Background articles
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NAKBA 101
Nakba; noun (Arabic)
The Nakba was the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 through the violent displacement and dispossession of Palestinian people, land, property and belongings, along with the destruction of Palestinian society, culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations.
May 15th has been declared ‘Nakba Day’ to commemorate these events and demand Palestinian refugees’ Right of Return.
Theodore Herzl, Balfour declaration and the fall of the Ottoman Empire
Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian journalist, was one of the initiators of the World Zionist Congress in 1897. Herzl and others believed that Jews in Europe should establish an independent Jewish national homeland to guarantee their freedom. To achieve this, Political Zionists sought to obtain territory from a colonial power to settle. While Herzl considered the colonization of Argentina, Uganda, and Egypt, most European Zionist Jews coveted Palestine for its religious and historical significance. [1]
In 1917, the Balfour declaration promised the Zionists the establishment of a homeland in Palestine. This declaration, conveyed in a letter by Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was intended for the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. Subsequently, under the terms of the League of Nations’ Mandate for Palestine (1920), Palestine as a former territory of the Ottoman Empire was put under British mandate and rule. The British acquired Mandatory Palestine in 1922 until the first Nakba in 1948, during which the minority Jewish population in Palestine increased as waves of Jewish immigration from Europe arrived. Simultaneously with the Balfour declaration, the British government also promised self-determination to the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire if they fought with the UK against the Ottomans.
Growing Resistance and the White Paper
The distrust between the native Palestinians and the European Zionist settlers intensified after the Balfour declaration, with the British administration favoring the Zionist settlers to the detriment of the Palestinians, even though the Zionist organizations and its residents owned only 6% of the land [1]. This led to a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks between Zionist militias and Palestinians residents, while both also turned against the British rulers. This culminated into the ‘Arab Revolt’ in 1936, when Palestinians started a revolution against the British mandate. The Arab Higher Committee declared 16 May as Palestine Day, and called for a general strike [2].
Palestinians demanding self-determination and an end to unrestricted Jewish immigration and land purchases were brutally repressed by the British Army, with over 19.700 Palestinian executed and killed [3]. These developments led to the UK issuing the White Paper (1939), which rejected the idea of a partition, opposed unregulated Jewish migration, and proposed the establishment of an independent Palestine government in the following 10 years. None of the White Paper’s terms were fulfilled. [3]
The Village Files: preparing for military ethnic cleansing
Between 1930 and 1947, Zionist paramilitary organization Haganah gathered the “Village Files”, an inventory of topographic locations, access roads, sociopolitical compositions, and personal information of individuals for each Palestinian village in Mandatory Palestine, preparing for the military ethnic cleansing and occupation [4].
On 30 November 1947, the UN recommended the Partition Plan for Palestine. Palestinians were fiercely opposed to this proposed partition of their land. Meanwhile, zionist militias began their program of statehood. The massacre and expulsion of Palestinians and destruction of villages began in December [5].
The Nakba
In April 1948, Plan Dalet was launched to gain control of the areas outside the borders of what would be the Jewish state according to the Partition Plan [6]. By 15 May 1948, over 200 Palestinian villages were destroyed, with reports of several massacres, biological warfare, and over 300.000 Palestinians expelled and displaced [7].
By the end of the war, with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, 78% of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by the newly declared state of Israel, with over 500 Palestinian villages destroyed, and over 750.000 Palestinians expelled [4,6,7]. According to legal definitions in the Genocide Convention, implemented after the events of 1948, the Nakba can and should legally be considered a genocide on the Palestinian people.
Palestinian refugees and the Nakba
The Palestinian refugees are the indigenous inhabitants of historic Palestine (which includes current-day Israel, the Occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip), who were displaced or expelled from their original homes and lands during the Nakba, as well as their descendants.
It is difficult to calculate the number of Palestinian refugees with total accuracy. This is due to the historical absence of a comprehensive system for registering the refugees; their multiple displacements as a result of changing political and economic circumstances; and the lack of a uniform definition of a Palestinian refugee.
In 2021, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights estimated there to be over 9 million Palestinian refugees, but the number most likely runs far higher. Even without adding those displaced by the current war on Gaza, there is an estimated million unregistered Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq.
