The 40/60 Campaign for Freedom and Return

Approximately 400,000 Palestinians were displaced, half for a second time, during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. A smaller number of Palestinians were internally displaced during the war, including Palestinians expelled from the Old City of Jerusalem. (UNRWA)


  • 6 June 2007 marks 40 years since Israel’s Occupation

  • 15 May 2008 marks 60 years of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) .

    Let’s Make 2007 & 2008 into the 40/60 Campaign for Freedom and Return!

    In 1948 eighty-five percent of the Palestinians living in the areas that became the state of Israel became refugees. More than 500 Palestinian villages were depopulated and later destroyed to prevent the return of the refugees. Today there are a total of 7 million Palestinian refugees, dispersed throughout the world - the largest and longest running refugee problem yet unresolved.

    Israel continues to occupy and colonize Palestinian land through the construction of Jewish only settlements and the Wall in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been turned into one large prison. Israel violates international law and commits ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    A Call to Action

    The future of the Palestinian people is at a crossroads; 2007 - 2008 marks a historic opportunity for faith-based organizations, individuals, community groups, the solidarity movement, unions and political parties to pool resources and activities and campaign for a rights-based solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Critical is the focus on the enforcement of the rights of Palestinian refugees under international law.

    This may well be the last decade anniversary when Palestinian eye-witnesses from the 1948 Nakba are still living. Now more than ever Palestinians are counting on local and global society to build pressure for the enforcement of international law - the foundation for a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Let’s make 2007 - 2008 into ‘the campaign of freedom and return’. Not just the return (al-awda) of the refugees, but also a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

    For more information email mediaenglish@badil.org

    Related Links

  • Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe (1948)
  • BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights