Hebron Commemorates Nakba May 15

“Their independence is our Nakba.”  This banner on the streets of Bethlehem says it all.  What Israel considers the beginning of their state since 1948 was the “Great Catastrophe” for the Palestinians.  Nakba, for the Palestinans, is the day remembering the loss of over 400 of their villages to the invading Israeli armed militias. At that time hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to other parts of Israel, to Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.  More than 750,000 lost their homes, set up camps and waited for the day when under international law they would return to their homes.

On Nakba, May 15, the Israeli Army used live bullets and an enormous amount of tear gas, to disperse the crowd of 4-5000 Palestinians in the demonstrations in Hebron.  Determined, however, to march with their banners and flags to remember the Nakba and to insist on the refugees’ right to return, the Palestine National Authority army and police, in collusion with the Israeli Military,  used shields and batons to disperse the crowds.  Surprisingly, there were no arrests.

Demonstrations in Ramallah, Qalandiya, and Gaza erupted into more violent clashes than in Hebron. Hospitals in Ramallah reported more than 150 injuries while Hebron reported only a few injuries.

To some people, this day was a backward step in a push for the Palestinian refugees.  Though the number of people participating in the demonstrations was huge, it seemed the chaos on the streets, caused by a lack of coordinated effort to keep the actions nonviolent, didn’t help the Palestinian cause.  However, one can be sure that the movement for Palestinian human rights will go on.  The energies of the people can no longer be contained.