The Right of Return
The Right of Return is an inalienable right enshrined by the The United Nations General Assembly when they adopted resolution 194 (III) in December 1948. It states that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”
To this day, the Israeli State has denied the Palestinian people the Right of Return, a right repeatedly affirmed by the international community, primarily through the adoption of racist laws that regulate citizenship and residency as well as property and land ownership. Israel’s denial of the Right of Return directly breaches international law, which compels states to make remedies for wrongful acts committed and to guarantee non-recurrence of those acts. It constitutes a violation of the Palestinian right to self-determination, which is incomplete without the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) .
Nakba triumphalism
According to researchers, there are 10 stages of genocide, the tenth being ‘denial’, according to which the perpetrators of genocide deny any existence of the crime after it happened. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, researchers have identified an eleventh stage, ‘triumphalism.’ Instead of denying the crimes, the perpetrators and their supporters celebrate their deeds and humiliate survivors. We can identify this same pattern within Israel and among its supporters. Examples are an Israeli minister stating that “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba” a month after the genocidal war on Gaza started. Other examples are Zionist counter protesters in the US attacking encampments on university campuses yelling ‘second Nakba’ or Israeli webshops selling ‘Nakba now’ shirts. Instead of denying the crimes of 1948, these crimes are being celebrated and used as threats.
Ongoing Nakba
Instead of understanding the current genocide in Gaza, Palestine as a singular event, we need to approach it within the context of the ongoing effort to ethnically cleanse native Palestinians from their land. Scholars and Palestinians speak of the ‘ongoing Nakba’. The genocide today is a continuation of the Nakba’s efforts into the 21st century to create a Jewish ethnostate in all of historic Palestine cleared of its native people. When speaking on current events in Palestine, it is crucial to keep emphasizing the interconnectedness of these events. Only then one can correctly assess the settler colonial nature and actions of the Israeli occupation and State.
What you can do
Continue to speak up about the ongoing Nakba. Whether at home, at work, with friends and family or while organizing an event: continue to advocate for a liberated Palestine. Support the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestments, Sanctions). Encourage international institutions to reassess their connections with Israel, and actively bolster Palestinian businesses and organizations. If affiliated with an academic institution, engage in the BDS movement via the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). One of their demands is that the inalienable Right of Palestinian Return is respected.
One of the over 500 ethnically cleansed and destroyed villages is the village of Zarnouqa. During this 76th commemoration of the Nakba, the documentary "Returning to Zarnouqa" tells a story of generational displacement, genocide, and the inevitability of return. View, share it in your community and screen it in your classrooms. View the ‘Resources tab’ on our website to read, listen and view more about the Nakba.
Academic References
[1] The Haycraft report https://archive.org/details/palestinedisturb00grearich/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater
[2] Kelly, Matthew (2017). The Crime of Nationalism: Britain, Palestine, and Nation-Building on the Fringe of Empire. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29149-2.
[3] Hughes, Matthew (2019). Britain's Pacification of Palestine: The British Army, the Colonial State, and the Arab Revolt, 1936–1939. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107103207.
[4] Pappe, Ilan (2006). The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications. ISBN: 9781851685554.
[5] Pappe, Ilan (2004). A History of Modern Palestine. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108244169.
[6] Khalidi, Walid (1988). Plan Dalet: Master Plan for the Conquest of Palestine. Journal of Palestine Studies. 18 (1): 4–19. doi:10.2307/2537591.
[7] Abu-Laban, Yasmeen; Bakan, Abigail B. (2022). Anti-Palestinian Racism and Racial Gaslighting. The Political Quarterly. 93 (3): 508–516. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.13166.
Paragraph References
Paragraph 2: Hussein - MacMahon papers https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-199699/
Paragraph 6: https://www.badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2022/10/31/survey2021-eng-1667209836.pdf
https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/refugee_camps/
Paragraph 7: https://www.badil.org/in-focus/14734.htm/
https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194
Paragraph 8: Source: Globalization and Genocide, Hariz Halilovich Gaza nakba
‘second Nakba’: https://x.com/teresawatanabe/status/1785580909795942766?s=46&t=50FrDPlUR04zsSx6-MhI4g
Nakba now webshop: https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1783961844970876931?s=46&t=50FrDPlUR04zsSx6-MhI4g
Paragraph 9: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/the-continuous-nakba-palestinians-and-perpetual-suffering
Nederland heeft zijn verantwoordelijkheid voor Gaza weggemoffeld achter een knopje
“Terwijl vrijwel de hele wereld zich uitsprak vóór een humanitaire gevechtspauze in Gaza, onthield Nederland zich van stemming. Toen knapte er iets bij Mohammed Benzakour. Hij bedankte voor de Dodenherdenking-lezing.
