Nakba Day has united major factions in Gaza, including Fatah and Hamas, as Palestinians marked the 62nd anniversary of mass forced displacement from their homes by pre-state Israeli militia in 1948.
Protesters marched from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the UN building in Gaza City to affirm their right to return, participants said, referring to the estimated 750,000 Palestinians who were expelled or fled from Palestine during the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Fayez Abu Aita, a Fatah leader, said “the message today is a message of national unity in facing the Israeli occupation.” He added that the political split is an unusual situation which should end as it is not possible to return the homeland without national unity.
Ismail Radwan, a Hamas leader, said “national unity is the way to preserve the right of return … The right of return will be achieved through resistance -- not negotiations.” He called on the Palestinians to unite and refuse calls to sacrifice the right of return.
Ramzi Rabah, a member of the political bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said that “on this day, we hold fast to Palestinian rights,” and called to escalate all forms of political resistance to restore the Palestinian rights.
Mohammad Al-Hindi, member of the political bureau of Islamic Jihad, said that “today is the day of national unity; the Nakba unites us in the very same way that the prisoners’ cause unites us. ... Today is the beginning of more national unity.”
“All the Palestinian factions are here to say that we are holding onto Palestine, all of Palestine,” Al-Hindi added.
Thousands of Palestinians joined rallies and demonstrations in the West Bank, Gaza and the diaspora refugee camps to demand for their right of return to their homes and lands, rejecting what gatherers called "conspiracies" aimed at depriving them of their right.
Nativity Church, Order 1650 deportees call for return
The Nativity Church deportees, exiled by Israeli authorities to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada following a siege on the Bethlehem holy site, staged a sit-in near the Palestinian Legislative Council headquarters calling for "Jerusalem, the return of refugees and the removal of settlements."
Raising Palestinian flags and posters reading "return is a sacred right which cannot be abandoned," deportees spokesman Fahmi Kanaan said "whatever deportation policies [Israel] adopts, whether it was the 1948 displacement, the Nativity Church deportation or the 1650 military order, we will never forget the right of return.
"We will not surrender to the motto 'after the elderly die, the young will forget.' We will teach our sons and grandsons about the right of return," he added.
Kanaan called on the UN and human rights group to support the implementation of UN resolutions granting all displaced Palestinians the right of return.
Thirteen recently deported Palestinians from Israel to Gaza under order 1650 which broadened the definition of an infiltrator, gathered at the northern Erez pedestrian crossing in Gaza.
"We feel the Nakba more than anybody else because our new Nakba is different. In 1948, whole families were displaced together, but in our case, we were forced to leave our families behind," Muhammad Al-Atawna from Beer Sheva, who was recently deported to the Strip, told Maan.
The Nakba
UNRWA, the UN agency set up in the wake of Palestinian displacement, estimates that there are 4.7 million registered Palestinian refugees living across the Middle East.
The Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics released a demographic study compiled to mark 62 years since the Nakba, revealing that the Palestinian population has doubled worldwide since 1948.
"Contrary to natural catastrophes, the Palestinian Nakba was the result of man-made military plans and conspiracy of states unfolded a major tragedy for the Palestinian people," the PCBS wrote.
More than 800,000 out of 1.4 million Palestinians -- the Palestinian population in 1948 living in 1,300 Palestinian towns and villages -- "were driven out of their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab countries and the remaining countries of the world." In addition, thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes but stayed within the newly-declared state of Israel.
"According to documented data, Israel controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba. The atrocities of Israeli forces also included more than 70 massacres during Nakba in which 15,000 Palestinians were killed."
According to the PCBS, statistics show the Palestinian population in 1948 was 1.4 million and estimated at approximately 10.9 million by the end of 2009. "This indicates that the number of Palestinians worldwide has multiplied eight times since the Nakba in its 62nd anniversary."
Source: Maan News Agency
