Palestinians commemorate Al-Nakba with widespread protest

Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday to mark the 67th anniversary of Al-Nakba — the Arabic word for “Catastrophe,” which Palestinians use to describe Zionist groups’ violent destruction of Palestinian society in 1948, which turned close to two-thirds of the Palestinian population into refugees and paved the way for the establishment of Israel.

While most protests and demonstrations marking the occasion were peaceful, some resulted in clashes with Israeli authorities, which have moved to stop the annual Nakba actions in Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupies.

Dozens of injuries were reported as a result of the clashes.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, 21 Palestinians were shot in the legs by Israeli soldiers during clashes following an overnight visit by 1,500 Israeli citizens to Joseph’s Tomb, Maan News reported. 

Israeli soldiers had positioned themselves on rooftops surrounding the tomb ahead of the night visit, which lasted until 3:30 a.m., Maan added. Palestinian youth threw rocks at the soldiers, who shot back with live fire, tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets.

A large Nakba march was also staged in the village of Nilin, where Israeli forces responded by declaring the community a “closed military zone,” said Edmee Van Rijn, a reporter based in the region.

Israeli soldiers dispersed the crowd by shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at participants, she added.

Palestinian youth also protested outside Israel’s Ofer Prison in the West Bank. About 200 Palestinians rallied outside the facility — where Palestinian protesters and members of armed groups are often imprisoned together — and clashed with Israeli soldiers.

At the same location one year earlier, two Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by Israeli forces while commemorating Al-Nakba.

Video footage that captured the shootings of Nadeem Nowarah, 17, and Mohammed Abu Thaher, 16, showed neither of the teens posed a threat to Israeli forces at the time of their deaths.

Israeli authorities suspended a soldier in connection with the killings and an inquiry has been opened into the case. However, few Palestinians believe the soldier will be successfully prosecuted — as only 1.4 percent of complaints against Israeli soldiers ever lead to an indictment, according to Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Israeli soldiers shot and injured three Palestinians during a Nakba march, Maan reported. Witnesses to the attack expressed anger and confusion, saying the march was peaceful.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that three individuals were shot in their lower extremities, saying the victims were among “100 rioters” close to the border with Israel who failed to halt on orders.

As Palestinians protested across the occupied territories, just one official Nakba demonstration was staged in Israel, where organizing or supporting such actions are often met with social, political and even financial intimidation.

The Nakba demonstration was held atop the ruins of the Palestinian village Ijzim, just outside of the northern city of Haifa, Haaretz reported.

Marking the occasion, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech held in the West Bank on Friday that no peace could be reached with Israel while it continued to occupy Palestinian land, Haaretz reported. Abbas' comments came a day after the most right-wing government in Israel’s history was sworn in.

“The Palestinian people will not give up its land or its rights,” Abbas said. “What happened in 1948 will never happen again.”

Many Palestinians who were displaced in 1948 still hope to return to their homes in what is now Israel, and often display keys to those homes as a symbol of their desire to return.

To date, an estimated 5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendents have registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) — an agency created in 1950 to provide shelter and other services for Palestinian refugees.

Nearly one-third of the registered Palestinian refugees — over 1.5 million people — live in 58 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, UNRWA data showed. 

For many Palestinians, the right to return to their homes — enshrined in numerous U.N. resolutions, including General Assembly Resolution 194 — is a prerequisite for peace with Israel. But it is a demand that Israel has categorically rejected, saying that allowing refugees to return would destroy the state's “Jewish character.”

With wire services