Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is a grassroots organization that opposes Israel’s right to exist and has openly supported terror groups that target Israelis during demonstrations and elsewhere.

In response to Israel's military action in Gaza to staunch the barrage of Hamas rockets hurled at Israeli towns and cities, Al-Awda helped organized a “National Day of Action” on December 30, 2008, in more than 30 locations around the country. Many of the demonstrations, which were held in front of Israeli embassies and consulates, U.S. Federal buildings and elsewhere, were marked by offensive Holocaust imagery likening Jews and Israelis to Nazis, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, as well as expressions in support of terror.

Through its literature, speaking engagements, public demonstrations and other events, Al-Awda (Arabic for “the return”) advocates for the establishment of a Palestinian state over all of the territory west of the Jordan River, including Israel. While its activity mainly focuses on the Palestinian right of return, which it views as non-negotiable, Al-Awda also promotes the views that Israel is an illegitimate state and that Zionism is racism.

By forming coalitions with other like-minded groups and with the antiwar movement, Al-Awda has been able to promote boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns against Israel and introduce its anti-Israel themes to audiences around the country.