gaza on Valentines day, George Galloway embarked on another journey, this being the third as a second one left the USA on Independance day.

This latest convoy has seen yet more volunteers giving up their time, their vehicles and committing themselves in solidarity to help the victimes in Gaza.

Leaving London on 6th December 2009 the convoy aims to be in Gaza on 27th December; year to date from the Gaza war which saw so many victims lose their live’s, their homes, their everything.

For a quick update on the progress of the convoy so far, which at the moment has made it to Greece, re-visit the Viva Palestina website http://www.vivapalestina.org/home.htm you can also follow Viva Palestina on Twitter http://twitter.com/viva_palestina and you can also follow tweets by George Galloway http://twitter.com/georgegalloway