71st Anniversary of Al Nakba

Thousands of Palestinians Uphold Right of Return

All over Palestine and in cities all over the world, Palestinians and supporters marked the 71st anniversary of Al Nakba, also known as the "catastrophe" when, in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were displaced during and after the establishment of the state of Israel. To this day more than five million Palestinians still live as refugees as they wait to return to their lands in Israel.

The main West Bank rally was held on May 15 in Ramallah City, in the central occupied West Bank, during which Palestinians gathered at the grave of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, from where thousands marched towards the city centre, holding high placards, Palestinian flags, and black flags as a symbol of mourning on Al Nakba. At 12:00 pm, Palestinians stood in silence as sirens sounded for 71 seconds symbolizing the 71 years of the Palestinian catastrophe.

Palestinians carried keys signifying their determination to return to their original homes, now in present-day Israel, which they were forced from in 1948. Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Ishtayeh, as well as members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Fatah Central Committee, political factions, and civic leaders, participated in the mass march, Ma'an News Agency reports.

In Gaza, Palestinians continued their protests at the fence Israel built to isolate Gaza from the other occupied territories in an attempt to smash the people's resistance movement. News agencies report that more than 60 Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces attacked protesters marking the anniversary. Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the Gazan Health Ministry, said that 65 Palestinians, including 22 children and five women, were injured during the protests and that most of those injured were hit by live bullets, reports indicate. Qedra further said that the Israeli forces also targeted the medical personnel, hitting three paramedics with rubber bullets.

More than 300 Palestinians have been killed since March 30, 2018 when the series of protests called "The Great March of Return" began and over 17,300 have been injured. Gaza has been under specific Israeli siege since June 2007 and the Zionists have launched three major wars against the occupied territory, killing thousands of Gazans each time and shattering the territory's infrastructure time and time again. On the occasion of Al Nakba, Hamas said in a statement that "attempts to divide the Palestinians and tarnish the image of the unified Palestinian people by judaizing Jerusalem and recognizing it as the capital of the Israeli occupation, tearing the West Bank apart through settlement expansion and annexation, strangling Gaza, and passing the 'Jewish Nation State' law in the occupied territories, as well as trying to liquidate the Palestine refugee issue by cutting all aid to [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees], in a bid to end the UN body and abolish the right of return, are doomed to failure." It rejected all plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause or abolishing the Palestinian rights, above all the "Deal of the Century" and emphasized the Palestinian people's right to resist the occupation with all means possible, including armed resistance, saying the weapons of the resistance were a red line.

Rallies commemorating the 71st anniversary of the Nakba were also held in other West Bank cities and towns.