Door ons regionale Comité 4 en 5 mei was ik gevraagd of ik de Dodenherdenking-lezing wilde houden. Met als richtsnoer het landelijke thema: 'Vrijheid vertelt: opmaat naar 80 jaar vrijheid'. Eervol, maar ik bedankte vriendelijk.
Terwijl ik de uitnodiging las, spookten allerlei Gaza-filmpjes door mijn hoofd. Ik zag weer die vier tieners lopen, hoe ze plotseling één voor één tot gehakt werden vermalen, hoe de vierde probeerde te ontkomen maar z'n benen weigerden, op z'n knieën viel, waarna een projectiel ook hem in flarden scheurde.
Ik zag soldaten dansen op lijken, pleziermakend met bh's en poppen van vermoorde meisjes. Massagraven. Ook het beeld van dat uitgehongerde jochie, moeizaam sjouwend met een zak gedropte etenswaren, doemde op. Hij kreeg de kogel.
Onverdund kwaad
Ik ben gestopt met die filmpjes. Onze hersenen zijn niet ontworpen om dag in, dag uit het onverdunde kwaad van massamoord te absorberen. Liever kijk ik naar een zingend blauwborstje in het riet.
Onze tachtigjarige vrijheid en vrede loopt nogal parallel aan de tachtigjarige beroving en onderdrukking van de Palestijnen. Aan de voordeur vieren we vrijheid, via de achterdeur verstrekken we materieel waarmee jongetjes die naar voedselpakketten rennen op steriele wijze koud worden gemaakt.
Onze Israël-liefde leidde tachtig jaar lang tot topprestaties. De recentste: het land vermoordde in vier maanden tijd meer kinderen dan er in vier jaar tijd wereldwijd in alle oorlogen omkwamen.
En de teller, aangesterkt door een uithongeringsoperatie, tikt stevig door.
Rode loper
Wat betekent onze vrijheidsviering als we hier de rode loper uitrollen voor de eindverantwoordelijke van iets wat erg lijkt op uitroeiing: Isaac Herzog? De Israëlische president kreeg op 10 maart in Amsterdam een koninklijke ontvangst en mocht als hoofdgast de feestelijke opening bijwonen van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum.
Als cynisme niet bestond, was het die dag uitgevonden.
Emile Schrijver, de museumdirecteur, kan goed pottenbakken: ‘Laten we ons niet blindstaren op de persoon Herzog. Hij vertegenwoordigt de Israëlische instellingen die documenten, foto’s en videomateriaal aan ons ter beschikking stelden. Hij staat symbool voor een volk dat de Holocaust meemaakte.’
Laten we nog een pot bakken en Poetin uitnodigen om de Hermitage te openen. Het gaat immers niet om de persoon Poetin, wat telt is dat de man symbool staat voor een rijk dat schitterende kunst voortbracht.
Preambule
Opmaat naar tachtig jaar vrijheid. God, wat waren we blij met het belangrijkste document van de naoorlogse jaren: de preambule van de Universele Verklaring van de Mensenrechten uit 1948, bedoeld om een herhaling van Europa's rassen-apocalyps te voorkomen.
Maar universeel? Hoe kan de terechte angst voor antisemitisme dan zo vaak ontaarden in blinde Israël-liefde? Zijn dat niet twee lelijke gezichten van dezelfde medaille?
We weten dat Israël gesticht is als thuisland voor de Joden, die al eeuwenlang in Europa slachtoffer waren van pogroms en discriminatie. Maar waarom moeten Palestijnen beroofd en vernietigd worden voor misdaden waaraan vooral Europeanen schuldig waren?
