The following is the text of the letter drafted by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, to be addressed to the world in the name of the Palestinian people on the 53rd anniversary of the Nakba, which will take place on 15 May 2001. Rather, it refers to the destruction of 415 Palestinian villages and creation of just under one million Palestinian refugees. That is the Palestinian Catastrophe. Darwish's letter appears below, and is followed by some links and books for further Nakba-related information.
Today is the day of the greater anniversary.
We do not need to look back to recall the details of a crime committed because the details of the Nakba are open and extended on all time frames. We will never forget what happened and what is happening on this bereaved land because this collective and individual memory is fertile and capable of recalling our sad story because the story is a story of the land and the people. It is the story of tragedy and heroism which is still being watered by blood in the open struggle between what is planned for us and what we are planning for ourselves. If the Israeli makers of the Nakba declare on this occasion that the 1948 war has not ended, they are but exposing the mirage of their peace which appeared dimly during the last decade. Promising with the possibility of putting an end to the conflict based on dividing the land, they are only exposing the difficulty of setting the Zionist scheme and peace in one context, as long as the goal of wiping out the Palestinian people is still on its agenda.