Thread by @theIMEU

🧵Last night we held a historic event in the Senate to mark 75 years of Israel's ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people w/ @AJPaction, Project 48, @DAWNmenaorg, @USCPR_, @afsc_org, Virginia Coalition for Human Rights, @EmgageAction, @JvpAction, & special guest @RepRashida.

2/ @SpeakerMcCarthy failed to cancel our event & silence the voices of Palestinian survivors of the Nakba. McCarthy's attempts to prevent Palestinians from sharing their lived experiences under Israeli oppression mirrors Israel's attempt to erase the Palestinian people.

3/ But as @4noura eloquently stated: "We exist. And today, gathered here we are collectively saying, Nahna mawjudin. It is of utmost importance to say that here because we are within the very institution that has sustained the ongoing Nakba."

4/ @YousefMunayyer noted: "Prior to 1948, only about 7% of the land of Palestine was owned by Jewish landowners after decades of trying to purchase as much as they could. After the ethnic cleansing, the [Israeli] state took control of more than 90% of the land."

5/ @shiranrobinson stated: "Between 1948 and 1949, under the cover of war, Zionist militias, and then Israeli troops, successfully expelled and otherwise uprooted roughly 85% of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine who inhabited the large portion of the country they conquered."

6/ Dr. Abed Musa, who was 8 years old at the time, shared his powerful experiences witnessing atrocities and being exiled from his village of Abbasiyeh, near Jaffa, in conversation with his daughter, Jumana.

7/ We also honored all the Nakba survivors who were able to join us last night.

8/ @zeina3azzam A Grammar for Fleeing

She understands the grammar for fleeing,
unspoken rules that decide how
the journey will end, when words
like harb, war, and jou`, hunger,
might ebb and not flow.
Her toddler wakes asking for water
as the sea responds with crashing waves.

9/ @joshruebner: "US diplomats sent reports of discrimination by Israel against Palestinians who remained in cities such as Haifa & ‘Akka, Palestinians expelled by Israel from Tarshiha in the north & Majdal in the south, & wanton atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers."

10/ @JehadAbusalim: The Nakba "isn't just the loss of the homeland but the suspension of our lives & an assault on our dignity as a people. The Palestinian quest for liberation & return isn't just about reclaiming land but also about living in our historic homeland in peace."

11/ @basel_adra of #SaveMasaferYatta: "Palestinians have faced brutal attacks from soldiers & settlers. The Israeli army prevents Palestinian communities in my area from connecting to water. The Israelis make our lives hard so that we leave and they can take over our land."

12/ @RepRashida stated: "Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history & erase the existence & truth of the Palestinian people...We cannot allow the same people who want to ban books & erase history simply b/c they’re uncomfortable with the truth to silence Palestinian voices."

13/ @RepRashida also introduced a historic resolution: "As we mark 75 years since the horror of the Nakba, we honor the 1000s of lives lost, and the nearly 800,000 Palestinians who were...violently displaced from their communities during this period of intense ethnic cleansing."

14/ Thanks, too, to @RepCori for being with us last night and for cosponsoring the #Nakba75 resolution, along w/ colleagues @RepBowman, Rep. @BettyMcCollum04, @RepAOC, and Rep @Ilhan.

END/ Now we need YOUR help to get more Members of Congress to recognize Israel's ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people. Take action!