A gallant mission and remarkable efforts
Ansam Bizzari - AlJazeeraTalk - Texas, USA
 The magnitude of the 1948 Nakba in Palestine is beyond ones imagination; regrettably it became a sunken reality in ones mind with the continuance overwhelming atrocities in Palestine by the Zionists. When you take a step back and start scrutinizing history, in an attempt to understand what is happening, you will realize that what is taking place currently in Palestine is no more than a continuation of a brutal and barbaric strategy of a wicked enemy. As the Zionists declared their notorious independence on May 14, 1948, the pain, suffering, and Diaspora of an entire people began.
Massive efforts have been undertaken to record the history of the Palestinian people and the tragedies they have and continue to live as we speak. One vivid and unique example is the project titled “Palestine Remembered”, founded on a noble mission to “Preserve the memory and experiences of Palestinians, and to share experiences among Palestinian refugees”
The project is translated into an admirable website that takes the reader into a journey back in history, empowered by statistics, rare photos, maps, live testimonials and videos, registering the contradictions between the beauty and charm of the Holy land, and the hostility and cruelty of Zionism.
Street scene in the old city next to Jaffa’s famous clock tower, before 1914. Matson Collection
The wealth of information the website provides renders it an inclusive resource; encompassing live interaction to the curious navigator, and granting an opportunity to learn the history and the geography of what “they” claimed is their “promise land”.
The website provides a distinctive file for each and every city and little town in “Historic Palestine”, many of which have been completely destroyed and ethnically cleansed of their indigenous Arab populations, merely to endow a “home land” to the enormous waves and influx of Jewish immigrants from different parts of the world.
The website takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster; when visiting the “Satellite View”, and “Pictures” links, you witness first hand the breath taking allure of the different parts of the country, with its geography, nature, and culture; while visiting the “Oral History of the Nakba” link, you will have the distressing experience of listening to real life horror stories and interviews by those who witnessed the persecution, killing, looting, and rape in their own eyes.
Jerusalem-This alley street is called Aqbat Al-Sarayyah
As disturbing as the history has been, these live interviews with “actual” refugees, put a personal touch on each and every story narrated; they lived it minute by minute, and had it obviously carved in their psyche, simply to echo to the world that Palestine was not “a land without a people” as Zionist propagandists have been –and continue to- broadcast to the world.
Over 750,000 Arab Palestinians fled or were ejected out of more than 530 villages and cities, it is ironically fortunate that some of them are living testimonials and story tellers, looking the world right in the eye, and candidly declaring that the Palestinian people will survive.
October 1948. Palestinian ethnic cleansing
The website has pioneered in introducing the “narrated oral history” that marks the uniqueness of the project.
Dr. Salman Abou-Sitta, a notable author and researcher, articulates a “re-examined monograph” of the events of the Nakba in the Right of Return “ROR” link on the website. The detailed reports, documents and maps are factual confirmations of the rights of the Palestinian refugees. Dr. Abou-Sitta stands as an icon of the ROR movement, which seeks to advance, promote and enable the Palestinian Diaspora to return home.
The founders of the website never neglected the emerging issues and current events taking place in Palestine. New links continue to be introduced and updated, marking the nonstop pain and suffering. The “Gaza Break Jail Special” is a true example.
With over 6000 registered members, the website grants the opportunity to the public to post articles, pictures, and videos; and warmly welcomes volunteers who share the dedication, drive, and vision of the project’s mission.
A sincere word of thanks and gratitude is never enough to the founders and developers of the website www.palestineremembered.com for the remarkable devotion to the Palestinian question and issues.
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