For the last twenty years, the United Nations General Assembly has dedicated June 20 to mark World Refugee Day, as an opportunity to honor refugees, raise awareness, and mobilize support for their plight.
This year, the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is asking “people from all walks of life” to use #WithRefugees as a way to exhibit solidarity and honor “the courage and determination” of those who have been forced out of their homes as a result of war and conflict.
The Palestine Chronicle takes this opportunity to honor Palestinian refugees, whose ordeal began 72 years ago when Israel was violently established on the ruins of historic Palestine. Their Right of Return is the most central aspect of the Palestinian struggle today.
The photos below are of the Shati (Beach) Refugee Camp, in the besieged Gaza Strip. The camp was established as a temporary shelter for Palestinian refugees who were forced out of the Palestinian cities of al-Lydd and Jaffa, which were ethnically cleansed by Zionist militias in 1948.
Three generations later, the refugees and their descendants are still living in these temporary accommodations, a life of hardship that is compounded by successive Israeli wars and a protracted siege.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
