Palestinian visit to SA

SOUTH African Jews for Free Palestine (SAJFP) is honoured to be hosting four representatives of Palestinian society in Johannesburg and Cape Town over the next two weeks.

Their visit stems from a trip undertaken by a South African group in May 2015 to the South Africa Forest in Galilee in present-day Israel. The forest, which was planted through donations to the Jewish National Fund (JNF), covers the Palestinian village of Lubya.

The 2015 visit included a ceremony where South African Jews pledged that they did not know the forest was on the ruins of Lubya, with over 200 pledges handed over. This ceremony deeply touched those from Lubya and Zochrot. It also brought into sharp focus the situation Palestinian citizens face, whether living inside Israeli borders, the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, or living as refugees across the world as millions do. References to the 2015 visit to Israel www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-05-05-op-ed-in-lubyaresisting-oblivion/#.V8PRKJh97b0 and here www.haaretz.com/israel-news/. premium-1.655422.

SAJFP is hosting representatives from Adrid (advocates for the rights of Palestinians displaced inside Israel/ Palestine), including someone born in Lubya; Zochrot (an Israeli NGO raising awareness about the Nakba in the Jewish Israeli public to create conditions for the return of Palestinian refugees and a shared, democratic life in Israel); and Adalah (dedicated to researching and lobbying for full civil rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel).

For more information on the Palestinian delegates contact 083 556 5559. www.twitter.com/SAJFP_

www.facebook.com/SAJFP/