First U.S. Memorial to Deir Yassin Dedicated in New York State

On Sept. 24, 2003, members and friends of Deir Yassin Remembered (DYR) dedicated the first memorial in the United States to the victims of the April 9, 1948 massacre of the Palestinian Arab village near Jerusalem. The sculpture joins two other commemorations of the tragedy: a plaque at Dar al Tifl al Arabi, which stands across from Orient House in East Jerusalem and where Hind Husseini sheltered orphans of the massacre the following day; and a small stone at Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, Scotland (see photo of Issam Nashashibi on facing page).

The DYR memorial, located on the western shore of Seneca Lake in the upstate New York town of Geneva, depicts a mature olive tree, a symbol of peace and of Palestinian culture, uprooted in the Zionist quest to build a Jewish state on land long owned and inhabited by Palestinians. Some of the tree's roots still cling to the earth, however, symbolizing the strength and tenacity of its tenders.

According to Daniel McGowan, founder of the eight-year-old organization, DYR's ultimate goal is "to build a memorial and information center at Deir Yassin, and thereby resurrect what is arguably the single most important event in 20th century Palestinian history."

Realizing it may take years to realize its dream of building a memorial at the actual site of the massacre—which, ironically, is visible to visitors as they leave Yad Vashem, Israel's museum honoring victims of the European Holocaust—DYR in the meantime has held two international conferences and sponsors yearly commemorations around the world on the anniversary of the massacre.

"Deir Yassin was not the only massacre," McGowan noted, "nor was it the largest." Its impact, however, was profound, causing terrorized Palestinian families to flee their homes as news of the massacre spread and Jewish militias continued their assaults on towns and villages allocated to a Palestinian state under the 1947 U.N. partition plan.

For its American memorial, DYR commissioned Berkeley, CA-based artist Khalid Bendib to design and create a sculpture for the site. Not only is the Algerian-born Bendib a trenchant political cartoonist (his book, It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It, is available from the AET Book Club), he also is a noted sculptor. Among his works is the sculpture honoring Alex Odeh, the West Coast regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) who was murdered in Santa Ana, CA in 1985.

The bronze plaque adorning the memorial features a Haiku by Randa Hamwi Duwaji:
Earth torn roots yearning,
Palestine landscape mourning
Displaced descendants

The Deir Yassin memorial was a local effort as well. The site was prepared by Daniel Wobig. Visitors can contemplate the sculpture while seated on a massive curvilinear bench carved and finished by Scott Fratto, from local-quaried Medina sandstone provided by Walter Johnston. The tranquil setting is only steps away from the lovely small resort of Geneva-on-the-Lake, owned by the Audi family, one of whose members, Mrs. Aminy Audi, has been a patron of DYR since its inception.

The dedication drew friends and comrades—Muslim, Christian and Jew alike—from as near as Rochester, NY and as far away as Australia. Among those who came to honor those who died at Deir Yassin were several rabbis from Neturei Karta, who are courageous in their opposition to a Zionist state in Israel.

In his opening remarks, McGowan thanked the major contributors to the memorial: Issam and Margaret Nashashibi, who with their donation challenged others to follow; Nabil Qaddumi, whose father was one of the founders of the Palestine Liberation Organization; Israel Taub, a New York Jew who had had no previous involvement with DYR; Yasmeen Qaddumi, daughter of Nabil and a symbol of the next generation of Palestinians; and Deir Yassin survivor Yousef Asad.

Duwaji, who serves as DYR director of poetry and verse, then read a selection of moving and powerful poems reflecting the struggles and strengths of Palestinians enduring expulsion and occupation. Sister Miriam Ward of Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel, who first visited Deir Yassin in the late 1970s, quoted the French philosopher Jacques Maritain to the effect that "all people have a right to know their history," and that it is "memory and imagination" that makes us human.

A special moment for the many friends and family of the late Issam Nashashibi, who had been a moving force behind the memorial and who died suddenly just weeks before the event, was the presence of his wife, Margaret, who read aloud Issam's speech to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observances in Atlanta earlier this year.

Despite the inherent sadness of the occasion, all who were present took comfort in the knowledge that they were helping to ensure that the world never forgets the history—or the existence—of the Palestinian people and their struggle.

—Janet McMahon