Palestine marks Nakba amid Israeli Independence celebrations
Amid Israeli Independence Day celebrations, thousands of Palestinians citizens of Israel took to the streets on May 15th to commemorate their own struggle, marking the 76th anniversary of the Nakba or “catastrophe,” as reported by The New Arab. This year’s commemorative march held particular poignance, with Palestinian casualties of the Israel-Gaza war approaching 35,000 in just seven months of conflict.
The date commemorating the Nakba was chosen symbolically, following the May 14th anniversary of Israeli independence from British rule.
Carrying Palestinian flags and banners bearing the names of once-Palestinian villages, demonstrators held a march of return to the villages of Hawsha and Al-Kassasir, ethnically cleansed by Zionist forces in 1948.
READ: Israel poisoned wells in Palestinian villages during the Nakba
The march was organized for the 27th consecutive year by the Association for the Defence of the Rights of Displaced Persons, in collaboration with the High Follow-up Committee, to emphasize the ongoing struggle for the Palestinian right of return.
Association member and displaced person Musa Saghir said, “we have two messages: first, our commitment to staying here and our unwavering belief in the right of return, no matter how long it takes; and second, a call to halt the brutal war on Gaza.”
The Nakba signifies the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of thousands of Palestinians to make way for the founding of Israel in 1948, when over 750,000 Palestinians were subject to mass dispossession, killings and forced displacement by Zionist paramilitaries and the army.
The traumatic events of the Nakba are foundational to Palestinian national identity and are marked annually by Palestinians in the occupied territories, those living within the 1948 borders, and the international diaspora.
READ: Gazans’ keys of hope: an enduring symbol of resistance
On October 7th, 2023, the Hamas Palestinian militant group carried out an attack on southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,139 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli social security data.
Israel’s retaliatory blockade, bombardment and invasion of Palestinian enclave has killed at least 34,904 Palestinians to date, mostly women and children, according to the Hams-run Gaza Health Ministry.
March participant Walid Hamas underscored the enduring significance of the Nakba, stating that “this march is a clear statement that the Nakba continues to this day… We will neither forget nor forgive.”
The New Arab / AFP
