2nd Annual NAKBA Commemoration

CNY Working for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel will hold its second annual Nakba Commemoration. The program will feature Shaw Dallal, Amhed al-Hindi and Dana Olwan whose families were among the roughly 750,000 forcibly expelled during the lead-up to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, commonly referred to as the Nakba, or catastrophe, by Palestinians.

Keren Carmeli, an Israeli-American member of CNY Working for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel remarks “The events of 1948 continue to play a crucial role in our understanding of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of the Palestinians expelled during the Nakba remain refugees to this day, both internal and external, and their status must be addressed in order for both sides to reach a peaceable agreement.”

The event is open to the public and will feature light Middle Eastern food.

Shaw Dallal, born and raised in Palestine until the age of 14, currently teaches Arabic at Colgate University. A graduate of the Cornell University Law School, he has also taught at Syracuse University, Cornell and Utica College. He has two published novels in addition to numerous articles and essays.

Ahmad El Hindi is the CEO/CFO of Filtertech based in Manlius. He has been active for years with the Syracuse Area Middle East Dialogue group.

Dana Olwan is Assistant Professor of Gender Studies at Queen’s University and the Future Minority Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at Syracuse University for Spring 2011. Dana is former chair of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights in Canada.

CNY Working for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel is a community educational, advocacy and organizing project. Coordinated by the Syracuse Peace Council, CNY Working includes members of the local United Methodist Task Force for Peace With Justice in Palestine/Israel, the Islamic Society of CNY, Al Huda Muslim American Society Mosque, Syracuse Jews for Peace and other concerned members of the Central New York community. For more information call 472-5478 or visit www.peacecouncil.net.