On Wed, May 15, 2024 at 11:05 AM MERIP <[email protected]> wrote:
> View this email in your browser > <https://mailchi.mp/21e71331b378/for-nakba-day-gaza-in-the-archives?e=086111b704> > > *Middle East Research and Information Project* > *Critical coverage of the Middle East since 1971* > *For Nakba Day: Gaza in the Archives* > > An archival remix from MERIP > > *Dear Friends and Comrades,* > > *Today commemorates 76 years of the Nakba for Palestinians around the > world in a moment of desperation and fear for Palestinian life that is > deeper than ever. Israel’s incursion into Rafah that began this past > weekend portends another massive wave of expulsion and death compounding > the terror, loss and displacement in Gaza of the last seven months. The > centrality of Gaza – and indeed Rafah in some important instances – in the > ongoing Nakba can be traced through our own archives. Today’s newsletter > highlights MERIP’s documentation of the struggle in Gaza over the past > five decades. We hope you find some valuable reflection in the archival > remix below.* > > > > *In solidarity, James Ryan Executive Director, MERIP* > Read Issue 309: Palestine Before and After 10/7 > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=9523aa3d54&e=086111b704> > > “Today, brave Palestinian journalists—professional and amateur—are doing > vital work in Gaza amid the constant threat of death. A renewed circulation > of Palestinian poetry on social media has tapped into the gravity of grief > and outrage but also the persistence of Palestinian lifeways and hopes. > Worldwide protest, including in the United States led by Palestinian > diasporic and Jewish organizations for justice, and mass mobilizations on > college campuses, have transformed discourse. Solidarity work with Black > and Indigenous movements against racist state violence and dispossession > are building new modes of political pressure for Palestinian rights. The > global tools of international law have placed the Palestinian case on new > stages in recent years and especially over the last few weeks: South > Africa’s historic charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice > and the court’s decision to pursue the case and announce provisional > measures against Israel’s violence represent a crack in Israel’s > longstanding impunity in the international legal arena.” > > *-Amahl Bishara, “Reflections from the Present on the Future of Political > Action for Palestine” > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=b5f17e187a&e=086111b704> > (Issue 309, Winter 2023)* > > “[Rafah Mayor Said Zoroub] acknowledged that there was very little the > municipality could do for its citizens, except to urge people to stay in > their homes. Primarily, he said, this was because there was nowhere for > them to go, but also, he added, because of history. “In 1947 [the pre-state > Zionist militias] told us to leave. We are not going to leave this time.”’ > > *-Omar Karmi, “In Rafah, History Hangs Heavy in the Air” > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=f365dcccc7&e=086111b704> > MERO (June 6, 2004)* > > “On August 1, shortly after a 72-hour ceasefire went into effect, a > reconnaissance unit of the Givati Brigades in the Rafah area encountered a > Hamas unit and a firefight broke out. One of the Israeli soldiers was > captured and taken into a tunnel. The commanding officer, Col. Ofer Winter, > announced the implementation of the “Hannibal directive” over the radio, > thus commencing a wholesale assault on the entire area. In the first three > hours, 1,000 bombs were dropped, and over the course of that day more than > 2,000 shells were fired—including into residential areas—resulting in a > death toll of 135. It was the first time the decades-old, secretive > directive had ever been employed; [The “Hannibal directive” was conceived > in the 1980s following the capture of three Israeli soldiers by Hizballah > in Lebanon.] It entails responding to the capture of an Israeli soldier > with huge amounts of force, even at the risk of killing the captive, in > order to avoid a future situation in which the soldier would be used as a > bargaining chip in a prisoner exchange. (In June 2016, it was reported that > the directive had been canceled.)” > > *– Lisa Hajjar, Israel as Innovator in the Mainstreaming of Extreme > Violence > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=08d6225b0e&e=086111b704> > Issue 279 (Summer 2016)* > > “As economic conditions in Israel worsen, and this is reflected in more > layoffs of workers in Gaza and greater restraints on Gazan industry, and > while there is no acceptable negotiated solution to the Palestinian-Israeli > conflict, tomorrow’s Gaza could well replicate today’s Soweto, “a place > whose contradictions those who impose them don’t see and from where will > come a resolution they haven’t provided for.”’ > > *Joan Mandell, “Gaza: Israel’s Soweto” > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=d2305b4300&e=086111b704> > Issue 136/137 (Oct-Dec. 1985)* > > “As much as it underscores the downslide of daily life, it might also > suggest a degree of routine and regularity that belies the constant threat > faced by those who live in Gaza. As a resident of Rafah put it: ‘This is > worse than prison…. In prison, you can be safe. Here you are in danger all > the time.’” > > *Ilana Feldman, “Gaza as an Open Air Prison” > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=87d8637cf9&e=086111b704> > Issue 275 (Summer 2015)* > > “They are at the bottom, which produces a strange kind of optimism. It’s > very hard to ‘lose’ when you have already lost. At the same time, they have > sustained and nourished a resistance movement which has not been quiet for > one month over the last fifteen years, despite the banishments, > assassination attempts, collective punishment and massive imprisonment of > young men and women during this period. In the end, we feel that the > Israelis, for their own good, will have to come to terms with our demand > for independence and that moment — given the impossible political and > economic situation that Israel finds itself in — cannot be postponed > indefinitely.” > > *Salim Tamari, “The Palestinian Demand for Independence Cannot be > Postponed Indefinitely” > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=0f0150595f&e=086111b704>Issue > 100 (October-December 1981)* > Explore Our Archive > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=a7eeef0884&e=086111b704> > *Support MERIP! Critical Coverage, No Paywalls.* > Donate Now > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=1c336c183d&e=086111b704> > [image: Share] > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=96a4be516f&e=086111b704> > Share > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=e1d24269d6&e=086111b704> > [image: Tweet] > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=cac5f9e752&e=086111b704> > Tweet > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=4e87fed3bc&e=086111b704> > [image: Forward] > <https://us15.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=074695c355&e=086111b704> > Forward > <https://us15.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=074695c355&e=086111b704> > [image: Facebook] > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=138e6f63b7&e=086111b704> > [image: Twitter] > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=5299a9a805&e=086111b704> > [image: Website] > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=afdd40bd98&e=086111b704> > > > > > > This email was sent to [email protected] > *why did I get this?* > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/about?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=43992f77c5&e=086111b704&c=074695c355> > unsubscribe from this list > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=43992f77c5&t=b&e=086111b704&c=074695c355> > update subscription preferences > <https://merip.us15.list-manage.com/profile?u=e18284b99bf49578897672d9a&id=43992f77c5&e=086111b704&c=074695c355> > Middle East Research and Information Project · PO Box 10659 · Chicago, IL > 60610-0659 · USA > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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