Niet in een vacuüm
Laten we stoppen met konijnen uit een hoed toveren. Wie door propagandataal heen kan prikken, ziet haarfijn dat de horror in Gaza weinig te maken heeft met 'zelfverdediging' of Hamas. Die weet dat de Hamas-aanval van afgelopen oktober 'niet in een vacuüm is gebeurd', zoals VN-topman António Guterres opmerkte.
Die weet dat de moordpartijen door het Israëlische leger een versnelde voortzetting zijn van staand beleid: de apotheose van een uitgekiend settler-colonial project dat zijn wortels vindt in zionistische ideeën van nog vóór de oprichting van de staat Israël, lang vóór Hamas (opgericht in 1987) bestond.
Abel Herzberg bezat een glazen bol toen hem werd gevraagd 'Wat moeten wij doen om te voorkomen dat onze kinderen weer slachtoffers worden?' Zijn antwoord: 'De juiste vraag is hoe wij kunnen voorkomen dat onze kinderen beulen worden.'
VN-resolutie
En toen, op die memorabele vrijdagochtend 27 oktober 2023, op de drempel van tachtig jaar nationale vrede & vrijheid, toen schreef Nederland geschiedenis. In New York kwam een VN-resolutie in stemming, over humanitaire hulp aan Gaza: voedselpakketten, drinken, kleding, medicijnen. Israël had toen al drie weken water, gas, stroom en internet afgesloten; iets wat Europese Commissievoorzitter Ursula von der Leyen, toen Rusland hetzelfde deed met Oekraïne, 'oorlogsmisdaden' en 'terrorisme' noemde - maar nu zweeg ze.
De resolutie werd met een overweldigende meerderheid aangenomen, 120 landen. Op een groot scherm verscheen de uitslag. Mijn ogen zochten naar Nederland en zagen een geel kruisje. Stemonthouding? Droomde ik? Ik keek nog eens goed. Jawel, geel kruisje, zonder twijfel.
Anderhalve maand later, 12 december, herhaalde de geschiedenis zich. Nu ging het over een staakt-het-vuren. Praktisch de hele wereld, 153 landen, stemde vóór een pauze, zodat nabestaanden even konden ademhalen, hun doden begraven, als zombies ronddwalende kinderen wat nachtjes slaap gunnen. Maar Nederland koos opnieuw voor het gele kruis. Nooit deed geel zo'n pijn aan mijn ogen.
Aardige mensen
Toen knapte er iets. Een klein heelal spatte uiteen. Iets warms werd koud. Ik kon niet meer geloven dat dit het land is waar mijn vader in de jaren zestig zo blij naar toe was geëmigreerd. 'Nederland is een mooi land met heel aardige mensen', zei hij tegen ons. Maar hij wist toen niet dat dit mooie land op het gele kruisje zou drukken. Dat veel aardige mensen de andere kant zouden opkijken.
In kranten en op de radio hoor ik schrijvers en intellectuele lefgozers, zwanger van menslievendheid, mooie praatjes verkondigen over de koloniale verschrikkingen van eeuwen geleden in Afrika en Nederlands-Indië, maar over dezelfde verschrikkingen die zich in real-time onder hun ogen voltrekken, daarover geen woord.
Gaan we honderden jaren later ach en wee roepen wanneer de botten van het Palestijnse volk vergaan zijn tot stof? Gaan we dan boeken schrijven als ‘De Palestijnse doofpot’ en films draaien als ‘Selling a Colonial War’?
‘De wereld is een gevaarlijke plek om te leven’, zei Einstein. ‘Niet vanwege de mensen die kwaadaardig zijn, maar vanwege de mensen die niets doen.’
Doodsrochel
Ik dacht altijd dat alleen despoten nooit wakker lagen van de bloedbaden die ze aanrichten, doof zijn voor de doodsrochel die uit hun achterland opstijgt. Maar met dat gele kruis, haast achteloos ingedrukt, heeft dit land z'n eigen daden weggemoffeld achter een knopje en dit mechaniek werd een intermediair tussen het geweten en het allerergste. Voor het oog van de wereld heeft het een volk, of wat er van over is, een geel kruis op het voorhoofd gebrandmerkt, en daarmee vogelvrij verklaard.
