First Deir Yassin Memorial in the United States

 

Deir Yassin Remembered, a not-for-profit organization of Jews and non-Jews working to build a memorial to the Palestinian Arab victims of the April 9, 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin, will unveil its first memorial in the United States on September 24^th on the western shore of Seneca Lake in Geneva, New York.

 

The Olive Tree

The bronze sculpture will depict a mature olive tree, a symbol of peace, uprooted in the Zionist quest to build a Jewish state upon land owned and long-inhabited by Muslim and Christian Palestinians.  The tree's tortured, angular lines illustrate the many decades of Palestinian dispossession and dehumanization that began before 1948 and continue today.  The extended branches add movement and drama; they appear dead and yet are still alive.  The torn roots of the displaced olive tree are wrenched from the earth, root-remnants still entrenched, clinging to the motherland.  Enjoying special status in holy books, people of all religions relate to the olive tree as a symbol of peace and enlightenment; it is mentioned six times in the Qur'an.

 

The Lake Site

Many visitors will come from the award-winning hotel, Geneva-on-the-Lake, located on the adjacent property owned by the Audi family.  Mrs. Aminy Audi has been a patron of Deir Yassin Remembered since its inception in 1995.  One of America's premier small resorts, Geneva-on-the-Lake is "An oasis, a little island of beauty, peace and friendliness in a busy world." A bloc of rooms has been reserved for this event; be sure to mention that you are a part of the Deir Yassin Memorial Event to receive the special rate.  [www.genevaonthelake.com] 

 

Visitors to the memorial will view the statue framed by trees and the beautiful Seneca Lake, about 30 feet away.  They will sit on a curvilinear massive bench carved from local-quarried red Medina sandstone (pronounced "me di na" in upstate New York; "ma deena" is an Arabic word that means 'city').  Visitors may stop, look, and linger for as long as they wish.  And when they do move on, they will take with them concern over this tragic event and its relevance in the contemporary struggle for Palestinian human rights.

 

The Artistic Creation

The sculpture is the design and creation of the renowned Arab-American artist, Khalil Bendib, among whose works is the statue of Alex Odeh, murdered in Santa Ana, California in 1985, in a hate crime against Arabs.  Khalil Bendib's studio is in Berkeley, California. [www.studiobendib.com] 

 

The bronze plaque describing the Deir Yassin massacre will include the following Haiku by Randa Hamwi Duwaji, DYR Director of Poetry and Verse, author of Heartbeats in the Wind:  Reflections of an Arab Woman. 

 

Earth torn roots yearning,

Palestine landscape mourning

Displaced descendants

 

Together with the Arabic rendering of the poem, these short, powerful verses closely and explicitly reflect the significance of the sculpture.  The human implication is reinforced as both art forms come together to create a moving, harmonious whole.

 

The Memorial

This will be the third memorial to the victims of Deir Yassin.  The first was a simple stone with a plaque at Dar Al-Tifl Al-Arabi, across from Orient House in East Jerusalem where Hind Husseini sheltered orphans of Deir Yassin on April 10, 1948. 

 

The second memorial was dedicated in 1988 on the fortieth anniversary on the grounds of the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. 

 

Deir Yassin Remembered shall one day build a groundbreaking memorial and information center at Deir Yassin, across the valley from Yad Vashem, the most famous Jewish Holocaust Memorial.  The site of the Deir Yassin massacre is envisioned as the ideal location where Jews and Arabs can learn, understand, and come to terms with their shared history, and with each other.

 

To date, contributors to the First Deir Yassin Memorial in the United States are as follows:  site preparation by Daniel Wobig, stone bench cutting and finishing by Scott Fratto, 12-foot red Medina stone by Walter Johnston.  In addition we have received three "patron" contributions of $5,000 or more: one from Margaret and Issam Nashashibi of Dawsonville, Georgia; a second from Nabil Qaddumi from Kuwait; and a third from a Jewish donor in New York City who wishes to remain anonymous.

 

All financial contributions are welcome; the names of patrons contributing $5,000 or more will be inscribed on the memorial plaque.  Make tax-deductible contributions to:

 

Deir Yassin Remembered

4078 Scandling Center

Geneva, New York  14456