Israeli Independence Quote Of The Day

In my name, and in the name of Jewish people throughout the world, an indigenous population was almost completely expelled. Village names have been removed from the map, houses blown up, and new forests planted. In Arabic, this is called the Nakba, or catastrophe. In Israel, this is called "independence."

-- This land was theirs by Hannah Mermelstein; The Jewish Advocate, 24 Apr 2008.

Photo: Vandalized sign in Canada Park, near Latrun in the West Bank.

Canada Park was created in part on the ruins of the Palestinian villages of Dayr Ayyub which was captured and destroyed by Israel in 1948, and Yalu and Imwas, which were captured and destroyed by Israel in 1967. In 2005, following a protracted campaign by the Israeli advocacy group, Zochrot, the Jewish National Fund agreed to acknowledge the existence of Dayr Ayyub, Yalu and Imwas on park signs (which had previously described the history of the area without mentioning the Palestinian presence).

The new signs were vandalized within two weeks of being set up. The sign in the photo used to read:

The Military Commander - Judea and Samaria: The Ayalon-Canada Park is replete with historical sites… including the remains of a church from the Byzantine period and the remains of a crusader fortress. During the monarchic period, in 1268, the tomb of Sheikh Ibn-Janal was built. The village Dayr Ayub, which overlooked the road leading up to Jerusalem, existed in the area of the park until the War of Independence. The villages Imwas and Yalu existed in the area of the park until the year 1967. In the village of Imwas there lived 2,000 residents, who now reside in Jordan and Ramallah. Near the remains of the village is a cemetery. In the village of Yalu there lived 1,700 residents, who now reside in Jordan and Ramallah. There remain a spring and a number of wells in the village.

The text in bold type is the text that has been painted out on the sign.

A spokesperson for Zochrot notes: "This vandalism against official JNF signs reflects how much the act of signposting the villages touches on a raw nerve for Jews living in the country. These signs were posted by the JNF, not by Zochrot in some "extreme" act. The very fact of their existence on the landscape, of the reminder that there was Palestinian life before the Nakba, is what challenges Israelis".