En dan... dan staan we straks op 4 mei op de Dam. We vieren tachtig jaar vrijheid. We leggen een koninklijke krans neer. We kijken vroom uit onze ogen. Een gezant van het kabinet zegt: dit nooit meer. We houden 2 minuten stilte en slaan onze ogen neer. Geen ogenblik vervloeken we onze mensenaard. Geen ogenblik schamen we ons. Noch wensen we onszelf een plaats toe in het smadelijkste graf. Maar het bloed aan onze handen krijgen we nooit meer eraf gewassen. Dodenherdenking, een mooi idee, maar de doden van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, en andere oorlogen, verdienen beter.”
Mohammed Benzakour is socioloog en schrijver.
Dutch Scholars for Palestine heeft toestemming gekregen van de auteur om het hele stuk te delen en te vertalen. Bekijk de gepubliceerde versie in de Volkskrant hier.
The Netherlands has concealed its responsibility for Gaza behind a button
“While virtually the entire world spoke out in favor of a humanitarian pause in Gaza, the Netherlands abstained. Then something snapped within Mohammed Benzakour. He declined an invitation to speak at Remembrance Day on the 4th of May.
I had been asked by our regional 4 and 5 May Committee to deliver the Remembrance Day lecture. Guided by the national theme, “Freedom Speaks: Prelude to 80 Years of Freedom”. Honorable, but I politely declined.
As I read the invitation, all sorts of Gaza videos haunted my mind. I saw again those four teenagers walking, how they were suddenly ground into minced meat one by one, how the fourth tried to escape but his legs refused, fell to his knees, after which a projectile tore him to shreds as well.
I saw soldiers dancing on corpses, having fun with bras and dolls of murdered girls. Mass graves. The image of that starving kid, laboriously lugging a bag of dropped food, also loomed large. He got the bullet.
Undiluted evil
I stopped watching those videos. Our brains are not designed to absorb the undiluted evil of mass murder day in and day out. I prefer to look at a bluebird singing in the reeds.
Our eighty years of freedom and peace run rather parallel to the eighty years of plunder and oppression of the Palestinians. At the front door we celebrate freedom, through the back door we provide equipment that slaughters young boys running for food packages in a sterile manner.
For eighty years, our love of Israel has led to top achievements. The most recent: the country has murdered more children in four months than the total amount of children who died in conflicts around the world in four years.
And the death count, boosted by a starvation operation, increases steadily.
Red carpet
What does our celebration of freedom mean when we roll out the red carpet here for the person ultimately responsible for something very much like extermination: Isaac Herzog? The Israeli president received a royal welcome in Amsterdam on March 10 and was the main guest at the grand opening of the National Holocaust Museum.
If cynicism did not exist, it would have been invented that day.
Emile Schrijver, the museum director, is good at spinning: “Let's not focus on the person Herzog. He represents the Israeli institutions that made documents, photos and video material available to us. He symbolizes a people who lived through the Holocaust.'
Let's give this logic another spin and invite Putin to open the Hermitage. After all, what matters is not the person Putin, what matters is that the man symbolizes an empire that produced brilliant art.
Preamble
Prelude to eighty years of freedom. God, how pleased we were with the most important document of the postwar years: the preamble to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, intended to prevent a repeat of Europe's racial apocalypse.
But universal? How can the justified fear of anti-Semitism so often degenerate into blind love of Israel? Aren't those two ugly sides of the same coin?
We know that Israel was founded as a homeland for the Jews, who were victims of pogroms and discrimination for centuries in Europe. But why should Palestinians be robbed and destroyed for crimes committed primarily by Europeans?
Not in a vacuum
Let's stop pulling rabbits out of a hat. Anyone who can pierce through propaganda language can see very clearly that the horror in Gaza has little to do with “self-defense” or Hamas. They know that last October's Hamas attack “did not happen in a vacuum,” as UN chief António Guterres noted.
They know that the massacres by the Israeli army are an accelerated continuation of an ongoing policy: the apotheosis of a sophisticated settler-colonial project rooted in Zionist ideas from even before the creation of the state of Israel, long before Hamas (founded in 1987) existed.
Abel Herzberg possessed a crystal ball when asked “What should we do to prevent our children from becoming victims again? His answer: “The right question is how to prevent our children from becoming executioners.”
