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The Palestinian key is the Palestinian symbol of their homes lost in the
Refusing Invisibility: Documentation and Memorialization in Palestinian Refugee Claims
Journal of Refugee Studies 21 (4): 4, page 503: "Anyone familiar with Palestinian visibility practices will certainly be aware of the importance of certain central objects within this field. Many refugees still have the keys to their houses in Palestine. Keeping these keys, and showing them to visitors and researchers, is part of a hope for return and a claim to these properties. Given this widespread practice, these keys, with their distinctive old-fashioned look, have also become symbols of refugee commitment to Palestine. At demonstrations in support of Palestinians one can often find people carrying enlarged replicas of these keys—in the process transforming individual objects into collective symbols." The keys are large and old-fashioned in style. Enlarged replicas are often found around
File:Aida Camp entrance.jpeg, Entrance to the Aida refugee camp, near
The Palestinian key is the Palestinian symbol of their homes lost in the Nakba
Clickable map of Mandatory Palestine with the depopulated locations during the 1947–1949 Palestine war.
The Nakba ( ar, النكبة, translit=an-Nakbah, lit=the "disaster", "catastrophe", or "cataclysm"), also known as the Palestinian Ca ...
, when more than half of the population of Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
was either expelled or fled violence in the 1948 Palestinian exodus
In 1948 Estimates of the Palestinian Refugee flight of 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinians, Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Mandatory Palestine, Palestine's Arab population – Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, were expelled ...
and subsequently refused the right to return
The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of voluntary return to, or re-entry to, their country of origin or of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept freedom of ...
. Almost 75 years later the key remains a potent symbol and reminder of physical and emotional loss and injustice.
It is considered part of a hope for return and a claim to the lost properties.Feldman, llana. 2008Refusing Invisibility: Documentation and Memorialization in Palestinian Refugee Claims
Journal of Refugee Studies 21 (4): 4, page 503: "Anyone familiar with Palestinian visibility practices will certainly be aware of the importance of certain central objects within this field. Many refugees still have the keys to their houses in Palestine. Keeping these keys, and showing them to visitors and researchers, is part of a hope for return and a claim to these properties. Given this widespread practice, these keys, with their distinctive old-fashioned look, have also become symbols of refugee commitment to Palestine. At demonstrations in support of Palestinians one can often find people carrying enlarged replicas of these keys—in the process transforming individual objects into collective symbols." The keys are large and old-fashioned in style. Enlarged replicas are often found around
Palestinian refugee camps
Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian ...
, and used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world as collective symbols.
Gallery
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
File:Resolution 194.jpg, Palestinian art to symbolize United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 is a resolution adopted near the end of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Resolution defines principles for reaching a final settlement and returning Palestine refugees to their homes. Article 11 o ...
File:Salam.Peace...Mr Cana Qalandia 2008.JPG, A key as part of the Arabic word for "Peace" as West Bank Wall graffiti art
West Bank Wall graffiti art is street art on the walled sections of the Israeli West Bank barrier, by a wide range of international and Palestinian artists. The wall is tall, and is easily accessible to artists as it frequently divides urban area ...
File:The Key We will return, taken in Jericho.jpg, Outside Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
, with the words "We will return..."
See also
*List of national symbols of Palestine
The symbols of Palestine are official and unofficial flags, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Palestine and of its culture.
Overview
The scope of what is included in the symbols of Pa ...
References
{{reflist Palestinians Political symbols Palestinian culture National symbols of the State of Palestine History of the Palestinian refugees