Students speaking at the Al-Nakba protest
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
NEW YORK — On Sunday, May 17, activists from New York’s Arab Community held a rally in Times Square to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, known as Al-Nakba — “The Catastrophe”.
A protester at the Nakba rally
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
On Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered in Times Square in support of the Palestinian people. Speakers urged the world to unite against the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian lands that was formalized on May 15, 1948 — the day Israel declared independence.
Palestinian refugees – 1948
(Photo: Mike Odetalla / Hanini.org)
In 1948, during the Arab-Israeli war, almost 800,000 Palestinians were displaced from their lands by Zionist settlers from Europe and the U.S. These settlers formed what is known today as Israel. According to Al-Awda, the principal rally organizers, “two-thirds of the Palestinian population have been forced out of Palestine, living in refugee camps and across the world in exile and diaspora.” The English translation of Al Nakba is “The Catastrophe” — a catastrophe that produced one of the largest exoduses of refugees in history. Al-Awda supports the “right of return” of Palestinians displaced by the Nakba.
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
