Venezuela: “11 Thousand Years of Palestinian History”

The Venezuelan Ministry of Culture promoted an academic-cultural event called “Palestine, 11 Thousand Years of History” (“Palestina, 11 mil años de Historia"). It took place between the 12 and 16 of May, and it was organized by several cultural, leftist and pro-Palestinian organizations. The event’s goal was to “provide a small sample of the cultural heritage of an ancient nation that refuses to disappear, a victim of cruelty, occupation and death”. The event consisted of documentaries, conferences, art galleries, debates, musical presentations, and Arab food.

The Ministry of Culture’s press release includes comments such as “a rich and diverse ancient culture, which suffers the consequences of imperial ambition”. The Venezuelan government is promoting the false idea that the Palestinians have populated the land of Israel for 11 thousand years, without even attributing any claims of Jewish history to it, or without mentioning any of the conquests that took place throughout the millennia. This is misleading for the average visitor who is not supplied with accurate factual information, and it falsely presents the Jews as new residents who have randomly come to “colonize” this land.

In addition, Susana Khali, one of the organizers, mentioned that “[…] Not only land is being stolen from the Palestinian people, but also their history. The true descendants of the ancient people of Israel are the Palestinian people and not the Nazis, Aryans and Europeans. […] The idea is to think about solving the conflict. This conflict has a solution, and any solution rests on the foundations of justice, the fight is for a single State, the right of return of the Palestinian people to their land, with the goal of ending the system of Israeli colonial horror, to put an end to Zionism, a racist ideology which violates all human essence. […] Zionism is a racist school of thought that was born in the bosom of a white European bourgeoisie, based on supremacism and denial of others. We should condemn racism, at all costs. It's about fighting for the strength of any people in the world; the Palestinians call for their right to exist as a people. […] The Palestinian people gave Christianity to the world, Judaism to the world. Christianity was not born in Europe; it was born in Palestine. It is Palestinian heritage, the stalls are a Palestinian heritage, the cross is a Palestinian heritage, and we are being driven out of history, The implementation of agriculture was born in 8,000 BC from the Canaanite people, who descended from the Canaanite people, Bethlehem was founded in 4,000 BC, Jerusalem was founded in 6,000 BC, Jericho was founded between 9,000 and 10,000 BC. Where is that history? Palestine is a prohibited people, a censured people, whose history is prohibited because we live under a dictatorial, supremacist, racist, totalitarian and totally repressive international regime. […] We tell the Mossad, the Israeli service of intelligence and penetration, that if they're going to bomb Gaza, they should also come for the Palestinians who are abroad, scattered throughout the world clamoring for our right to return. There are two Palestines: an occupied Palestine and a wandering Palestine. We want to return and fight for the right to be Palestinian. We believe we can live together, but only by ending the regime of apartheid, like any people living in the world, with equal rights."

Sources:
http://www.minci.gob.ve/actualidad/2/198968/inaugurado_ii_evento.html