(click here for a photo gallery)

In the morning, Mossawa organized a tour for Mr. King and Dr. Mack, founder and president of “Communities Without Boundaries International” to the Arab town of Jisr-al Zarqa with a population of 14,000. There they met with members of the municipality including the mayor.

The symposium that took place in the afternoon at the Mossawa Center was entitled “The Arab Community: Civil Rights & Role in Peace building” and was attended by over 100 activists, journalists, political actors and representatives from Embassies. Speakers included Mr. King, Dr. Mack, Mossawa Director Jafar Farah, Head of the Follow Up committee for Arab Citizens in Israel Mohammad Barakeh and University Professor Ms. Mary Totary.

Mr. King stated in his speech that he witnessed many family members being killed  and  that “It would have been easy to embrace the hatred but I (Mr. King) embraced love. Forgiving is sometimes difficult to do but I would have been a very hateful person if I gave in to that.” (click here for his full speech)

Mossawa Director Jafar Farah said that “The most important thing is the fact that we believe that there can be solidarity between the communities.” and that “We hope to build this solidarity.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his son who continues his father’s legacy are role models for many Palestinian and foreign activist.  We hope to increase the cooperation with the African American community in the U.S. and learn from their struggle for civil rights, as well as explain the uniqueness of the Palestinian Arab community in Israel. Mr. Martin Luther King III’s visit was an important opportunity to present the state of the Palestinian minority in Israel and build relations for future cooperation.