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May. 8th, 2008 07:16 amSeveral years ago, I realized that my birthday was also designated International Conscientious Objector's Day. As a peace activist, and someone who self-identifies as a pacifist, I think this is nifty*.
But it wasn't until I flipped the pages of my Palestinian calendar that I realized that 15 May is also Nakba Day, the anniversary of Al-Nakba, or "The Catastrophe", when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were ejected from their homes, during the last few months of the British Mandate.
Being 2008, this year is the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba. So I will probably be pretty sober on the actual day of my birthday. Lots to contemplate.
But now I'm off to Habibi, to help mold him into the kind of person who is aware of the world around him, and who will also help work for peace.
*You can find out more about Conscientious Objector status here. This Wikipedia article explains more about it.
I was especially moved by reading this BBC article from 2003, that I found while Googling "conscientious objector day".
But it wasn't until I flipped the pages of my Palestinian calendar that I realized that 15 May is also Nakba Day, the anniversary of Al-Nakba, or "The Catastrophe", when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were ejected from their homes, during the last few months of the British Mandate.
Being 2008, this year is the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba. So I will probably be pretty sober on the actual day of my birthday. Lots to contemplate.
But now I'm off to Habibi, to help mold him into the kind of person who is aware of the world around him, and who will also help work for peace.
*You can find out more about Conscientious Objector status here. This Wikipedia article explains more about it.
I was especially moved by reading this BBC article from 2003, that I found while Googling "conscientious objector day".
