Deir Yassin Remembered was founded to do justice to the victims of the Deir Yassin Massacre. Our goal is to build a memorial at Deir Yassin. We are not a political organization and have no stated nor implied political goals.

Part of the struggle for self-determination by Palestinians has been to tell the truth about Palestinians as victims of Zionism. For too long their history has been denied and this denial has only served to further oppress and deliberately dehumanize Palestinians in Israel, inside the occupied territories, and outside in their diaspora.

Some progress has been made. Westerners now realize that Palestinians, as a people, do exist. And they have come to acknowledge that during the creation of the state of Israel thousands of Palestinians were killed and over 700,000 were driven or frightened from their homes and lands on which they had lived for centuries.

In keeping with Simon Wiesenthal's observation that "Hope lives when people remember," the suffering of Jews has been rightly acknowledged and memorialized. But there are few memorials for Palestinians who died in 1948. Their history, in which the massacre at Deir Yassin is a very significant event, has been largely buried and forgotten. And yet, like the descendants of the victims in Armenia (1915–17), in the Soviet Union (1929–53), in Nazi Germany (1933–45), in China (1949–52, 1957–60, and 1966–76), and in Cambodia (1975–79), the descendants of Palestinians want the world to remember what they suffered, what they lost, and why they died.

Today, Israelis and Palestinians are involved in what has been called the "Middle East Peace Process." In the spirit of reconciliation essential for the success of that process, the organizers of Deir Yassin Remembered believe it is appropriate for the suffering of Palestinians to likewise be acknowledged and memorialized.

But while the main purpose of Deir Yassin Remembered is to build a suitable memorial, the organization also has a broader, more humanitarian objective. It will work to eliminate prejudice against Palestinians and to promote the human side of a people who have been the victims of the Zionist colonization of their land and of the apartheid conditions under which they now live. The organizers will publicize the building of the memorial, through press releases and documentary presentations, in an effort to heighten awareness, particularly on the part of the American public concerning Palestinian grievances, and thus enhance support for a just and durable resolution to the conflict.