Jom Demo di Kedutaan Palestin , KL 16 Mei

Palestinians' day of catastrophe
By : Arman Ahmad

NST 12 May 08. KUALA LUMPUR: Several non-governmental organisations (NGO) will send a petition comprising more than 100,000 signatures of Malaysians to the United Nations representative here on Friday to denounce the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

The move is in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Nakba Day -- the day the state of Israel was declared on May 15, 1948.

Citizens International (CI), an NGO formed to foster awareness, activism and advocacy on issues that are central to the stability and wellbeing of humanity, said the petition was meant to be forwarded to the UN Security Council.

"At the same time, we will also send a petition of support to the Palestinian Embassy in Malaysia," said CI spokesman Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid.

Some 500 to 1,000 people would also demonstrate peacefully outside the embassy.

"With this petition, we also hope that the Malaysian government can make an initiative to help the people of Palestine, especially those living on the Gaza Strip."

"We also hope that members of parliament, regardless of their race and religious background, would also table a special motion to commemorate Nakba Day," he said.

Nakba Day, literally translated as a "day of catastrophe", also set into motion a series of events which caused untold hardship for millions of people until today.

The Israelis carried out what some regard as ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from the land which is now under their control.

It was part of a comprehensive plan, designed by the Zionist high command, to expel Palestinians from the territory after the British mandate expired, and to seize as much land as possible for an intended Jewish state.

Between 1947 and 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians were made homeless.

Today, this population has grown to over four million.

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