APN founding member  Razan Zuayter, was invited to give a speech at  the opening of the Conference for Palestinians Abroad in Istanbul on 26-25 February.

The conference emphasized the right of Palestinians to liberation and self-determination, and the role of Palestinians abroad in working towards these goals. Zuayter spoke about three pillars essential for the sustainability of the conference’s work, which are: the independence of decision-making from any religious, ethnic , gender or age bias; harnessing diversity and strengthening unity that are essential for success; and the importance of sustained developmental support for resident Palestinians.

 Ms Zuayter also spoke about the One Million Tree Campaign that was initiated after the second intifada under the slogan of “they uproot one tree, we plant ten”. Despite limited resources, approximately 2.5 million trees have been planted on 120,000 dunams of Palestinian land, whereby 24,000 farmers have been targeted.

“Through the campaign’s pursuit to protect Palestinian land and achieve food sovereignty, we have united dedicated hearts and minds, and have succeeded in bringing the Palestinian cause to many international platforms that were previously closed.” 

Zuayter also discussed the conference’s final report, which encouraged the initiation of a national movement to mobilize Palestinians in diaspora to continue their fight for the Palestinian cause (see a copy of the final report here).

Zuayter's speech (text):http://bit.ly/2ooTqH7

Zuayter's speech (video): http://bit.ly/2pjBeMt