A so-called “My Return Tournament” was staged by Olive, a Palestinian youth organisation in the UK, in partnership with the My Return Campaign, in a move aiming at highlighting Palestinian refugees’ inalienable right of return.
Eight sports teams took part in the contest, which was held in London. Every team represented a Palestinian village or camp in an attempt to boost youth and children’s ties with their homeland. Brochures comprising historical information about Palestinian cities and towns were also distributed to participants.
Children and youth raised the Palestinian flag and chanted “Free Palestine” and “return is our right”.
The participants signed a petition pitched in the sports ground to support Palestinians’ right of return to their homeland.
Chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, Dr. Hafez Al Karmi, along with Executive Director of the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), Tareq Hammoud, honoured the winning team which was named after the Israeli-blockaded Gaza city.
“We hope the next tournament will be staged in Jerusalem,”, Al Karmi said. “Palestine will forever preserve its Arabic and Islamic identity.”
The My Return international campaign continues to garner widespread support across several countries around the world, with signatures on the petition demanding Palestinians’ right of return to their homeland reaching 500,000.
Despite the lockdown measures implemented nationally and internationally as part of the anti-coronavirus fight, the campaign continues to exert a pull on human rights advocates and online platforms. The petition has been signed by Palestinian refugees from over 180 countries.
The initiative has also received letters of encouragement and appreciation from dozens of renowned diplomats, journalists and academics from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. It has also been officially adopted and backed up by the Jordanian, Lebanese and Turkish parliaments.
“My Return” initiative is an international campaign launched by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) in partnership with Palestinian and international human rights partners and NGOs in order to amass the largest possible number of signatures showing Palestinians’ unyielding commitment to their right of return to their homeland – a right guaranteed by International Law and relevant UN resolutions.
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