Al Nakba Day Recognition
Minneapolis, MN
On Tuesday, May 15, 2007 in front of the Minneapolis Central Library at 12:00pm, members of JFAETTO (Jews For An End To The Occupation) joined the international commemoration of Al Nakba Day. Just as in other cities in the U.S. and Israel, we mapped out a grid and outline of the state of Israel and Occupied Territories and asked passersby to help us put the names of the 531 Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948 back on the map.
After one hour of setting up the event, we were stopped by library security officers for "Defacing Library Property" with sidewalk chalk and electrical tape. Not letting this deter us, we moved our event across the street and recreated the map. Over a span of 4 hours, we spoke to around 70 people who placed 100 Palestinian villages on the map. Many people who we asked to help us, did. Those that stopped showed interest and appreciation for a creative way to share important information. A group of high school students stayed for 15 minutes to ask questions and put villages on the map. We were overwhelmed by the support from Minneapolis bus drivers who asked questions en route, and yelled variations of, "Keep up the fight!" as they passed.
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