English Press Contacts:

Dr. Jess Ghannam
Mrs. Reem Al-Nuweiri

Arabic Press Contacts:

Mr. Nader Abuljebain
Mr. Musa Al-Hindi

August 15, 2005
For Immediate Release

Representatives of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC), are available for interviews regarding the pending withdrawal of settlers from the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip in Palestine. Contacts above.

We would like to point out that the withdrawal of 8,000 colonizers will not alter the fact that the Palestinian people will still be living as prisoners in the Gaza Strip, with air, land, water, ingress and egress, completely controlled by the Israeli military occupiers.

The withdrawal will also not change the fact that 70% of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip live there as refugees who have been denied their right to return to their homes and lands.

For 57 years, the dispossession and expulsion of Palestinians from their homes by Zionists, with US support, has shaped the history of the Palestinian people as they remain determined to achieve their inalienable right to return to their homes and lands of origin.