UN resolution
And then, on that memorable Friday morning, October 27, 2023, on the threshold of eighty years of national peace & freedom, that's when the Netherlands made history. A UN resolution was voted on in New York, on humanitarian aid to Gaza: food parcels, drinks, clothing, medicine. By then Israel had already cut off water, gas, electricity and internet for three weeks; something that, when Russia did the same to Ukraine, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, had called “war crimes” and “terrorism” - but now she was silent.
The resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority, 120 countries. The results appeared on a big screen. My eyes searched for the Netherlands and saw a yellow cross. Abstention? Was I dreaming? I looked again carefully. Yep, yellow cross, no doubt.
A month and a half later, December 12, history repeated itself. Now it was about a cease-fire. Practically the whole world, 153 countries, voted for a pause, so survivors could breathe for a while, bury their dead, give children wandering around like zombies some sleep. But the Netherlands once again chose the yellow cross. Never did yellow hurt my eyes so much.
Kind people
Then something snapped. A small universe shattered. Something warm became cold. I could no longer believe that this was the country my father had so happily emigrated to in the 1960s. “Holland is a beautiful country with very nice people,” he told us. But little did he know then that this beautiful country would press the yellow cross. That many nice people would look the other way.
In newspapers and on the radio I hear writers and intellectual daredevils, pregnant with humanity, proclaiming fine talk about the colonial horrors of centuries ago in Africa and the Dutch East Indies, but not a word about the same horrors taking place in real-time in front of their eyes.
Are we going to cry aghast hundreds of years later when the bones of the Palestinian people have turned to dust? Will we then write books like 'The Palestinian Cover-up' and make movies like Selling a Colonial War?
'The world is a dangerous place to live,' Einstein said. 'Not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do nothing.'
Death rattle
I always thought that only despots never lose sleep over the massacres they commit, deaf to the scream and the roar of death rising from their hinterland. But with that yellow cross, pressed almost carelessly, this country concealed its own deeds behind a button, and this mechanism became an intermediary between conscience and the very worst. Before the eyes of the world, it branded a people, or what is left of them, with a yellow cross on the forehead, and thus outlawed them.
And then... then we will stand on Dam Square on the 4th of May. We celebrate eighty years of freedom. We lay down a royal wreath. We adopt a pious face. A cabinet envoy says: never again. We observe two minutes of silence and lower our eyes. Not for a moment do we curse our human nature. Not for a moment do we feel ashamed. Nor do we wish ourselves a place in the most ignominious grave. But we will never be able to wash off the blood that is on our hands. Remembrance Day, a nice idea, but the dead of the Second World War, and other wars, deserve better.”
Mohammed Benzakour is a sociologist and writer.
Dutch Scholars for Palestine has received permission from the author to share and translate the complete piece. See the published version in Volkskrant here.
For more information on these women and their stories visit our Instagram account and press on the ‘Women’s Day’ story.
Ga voor meer informatie over deze vrouwen en hun verhalen naar ons Instagram account en klik op het verhaal 'Women’s day'.
No to whitewashing racial and colonial policies.
A group of Palestinian and Lebanese scholars and artists reject Dutch subsidy.
In February 2024, a group of Lebanese and Palestinian scholars and artists refused to accept a subsidy of 600.000 euros from the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, a subsidy originally financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They decided to end all cooperation with the institute. The subsidy was meant for two projects concerning sustainable water management in Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. The IHE Institute has been cooperating on water projects with Palestinian universities for a long time.
The scholars and artists refused the subsidy for two specific reasons, which they explain in a signed letter. First, they condemn the stance of the Dutch government with regard to the genocide that is being committed by Israel in Gaza. The government’s unconditional support for Israel and its silence concerning Israel’s widespread human rights abuses is unacceptable, according to the group of scholars and artists. Second, the group denounces the IHE’s inaction and refusal to condemn Israel’s crimes in Gaza. Given the long-standing relationship between the IHE and Palestinian universities, the IHE's silence hits the academics and artists even harder.
