We, the undersigned, endorse the appeal launched by ABNAA’ SUHMATA Association regarding the demolished Palestinian Arab village of Suhmata and reaffirm that the village’s lands belong to its Palestinian residents who became refugees as a result of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing and land confiscation.
a. We support ABNAA’ SUHMATA Association’s call for the restitution of Suhmata village confiscated lands;
b. We reaffirm the right of return of all Palestinians to their homes and lands;
c. We insist on the implementation of Palestinian rights as enshrined in the UN Resolution 194.
In 1948, residents of Suhmata were expelled and their lands were subsequently confiscated. Two Israeli settlements have since built on the village lands (Hosen and Tsuriel), and part of the town of Ma’alot and a recreational lake are also located on the former village’s lands.
At the beginning of January 2008, the Israeli Northern District Planning and Building Committee announced new plans to construct yet another new neighborhood east of Ma’alot on Suhmata’s confiscated lands. The neighborhood will consist of an estimated 3500 housing units, annexing what remains of Suhmata’s lands.
We, the people of Suhmata, as part of the Palestinian people, are still suffering from the results of the 1948 Nakba, 60 years after the Zionist conquest of our lands.
We still live in exile or displaced within our own homeland. Consecutive Israeli governments have stolen our property and homes, destroyed our village and confiscated our lands by means of ethnically discriminatory legislation and by consistently denying our right to return to our village.
We insist on the implementation of Palestinian rights as
enshrined in international law and UN Resolution 194, primary among these being the right of return for all Palestinian refugees to their lands, homes, and possessions.
We call upon all honest people around the world to join ABNAA’ SUHMATA’s campaign to struggle for the right of return for all Palestinians and to protect Palestinian lands, including those of the Suhmata village, from further Israeli expropriations.
ABNAA’ SUHMATA Association
