2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”), the violent expulsion and ethnic cleansing of 750.000 Palestinians from their hometowns between 1947 and 1949 in the course of the founding of the State of Israel. Palestinians commemorate the Nakba every year on the 15th of May.
Last year however, from the 13th to the 15th of May 2022, all public commemoration of the Nakba was banned in Berlin, harming basic democratic rights of freedom of speech and assembly. Whoever seemed to be demonstrating was arrested, which came to a total of 27 arrests and fines of over 8.000 euros in total.
The ban on assemblies around their day of mourning is not only a matter for the Palestinians. This precedent is an alarming door opener for further restrictions on freedom of expression and thus a matter for all democratically minded people in Germany.
That is why the #nakba75 campaign is calling for the defence of the basic democratic rights to freedom of expression and assembly on 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Together with all people who stand up for democracy and freedom, we want to commemorate the Nakba on Saturday, the 20th of May 2023, with a nationally mobilized, central large-scale demonstration in the capital Berlin.
Commemorating the Nakba is a right that should not have to be fought for. Freedom of expression and assembly are universal human rights!
You can find the campaign
- on Instagram @nakba_75
- On Facebook under the name #nakba75
- on this Telegram channel for Updates:
to find out more about the last years Nakba Ban and if you want to support the campaign, you can do so under www.nakba-ban.org.