The IHE and the Dutch government responded to the letter by Palestinian and Lebanese scholars and artists in different ways. The IHE explained that it “never takes a position in favor of one party or another” and thus emphasized its neutrality. It also underscored that the water projects were aimed at “bringing people closer together”. Moreover, the institute stated that, “should the government change its position”, it hopes to be able to work together with the signatories again. The institution is thus clearly not willing to undertake any action itself. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, claimed it disagrees with the signatories’ criticism of Dutch policy towards Israel and Palestine. In addition, it argued that the subsidized program serves to support the Palestinian people and that due to the group’s refusal, this cannot go ahead anymore. Thus, the Ministry tried to deflect the blame towards its critics.
DSP’s statement
We applaud the action by the group of Palestinian and Lebanese scholars and artists. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dutch government are supporting Israel and its genocidal campaign, while Dutch academic institutions try to hide behind a façade of neutrality. However, remaining silent is also taking a stance; it is a political position in itself, one in support of the status quo. As Desmond Tutu, South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist, argued: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
We strongly condemn the attempt of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to blame its critics for its own inability to support the Palestinian people. This neocolonial approach of “we know what is best” is gruesome, especially since that same government continues to enable Israel’s genocidal campaign.
As a result, it is upon us to undertake action. We will take the brave initiative from our Palestinian and Lebanese colleagues as an inspiration for our own academic boycott campaigns.
Support PACBI!
We need to continue to put pressure on Israel and its supporters and financers. One way to do so is by initiating boycott campaigns. Therefore, we urge all people working in the academic and/or cultural sector to join the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). You can read more about this campaign on PACBI’s webpage, which you can find in our bio. We also encourage everyone to implement BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) in their daily life, for example, by refraining from buying Israeli dates.
A link to the letter (in Dutch) by the group of Palestinian and Lebanese scholars and artists can be found here: https://www.mo.be/opinie/wij-hoeven-uw-geld-niet
Nee tegen het witwassen van raciaal en koloniaal beleid
Een groep Libanese en Palestijnse wetenschappers en kunstenaars wijst Nederlandse subsidie af.
In februari 2024 weigerde een groep Libanese en Palestijnse wetenschappers en kunstenaars een subsidie van 600.000 euro te accepteren van het IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, een subsidie oorspronkelijk gefinancierd door het Nederlandse Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. De groep besloot alle samenwerking met het instituut te beëindigen. De subsidie was bedoeld voor twee projecten met betrekking tot duurzaam waterbeheer in Jordanië, Palestina en Libanon. Het IHE Instituut werkt al lange tijd samen met Palestijnse universiteiten aan waterprojecten.
De wetenschappers en kunstenaars hebben de subsidie geweigerd om twee specifieke redenen, die ze in een ondertekende brief toelichten. Ten eerste veroordelen zij de houding van de Nederlandse regering ten opzichte van de genocide die Israel in Gaza pleegt. De onvoorwaardelijke steun van de regering aan Israël en haar stilzwijgen over de wijdverbreide mensenrechtenschendingen door Israël is onacceptabel, aldus de groep wetenschappers en kunstenaars. Ten tweede hekelt de groep ook de passiviteit en weigering van het IHE om de misdaden van Israël in Gaza te veroordelen. Gezien de langdurige relatie tussen het IHE en Palestijnse universiteiten, raakt het stilzwijgen van het IHE de academici en artiesten nog harder.
Het IHE en de Nederlandse regering reageerden op verschillende manieren op de brief van Palestijnse en Libanese wetenschappers en kunstenaars. Het IHE legde uit dat het "nooit een standpunt inneemt voor de ene of andere partij" en benadrukte dus zijn neutraliteit. Het onderstreepte ook dat de waterprojecten bedoeld waren om "mensen dichter bij elkaar te brengen". Bovendien stelde het instituut dat, "mocht het kabinet van standpunt veranderen", het hoopt weer te kunnen samenwerken met de ondertekenaars. De instelling is dus duidelijk niet bereid om zelf actie te ondernemen. Het Nederlandse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken zei het anderzijds niet eens te zijn met de kritiek van de ondertekenaars op het Nederlandse beleid ten aanzien van Israël en Palestina. Daarnaast beweerde het dat het gesubsidieerde programma dient om het Palestijnse volk te steunen en dat dit door de weigering van de groep niet meer kan doorgaan. Het ministerie probeerde dus de schuld op zijn critici af te schuiven.
