On Saturday May 10, 2008, the Bay Area will join the international community in the streets to mark Al-Nakba or the Catastrophe, the defining moment in 1948, when two thirds of the indigenous population of Palestine was ethnically cleansed for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. This day will be an important opportunityto demand that the legally recognized Right to Return for Palestinian refugees is upheld and that all Palestinians are allowed to return to their homes, land and families from which they have been exiled for 60 years.

Art in the Streets
Art has always accompanied political struggle and revolution. In the face of oppression, and seemingly insurmountable odds, art and culture holds communities together, often with great sacrifice. On this occasion, let the world see Naji Al Ali’s Handala standing tall at the 60th anniversary protests. This iconic little boy, a Palestinian refugee, stands as a testament to the incredible ability of the Palestinian people to resist the brutal daily Israeli assaults on their ability to live a viable life and their steadfast demand for self determination. Handala beautifully and powerfully reminds the world that the Palestinian people will never give up their right to return

Action
On May 10th, we envision a sea of Handalas taking to the streets and taking over global television screens. To enable this to happen we have created easy to use downloadable images of Handala in a variety formats including:

• A small pdf for hand held Handalas or face masks, widow posters or posters that kids can carry
• Medium and large pdfs for stick posters, cutouts, and banners.
• Stencil templates
• And instructions for building a large scale and lightweight Handala puppet.
• Visit our Download Handala page to download these items today!

The website www.handala.org will also have background information on Naji Al Ali’s and his Handala image, 100 cartoons, a fact sheet on the Right of Return and links to international and national solidarity efforts that are aligned with the calls of the Palestinian Popular Conference and the Palestine call for Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions.

Key Follow up: All we ask in return is that anyone using these images at the protests, or otherwise, drop us an email afterward, commenting (250 words max) on your experience using the images along with two or three images of your action with Handala to put up on the website!

To send photos, comments, for more information about this project, or if you have any problems with downloads, get in touch with us at info@handala.org

Endorsed by the Palestinian Popular Conference, International Jewish Solidarity Network, The Local Nakbah Committee, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Middle East Children’s Alliance.