What goals have you achieved through this conference up till now?
Answer
Numerous.
1- We have shown the potential of the Palestinian diasporas.
2- We have strengthened social relations amongst the Palestinian community.
3- We opened links with European officials who were invited to the conferences.
4- We raised the awareness of the Palestinians about their rights across Europe.
5- We created a platform for Palestine-interested NGOs to address their audience.
6- We motivated the Palestinians allover the world to do similar things.
7- We have succedded in showing the unity amongst Palestinians wherever they maybe.
8- We highlighted some issues which were ignored before, above all we showed how strong the attitude is regarding the right of return amongst Palestinians...and many more.
Name
Yasser
-
Profession
Question
Some people say that the 48 Palestinians assuming they were evacuated by force actually agreed to sell their properties and to leave home willingly, what's your comment about that?
Answer
This is a myth.
Yasser, till now in year 2009, 94.5% of the historic Palestine, i.e., sea to river, belongs to the Palestinians by the official documents.
This is well documented by the Israeli authority itself. That is why the Israelis enjoy their existence in Palestine by the law called "absantees law". In other words, they are hiring our land from the Israeli authority, as by law it does not belong to them.
Despite the billions of dollars spent by Jewish commnity all over the world, they failed to secure the legal side of thier big theft.
These are facts Yasser. You should also look up the evidences set by Israeli historians which truly show what happended in 1948. Palestinians did not leave by their own accord, they were forced to leave.
Name
Hesham
-
Profession
Question
I'm a Euro-Palestinian born in Italy, so I belong to the second-generation immigrant and a European, why should I think to go back to Palestine where there is nothing but war and conflicts?
Answer
Hesham, being Palestinian does not mean that you are obliged to live in Palestine but you have as a man to stick to the right of your grandfathers and grand-grand fathers.
It is not acceptable to abandon your rights just because you are not able to go back to Palestine. There are milions of Asians who have lived in Europe for generations but they still have their properties in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh.
Nobody criticises them for enjoying their life in Europe.
As a human also, you should support the cause of the Palestinians even if you will not go back, for your support stands for justice and basic human rights.
Name
Salahudin
-
Profession
Question
To what extent does this conference help Euro-Palestinians integrate in both the current and the original communities; namely: European and Palestinian?
Answer
It has a huge impact indeed. You can feel what i'm saying from the increasing attendance, year after year. Can you imagine that over 400 Palestinians from Sweden and Denmark and 500 from Germany traveled by coaches for 22 hours just to join their brothers in Italy.
Yes we are proud that we have managed to create an environment which is essential to keep Palestinian identity in Europe.
Name
Yasser
-
Profession
Question
What difficulties do Arabs face that hinder them support the Palestinian community?
In other words, please speak freely about the Arab attitude towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Answer
We should differentiate between Arab officials and Arab nations.
I have a strong belief that Arab nations have sincere positive feelings towards Palestine and beleive me without this attitude the Arab leaders would have surrendered all our rights years ago.
The problem lies in the personal interest of Arab leaders who feel they have to support Western interest and agendas rather than the intersts and rights of their own people.
This does not mean we should feel let down. The national movment as you see in Palestine with the support of people from both the Arab and Muslim worlds was able to keep the momentum of the Palestinian issue.
In addition, the cause is still alive despite all efforts from everywhere to secure the state of Israel.
We are a part of history which has taught us that it is a matter of time for the oppressed people to regain their rights from the oppressors regardless of the identities of the colonised powers.
Name
Soliman
-
Profession
Question
What are the practical procedures or values on the legal level that the Euro-Palestinians enjoy which can enable them approach their ultimate goals?
Answer
There are several ways for the Palestinains to be effective in supporting Palestine.
The first thing that came to my mind is to join political parties in Europe. Secondly to join different NGOs that promote Palestinian issues in different ways weatehr those NGOs are Palestinian or not.
I cannot imagine any Palestinian seeking a better role without being well educated, well informed and in close touch with Palestine on differen levels.