DSP’s statement
Wij juichen de actie van de groep Palestijnse en Libanese wetenschappers en kunstenaars toe. Het Nederlandse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken en de Nederlandse regering steunen Israël en zijn genocidale campagne terwijl Nederlandse academische instellingen proberen zich te verschuilen achter een façade van neutraliteit. Zwijgen is echter ook een standpunt innemen; het is een politiek standpunt op zich, een standpunt ter ondersteuning van de status-quo. Zoals Desmond Tutu, Zuid-Afrikaanse bisschop en anti-apartheidsactivist, betoogde: "Als je neutraal bent in situaties van onrecht, heb je de kant van de onderdrukker gekozen."
Wij veroordelen ten zeerste de poging van het Nederlandse Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken om haar critici de schuld te geven van haar eigen onvermogen om het Palestijnse volk te steunen. Deze neokoloniale benadering van "wij weten wat het beste is" is gruwelijk, vooral omdat diezelfde regering de genocidecampagne van Israël mogelijk blijft maken.
Daarom is het aan ons om actie te ondernemen. We zullen het moedige initiatief van onze Palestijnse en Libanese collega's als inspiratie nemen voor onze eigen academische boycotcampagnes.
Steun PACBI!
We moeten druk blijven uitoefenen op Israël en zijn aanhangers en financiers. Eén manier om dat te doen is door boycotcampagnes op te zetten. Daarom roepen we iedereen die werkt in de academische en/of culturele sector op om zich aan te sluiten bij de Palestijnse Campagne voor de Academische en Culturele Boycot van Israël (PACBI). Je kunt meer over deze campagne lezen op de webpagina van PACBI, die ook te vinden is in onze bio. We moedigen iedereen ook aan om BDS (Boycot, Desinvestering en Sancties) in hun dagelijks leven toe te passen, bijvoorbeeld door geen Israëlische dadels te kopen.
Een link naar de brief van de groep Palestijnse en Libanese wetenschappers en kunstenaars vind je hier: https://www.mo.be/opinie/wij-hoeven-uw-geld-niet
Pinkwashing, a weapon of the "progressive" settler
Interview conducted by DSP
The actual experiences of queer Palestinians underscore the deceptiveness of pinkwashing. On November 18th, 2023, DSP interviewed E., a lesbian woman that grew up in Jordan. Her mom is Palestinian, so she would visit Palestine often to see her family, in a village close to Nablus.
We started by discussing E’s queer journey. She never officially came out to her family, because coming out is a Western element of queer culture, and is not as important for queer people elsewhere. Nonetheless, she does not hide her sexuality from her family. E. told us that her family in Palestine is actually quite accepting, and that her parents have always been supportive.
E. lives in the Netherlands now, and even though queerness is more openly discussed here, she feels like it is also more tokenized. Especially at work, she often feels tokenized not just as a queer woman but also as an Arab person. Moreover, although she feels safe about her lesbian identity in Europe, at times she is afraid of disclosing her Palestinian identity, even in queer spaces. She also told DSP that, even though the Amsterdam queer scene is often praised as the best in the world, the best and most inclusive queer parties/spaces she had ever been to were actually back home and in Lebanon. Her experience definitely contrasts with Israel’s image of a queer haven amongst oppressive Arab countries. We not only discussed how there are other places with vibrant queer cultures in the Middle East, but E also told us that, apart from Tel Aviv, Israel is not necessarily safe for queer people.
Next to that, E. expressed concern about how Westerners defend queer rights based on the democratic ideal of equality, but then accept the violation of basic human rights under the disguise of queer rights protection. She expressed disgust at how Westerners are so focused on queer liberation, when they keep financing Israel’s oppression of Palestinian people, and thus impeding queer liberation there. In her words, “In the West, queer liberation only came after years of economic and social development, the same type of development that was and is being robbed from Palestinians by colonial forces”.
The interview with E. reminded us of the words of academic and queer activist Sarah Schullman (2011): “(…) many people have come to mistakenly assess how advanced a country is by how it responds to homosexuality. Yet in a selective democracy like Israel, the inclusion of LGBT Jews in the military, or the relative openness of Tel Aviv, are not accurate measures of broad human rights.”
See also DSP’s Instagram post about pinkwashing here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0zWSwRoW3f/?igsh=MWdwZmw3YTlzZHkzYg==