Palestinian Return Centre Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary in London

The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) celebrated its 10 year Anniversary, on Tuesday, March 7, 2007 in an event that brought together a large number of human rights activists, Arab officials and British MPs.

A dinner and a reception was held at the Novotel Hotel in Euston, London to commemorate the occasion, which was used as an opportunity to reflect on PRC’s past achievements in spreading awareness of refugees rights in the United Kingdom and around the world. The centre had also used the opportunity to announce the establishment of the Palestine Culture Centre, which is intended to be a major hub for Palestinian culture and art.

Mr. Majed al-Zeer, the director general of PRC, initiated the event’s program by reminding the audience that the goal is “not to focus the spotlight on the centre,” rather, the event was “an opportunity to remind others of the Palestinian refugee issue,” which is central to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and rights. “In the pursuit of its objectives the centre maintains direct contact with the refugee camps through its permanent representatives there. At the same time we have continued to raise public awareness through our Arabic and English periodicals,” he said.

Mr. al-Zeer who had also briefly outlined the work of the centre, its accomplishments and challenges, adding, “our experience has increased our conviction that the rights of the Palestinian people will be restored however long it takes.”

An impressive list of speakers addressed the audience briefly, starting with the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Dr. Manuel Hassasian, who, affirmed the Palestinian leadership’s unbending resolve to ensure a just resolution to the refugees issues.

Labour Party MP, Mr. Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield), said that it was shameful that Palestinian refugees, made stateless since 1947-48 are still homeless, while the international community’s response to any other refugee crisis is to send the dispossessed home.

Dr. Mohamed Abdul Bari, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, reaffirmed the MCB support for the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom, reiterating the centrality of the Palestinian question not only to the Muslim world, but the world at large. Two other Muslim figures, Sadiq Khan MP. and Lord Nazir Ahmed, the first Muslim peer in the British House of Lords repeated a similar message.

Mr. Jermey Corbyn, the member of Parliament for Islington North and a prominent campaigner in the anti-war movement spoke out strongly against the injustices committed against the Palestinian people, urging immediate redress. He hoped that on the 20th  anniversary of PRC there will no longer be a refugee problem and no reason for a refugee rights advocacy group to exist.

One of the various video films that were shown was a promotional film of the forthcoming Palestine Cultural Centre (PCC), a unique project that is scheduled for launching in November 2007. PCC will include a museum, an art gallery, a lecture and seminar room, a gift shop and a library. The project has received the bulk of its funding from the government of the United Arab Emirates. The new centre will feature the work of prominent Palestinian and other artists in whose work Palestine is a recurring theme.

The evening was concluded with the presentation of a few awards to a number of scholars, artists and activists. While some of the recipients were present at the event, others couldn’t make it due to Israeli restrictions.

The awards were presented by Ambassador Hassasian, Mr. al-Zeer, and Mr. Zahir al-Beirawi, the Chairman of the PRC Board of Trustees, who initiated the ceremony with a few words, thanking the center’s supporters for their devotion and dedication.  

The following is a list of the recipients:

Dr. Walid Seif: a professor at the University of Jordan and a prominent Arab TV writer; His television drama, the Palestinian Taghribah, was considered by many critics as the most realistic depiction of the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, and the collective resistence of the Palestinian people. 

Ms. Omayya Joha: A Palestinian artist from Gaza, who works for Al-Quds newspaper. She is regarded as the first woman to draw caricatures for a daily political newspaper in Palestine and the Arab world. Her work, which can be found in numerous publications and websites, illustrates the daily suffering of the Palestinians, their dreams, hopes and aspirations, and their resilience in the face of the Israeli occupation.

Dr. Daud Abduallah: A prominent activist and a respected scholar. He is the editor of the PRC’s Return Review. He is a regular contributor to the Palestine Times and the Palestine Chronicle. He has written and edited several volumes on Palestine, and has lectured on the issue to audiences in Malaysia, India, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, South Africa and several European countries.

Dr. Salman Abu Sitta:  Abu-Sitta was 9 years old when he was forced, with the rest of his family, to flee the family home in Beir al-Sabe' (now Beersheba) in 1948. Later, he graduated from the University of Cairo and received a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of London. Dr. Abu-Sitta is a former member of the Palestine National Council (for 20 years). He is founder of the Palestine Land Society and is a researcher on Palestinian refugee issues with over 50 papers and other publications to his credit.

Dr. Swee Chai Ang: An orthopaedic surgeon and an occupational health specialist. She worked in the Gaza Hospital in Beirut during the Israeli invasion of the city in 1982. She treated many of the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre and gave testimony to the Kahan Commission which was set up to investigate the mass killings in which thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese were either killed or are still missing. Her experiences have been recorded in her book: From Beirut to Jerusalem. Dr Ang has since been a founding patron of the Medical Aid for Palestinians, one of the foremost organizations working in this area.

Dr. Swee Chai Ang

Interpal: A most respected and dedicated charity that has for 11 years served the Palestinian people, especially in the refugee camps with unequalled dedication. It has, despite intense pressures, stood with so much resilience and devotion to fill the gap, providing for thousands of needy families, as some members of the international community turned a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and their places of Diaspora.

Finally, PRC thanked its supporters for “making Palestine, its just cause and its people, a priority in your work and activism. Without your solidarity, neither PRC nor any other Palestinian organization in the UK could carry on with its work.”