At the end of 1947, before the establishment of the state of Israel, Arabs constituted a large majority of the population in Palestine- nearly 1.4 million out of 2 million people. That included present-day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian Arabs owned close to 90 percent of the country's privately owned land. However by October 1948 probably more than 750,000 Palestinian people had been expelled or forced to flee from the areas that became part of the state of Israel. These dispossessed Palestinians and their descendants were never allowed to return to their homes by the Israeli government. The key in the painting is symbolic of the key to their homes kept by many of the uprooted Palestinian families and of their right of return. The Nakba, meaning catastrophe, is commemorated every year on May 15 to remember the tragedy that befell the Palestinian people and to remind the world of their right of return to the homeland from which they were so unjustly expelled.
For further information on Israel's discriminatory laws and practices click here
(Speech by Susan Abulhawa at UPenn BDS Conference)
For further information on Israel's discriminatory laws and practices click here
(Speech by Susan Abulhawa at UPenn BDS Conference)