100 signatures reached
To: Councillor Tony Dyer: Leader, Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council: Fly the Palestinian Flag on Nakba Day!!
We call on our Council now to: “RAISE THE PALESTINIAN FLAG ON NAKBA DAY!”
In recognition of the principle of equal rights, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their darkest hour, we call on BCC to recognise the right of Palestinians:
In recognition of the principle of equal rights, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their darkest hour, we call on BCC to recognise the right of Palestinians:
A. To exist. We call on our Council to recognise the right of Palestinians to self-determination in line with Article 1 of the UN Charter, and for it to formally recognise the State of Palestine.
B. To resist. We call on our Council to recognise the right of Palestinians to resist illegal occupation including, ‘as a last resort, by rebellion against tyranny and oppression’ in line with the 1948 Universal Declaration Preamble.
C. To return. We call on our Council to recognise the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homelands in line with Article 13 of the 1948 Universal Declaration.
Why is this important?
May 15th, 2025, marks 77 years since the 1948 Palestinian ‘Nakba’. The Nakba (النكبة) means 'catastrophe' and refers to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 by Zionist settlers leading to the declaration of the 'State of Israel'.
During the Nakba, half of Palestine's mainly Arab population were forcibly expelled from their homes or made to flee at the hands of Zionist paramilitaries and terrorist groups. Dozens of massacres targeting Palestinians are documented, resulting in the forcible de-population of hundreds of Palestinian settlements with many of these being destroyed or repopulated by Jews and given new Hebrew names.
By the end of the 1948 war, 78% of the former British-occupied Mandate Palestine was controlled by Israel and at least 15,000 Palestinian Arabs had been killed after the British abandoned Palestine in 1947. Today, an estimated 7 million Palestinian refugees are scattered around the world. These refugees have been exiled from their land ever since and are denied their right of return by Israel.
We note that:
1. The withdrawal of British troops in 1947 paved the way for the Nakba. Our country must ensure we are not complicit again in another Nakba in Gaza: it is time to right our historic wrongs.
2. The 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights says everyone has the right to return to their own country. After 77 years, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland has never been honoured.
3. Most of Gaza's population are already refugees from Palestinian land forcibly occupied by Israel in 1948. The world’s largest refugee population is Palestinian.
4. Israel’s genocidal attacks have killed over 50,000 people in Gaza (mostly women and children). Israel has created conditions in Gaza which make normal life impossible. It has been razed to the ground, and its population starved, terrorised and murdered.
6. Israel and its allies now openly call for the forcible removal of Palestinians and theft of their land. The ethnic cleansing of the West Bank by Zionist colonists is accelerating. Formal annexation is openly championed by Israel’s leadership and its US allies.
7. Israel is an outlaw state. It is being investigated by the world’s highest court for genocide. The same court has ruled its occupation illegal and called for immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel’s leaders are now wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity.
