71 Years Without a Country: Stateless Palestinians from Lebanon

Bring the voices of Palestinian refugees and survivors of the Nakba to North America.

Help us raise the funds to bring 2 Palestinian refugees, including a survivor of the Nakba, to come speak to audiences in North America.

In some ways time stopped in 1948 for the Palestinian refugees
in Lebanon.  Many of them and their descendants are living in the
same refugee camps created when the Zionist forces expelled them
from  Palestine in that year.

Israel expelled most of the majority Palestinian population in 1948,
and has prevented them from returning to their homes ever since.
Hundreds of towns and villages were leveled to the ground, a crime that
Palestinians call al-Nakba (the Catastrophe). But Israel did
not stop there. It repeatedly attacked Palestinian refugees in Lebanon,
killing thousands more.

Suddenly stateless and without the benefits of citizenship,
Palestinian refugees were extremely vulnerable and had very few rights
starting in 1948. 71 years later, not much has changed for Palestinian
refugees in Lebanon, who continue to be denied basic civil rights as
well as their most fundamental right: to return to their homeland.

These Palestinians have different experiences than other
Palestinians, even as they share a common struggle and identity. They
are not living under Israeli occupation. Israel does not allow them to
visit their homes, much less live there. As exiles, they have
a different perspective from Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West
Bank, Gaza and the part of Palestine that became Israel.

In 2016 the Nakba Tour brought 21-year-old Amena ElAshkar
and 86-year-old Nakba survivor Mariam Fathalla to 26 venues in
North America.  In 2017, Amena journeyed with 85-year-old Khawla Ibrahim
 to another 29 venues.

This year, Amena is returning with Em Akram (Mariam Fathalla), now
89, to share her personal story of the most tragic event in Palestinian
history.

On May 14, 1948, as Zionist leader David Ben Gurion was proclaiming a
 Jewish state in Palestine, his troops drove out the inhabitants of the
ancient Palestinian town of al-Zeeb. 18-year-old Mariam Fathalla (Em Akram) was one of them. She and her young husband fled to Lebanon. By year’s end the 4,000-year-old community had been leveled. More than half of all
Palestinians were killed or expelled and more than half the cities, towns and villages disappeared, a crime that Palestinians call al-Nakba (the Catastrophe). Now 89 years old, Mariam has spent the last 71 years in crowded, makeshift refugee camps in Lebanon. She has raised three generations, all waiting to return to Palestine. She has seen five Israeli invasions of Lebanon, as well as the 1976 Tel al-Zaatar camp massacre that killed more than 2000 refugees there.

Amena ElAshkar, 24, is a Palestinian journalist and translator. She is the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Nakba survivors and has known no home other than a refugee camp.

Em Akram and Amena have a different message from other Palestinians.  They are among six million Palestinians not living in Palestine – more than those who are.  They are citizens of no government at all, not even the "Palestinian Authority".  They are not living under Israeli occupation. Israel does not allow them to visit their homes, much less live there.  As exiles, they have a different perspective from Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the part of Palestine that became Israel.

We want you to hear their story.

Book a spot on the Nakba Tour and help us raise funds for the Tour!

Em Akram and Amena on the Nakba Tour in 2016.
We think our 2016 Tour was the first time two stateless Palestinian refugees from camps outside Palestine have spoken in person to North American audiences on this scale. Their stories touched many people and reminded everyone about who and what the Palestinian struggle is about. We hope you will join us in 2019 to help us tell the story of the Nakba.

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The Costs.

The North America Nakba Tour is a not-for-profit project. The costs of a national tour -- including flights from Lebanon, vehicle rental, gas, maintenance, insurance, food, as well as organizational expenses such as advertising, website maintenance, and other costs -- are enormous. If you believe that North American communities should heed the words of Palestinian refugees, listen to their plight, and understand the right of return, then we need your help to make it happen.

How You Can Help

• Donate. We can use all the support we can get!
• ​Attend. A growing list of North America Nakba Tour dates and our co-sponsors across the US and Canada can be found here and here. 
• Organize. We are looking for local organizations along the tour route that can help us with events. If your city is on this list, please contact us to set up an event. 
• Stream. If you don't live along the East Coast tour itinerary, you can set up a remote event by livestream. Contact us to figure it out!