나크바 78년 집중 행동의 날에 참가한 대학생들을 대표해 서울대 팔레스타인 연대 동아리 수박의 공동 설립자인 주마나 님이 발언했습니다. 팔레스타인 디아스포라 3세인 주마나 님은 대학과 거리에서 팔레스타인 연대 운동을 건설하는 데 누구보다 앞장서 왔습니다.
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for taking part in today’s protest commemorating the 78th year of the Nakba.
My name is Joumana, and I’m a third-generation Palestinian from the diaspora. Both my grandparents were survivors of the Nakba in 1948 and haven’t been able to return to their homes since then.
I grew up close to my grandmother , who loves to tell stories about her childhood in Palestine, climbing on top of trees, going to school and playing around with friends.
She was only 14 years old when the Nakba had started. She recalls standing behind the balcony of her family home in Jerusalem, hiding from the bullets of the Zionist militias who were firing their arms close to her home.
At that time, her family made the difficult decision to leave their home, hoping to return once the situation had settled. Except, it never did.
My grandmother still vividly remembers her days in Jerusalem, in the neighborhood of Wadi al Joz where her family resided. She recalls the steep hills, the flowers, the road leading to her school, the people she encountered, all as if it was yesterday.
Many of us still cannot grasp the entire extent of the violence perpetuatedby Zionists, both physical and psychological, and its repercussions on Palestinians across all generations.
But when we see the crimes that Israel has committed and continues to commit in Gaza for the past 2 years and a half, and what they’ve done in Palestine since 1948 and continue to do across the entire region, we get a glimpse of what those who came before us went through. What my grandmother must have gone through.
Since the Nakba, little has changed for Palestinians. We continue to be exiled and denied our right to return to our lands, to our ancestral homes. For the few of us who either made the choice to stay, or had no choice but to stay, we still face unfathomable oppression and discrimination by Israel.
In this 78th day of remembrance, let us remember those who were taken away from us, those were robbed from their childhood, and those who continue to face the terrible crimes committed by Israel.
But let us also be hopeful.
Hopeful that we will see a free Palestine within our lifetime, hopeful that justice will be served and that liberation is close. Hopeful that we will relive our grandparents’ childhood memories in their homeland and get the true taste of freedom.
They can take our homes, our people, our culture and even our food. But they cannot take away our hope.
Thank you and as always, free Palestine.