Of course there are many legal instruments in the international and European law that can be used to critise Israel.
We have two levels in using these instruments.
First is to create an academic base in dealing with the legal side.
Second is to find financial support to pursue this step in courts in our own way to highlight legal aspects for personal and national issues.
Name
Muslim Arabian
-
Profession
Question
It is known that Europeans are more aware of the events in Palestine than their American counterparts; we have witnessed recently some echoes of that on the political official level of some EU countries .. Do you think that this pressure from the public will increase on EU governments leading to more objective movements by governments towards the Palestinian cause & Al-Quds? and how can that be fostered?
Thank you,
Answer
There are some obvious differences between Europeans and Americans on this issue. You cann't deal with the West as one entity. There are some historical and geographical links between European countries and the Arab world.
The huge migration movement from Arab countries has played a role in promoting Palestinian issues. we cannot ignore the media factor, especially after the technological revolution which left no room for the Israelis to escape their massacres.
All those things have meant a bigger involvement for the Muslims in Europe.
We cannot also minimise the phycological attitude of the Americans towards different issues in the world, and Palestine is no exception.
Pressurring Europe has been successfull. There are numerous lobby groups that are campaigning for the EU to stop its relationship with Israel.
Name
Sarah
-
Profession
Question
I'm Pleased that you are a guest here on IOL Mr. Maged.
Please clarify what do you mean by this quote from you:
"their role in politics in Europe and locally has developed".
Answer
There is a big shift in the involvement of Muslims between now and three or four decades ago.
The new generation of Muslims has gained a better education, they feel that they are citizens of this country which gave them space to address their beleifs and to acheive their potentials.
Name
George, Muslim
- Belgium
Profession
Question
As a matter of fact, we Euro-Muslims don't have truthful background or coverage for the Palestinian issue through our media, as i suppose you already know.
In your view, what is our role, and from which source can we get authentic information, thirdly, how can i help from my country?
Answer
We beleive the role of Muslims across Europe is extremely vital, esepecially with Europe's deep involvement in supporting the state of Israel.
This has happended in many different ways, economically, politically, and even socially.
As European citizens, Muslims can put a huge pressure on their governments to go for a more balanced policy towards the Palestinians.
Palestinians have always felt that it is the European countries that created the state of Israel.
Authentic information can be obtained from hundreds of websites dedicaed to the Palestiinian cause.
As for offering your support, we are coming to establsih institution for Palestine in Belgium. There are also numerous charities that you can support, details of which are on the internet.
Name
Laila
- Germany
Profession
Question
What is this conference about, give us a brief summary about it and about the main objectives of the conference for this year?
Answer
The Palestinains in diaspora have a great concern about their rights and about the attitude of some of the Palestinian and Arab officials (including Western ones) to exclude those Palestinians from the Palestinian scene.
This has been approved in Oslo Accord which was signed by Palestinian officials in 1993.
Palestinains in Europe have noticed the potential support of the Jewish commnity to Israel across Europe and they spread many false lies about the conflict.
This made it extremely important to provide a counter narrative of the conflict.
Dispite six decades of the struggle and being geographically isolated from Palestine, the quarter million Palestinians have kept thier culture, solidarity and nationhood intact.
After the first conference, we found that we have achieved so many goals on all levels political, social, cultural; and that we have re-strengthened the bond amongst Palestinians especially amongst the new generations.
Name
Sumaya
-
Profession
Question
What is the Euro-Muslim role in supporting the Palestinian issue?
Answer
Arabs and Muslims in Europe have been deeply involved in supporting Palestinian issues since the Nakba took place in 1948. Recently their role in politics in Europe and locally has developed which lead them to support Palestine in a professional way and thier technical support in organising such conferences is vital in keeping the success to its highest level.
Name
Doaa
-
Profession
Question
How are these conferences financed, do you accept external financial support?
Answer
The conferences are financed through donations from Palestinians acrosss Europe and by institutions that share similar sentiments and aspirations.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Question
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Answer
Dear readers,
The session has just started and will go on till 12:00 GMT
