About the 50 Years Project Goals of the conference Draft Agenda Latest conference information Links to other 50 Year sites Register for the conference
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About the 50 Years Project Goals of the conference Draft Agenda Latest conference information Links to other 50 Year sites Register for the conference
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Next year marks 50 years since the establishment of the State of Israel. Throughout those 50 years, the Israel-Palestine conflict has remained the central conflict in the Middle East, demanding attention from all major world leaders. 1998 also marks the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
At the time of this anniversary, it is important to remember that Israel was founded on the dispossession of an entire people. Human rights abuses against Palestinians didn’t begin with the 1967 war. The creation of Israel itself, marked the beginning of 50 years of violations of the most basic human rights of Palestinians who remained inside historic Palestine, and those who left as refugees.
By 1949, the Zionist movement had gained control of 77% of the land of Palestine. Of the 1,300,000 original Arab inhabitants, 900,000 had been displaced, creating the largest refugee crisis the world had ever seen. Over 400 villages, ten thousand Arab shops and most of the fertile Arab citrus crops were now in Jewish hands. This mass expulsion was carried out on the back of large-scale atrocities, such as the massacre at Deir Yassin where 254 Arab villagers were murdered in cold blood. This event was described by former Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, as “a spectacular contribution” to the Zionist cause.
The state of Israel maintained its policy of systematic violation of Palestinian human rights in the decades following 1948. The Palestinian population which remained in Israel was put under military rule. Confiscation of land and property continued. These abuses culminated in the war of 1967, which saw the remainder of historic Palestine fall under Israeli military occupation.
The Oslo Accords of 1993 were to begin a new era of peace and lead to the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state. Instead, the prospects of recovering territory, vital for the building of a Palestinian state, have decreased. Half of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 have fallen under Israeli control and 10% of that amount has been seized in the 4 years since Oslo. In 1947, the indigenous Palestinian population owned - privately or publicly - 93% of the total land between the Mediterranean sea and the Jordan river. Today, Palestinian private land has decreased to around 15% of the total land area of which about 10% is in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The notion of the 50 Years Conference came from Palestinians who were concerned that next year would be marked by Israeli celebrations which would ignore the real history of the conflict. Initial response has been overwhelming - many individuals and groups have expressed enthusiasm to be part of the project.
The 50 Years of Violations of Basic Human Rights - Palestine Dispossessed conference is an attempt to remember history as it was, from the standpoint of those who have suffered since 1948 and before. No just and lasting peace is possible without an honest appraisal of history.
The 50 Years Conference will bring together leading academics, policy makers, human rights organizations and activists from within the Occupied territories, Israel and internationally to consider this history. From this collective discussion, the historical record and its relevance for today can be assessed. A book will be published from conference papers and other contributors as a permanent record of the last 50 years. The aim will be to widen discussion to all sectors of Palestinian society ; refugees, residents of Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and Israel to establish networks which can work to redressing the violations of the last 50 years, and achieve a just and lasting peace in the context of human rights.
Importantly, the conference aims to develop a set of proposals and recommendations that can influence future negotiations and ensure the popular voice is heard. These resolutions will seek to guarantee that restitution is made for past human rights abuses and future discussions consider the rights of all members of the Palestinian community.
In addition, the conference will be a starting point for activities leading up to the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights on December 10. The Conference will adopt a plan of action to bring these issues to the attention of the world community and the UN. This will occur through the establishment of networks and public events around the world to mark this event in December. Back to top
Recent international discussion has concentrated on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, avoiding the legitimate rights of Palestinians who lived within the territory occupied in 1948. Unfortunately, much of the negotiations process has also ignored this history and, at the same time through the Oslo process, implicitly recognized an equal sovereign claim of Israel to territory in the West Bank and Gaza. This has superseded 1947 UN Resolution 181, which gave international recognition to Arab sovereignty over half of historic Palestine. Palestinian society today remains divided by this approach of the international community. Without a strategy that considers all victims of Israeli abuses, any final peace settlement will remain unattainable.
History is rarely written from the perspective of its victims. Many myths have become well-established over the last 50 years which ignore human rights violations perpetrated by Israel. 
Palestinians have been cast as terrorists, and a backward, uncivilized people. In recent years some of these myths have begun to be challenged by historians within Israeli itself The original survivors of the “Nakba” - or The Catastrophe as 1948 is called by Arabs - are nearing the end of their lives. Their stories will be lost unless they are made part of the permanent historical record.
The lesson of every major international conflict is this: no peace is possible without redressing the wrongs of the past. During any future negotiations, this complete assessment is essential to achieving an agreement acceptable to all parties. Any assessment must include a strategy of restitution for those whose rights have been violated. The conference aims to assess history as it was, but not merely for academic curiosity. History makes the present, and if the present is to be just, its history must be honest. Back to top
The 50 years project will take place over three phases: Research and Networking, Discussion, Advocacy and Dissemination.
During the research phases, international and local experts will be asked to gather material from their research for presentation at the conference. This research will focus on documenting the human rights abuses of the last 50 years and the motivations behind them. In addition, contact will be established with Palestinian communities abroad to co-ordinate other activities and initiatives. Already interest has been expressed in projects such as films, theatre productions, internationally co-ordinated public actions and oral history research from individuals in the US, Europe and the Middle East.
The second phase, the Conference itself, will bring together the information gathered in the first phase for discussion over three days. Representatives from all communities in the region will be invited to attend the conference, as well as international participants. A major aspect of this conference will be to develop recommendations to address past human rights abuses as well as publicize and prevent ongoing abuses.
The Conference will plan actions in the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and establish lasting networks to take these plans back to the respective countries of the participants.
During the third phase, advocacy and dissemination, the results of the conference will be published as a book along with papers from individuals unable to attend. This information and recommendations will be presented to the local and international communities as a guide for further negotiation and strategies to improve the situation of human rights in the region. Back to top
The conference initiative will take place over a period of 14 months
The initial phase of the project will consist of approaching leading experts in the field of Palestinian human rights and history. A website will also be designed to build the conference, provide information to the world community and act as a networking and publicity tool.
Contact will be established with concerned individuals and groups outside of the area to co-ordinate activities and publicize the conference.
A moderated email based discussion list will also be established for the world community to share ideas, information and resources.
The papers submitted will be presented by their authors at a conference convened in the West Bank. Discussion will occur in both small groups and in larger forums to facilitate debate around the ideas presented. In addition there will be a cultural event and presentation of films. Real time video footage will be broadcast over the internet with ability to field questions and contributions from individuals overseas. In addition conference sessions will be videoed and later produced into a film. Local and international media will be invited to cover the event.
Papers will be synthesized into a strategy for addressing human rights abuses that have occurred over the last 50 years, taking into consideration strategies followed by other governments eg South Africa. This strategy can form a basis for future negotiations.
Conference proceedings will be produced as a book along with articles solicited from other experts in the field. This book will be widely distributed locally and internationally. A shorter report in both Arabic and English which summarizes the results of the conference will be made available for world-wide distribution.
In addition, follow-up meetings will be organized with Palestinian and Israeli officials to present the conclusions of the conference. Recommendations and strategy will be presented to international non-governmental agencies, UN agencies, donors, local Palestinian officials and non-governmental organizations. These bodies will be consulted in order to translate these recommendations for the purpose of practical implementation.
In the lead up to the 50 th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, conference results will be taken to the international stage through public events, information sharing and education. This will culminate in world-wide public events on December 10.
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