2011 Nakba Day: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

m

Line 8:

==Background==

''Al-Nakba'' is the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word for "the catastrophe" or "the disaster" and is used by Palestinians to refer to the loss of Palestine, the displacement and dispersal that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.<ref name=Kamrava>{{cite book|title=The modern Middle East: a political history since the First World War|author=Mehran Kamrava|page=125|edition=Illustrated|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|ISBN=978-0-520-24150-3|url=httphttps://books.google.cacom/books?id=SKSwpfLUYDEC&pg=PA125&dq=nakba+%22loss+of+palestine%22&hl=en&ei=x-DQTZjVEIX3sgbE5OjFCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nakba%20%22loss%20of%20palestine%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name = Farsoun>{{cite book| url = httphttps://books.google.cacom/books?id=3ntlybo9BEQC&pg=PA14&dq=nakba+refugees+return&hl=en&ei=7EzNTYKhOYvasgal_9WxCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=nakba%20refugees%20return&f=false|page=14|title=Culture and customs of the Palestinians|author=Samih K. Farsoun|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|ISBN=978-0-313-32051-4}}</ref><ref name=Gregory>{{cite book|url=httphttps://books.google.cacom/books?id=yo6VyhJKKb8C&pg=PA86&dq=nakba+past+present&hl=en&ei=OHbNTZ_dFcWKswaE9JS4Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=86|title=The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq|author=Derek Gregory|edition=Illustrated, reprint|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2004|isbn=978-1-57718-090-6}}</ref> More than 700,000 Palestinians were [[1948 Palestinian exodus|expelled or fled]] over the course of the [[1948 Palestine War]] and they and their descendants number several million today, divided between Jordan (2 million), Lebanon (427,057), Syria (477,700), the West Bank (788,108) and the Gaza Strip (1.1 million), with another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel.<ref name=Telegraph19/><ref name=reuters>Figures given here for the number of Palestinian refugees includes only those registered with [[UNRWA]] as June 2010. [[Internally displaced Palestinians]] were not registered, among others. [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/15/us-palestinians-israel-refugees-idUSTRE74E2BP20110515 Factbox: Palestinian refugee statistics]</ref>

Nakba Day is commemorated annually, generally on May 15. Commemorations among Palestinian [[Arab citizens of Israel]] are often held on [[Israeli Independence Day]] which falls on the [[Hebrew calendar]] date of [[Iyar|5 Iyar]] (in 2011, May 10). On that day, several thousand [[internally displaced Palestinians]] and their supporters held their 14th annual "March of Return" between [[al-Damun]] and [[al-Ruways]], two [[List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus|Palestinian villages depopulated]] during the [[1948 Palestinian exodus]].<ref name=AIC>{{cite web|url=http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3587-thousands-mark-palestinian-nakba-in-galilee- |title=Thousands Mark Palestinian Nakba in Galilee |publisher=Alternativenews.org |date=2011-05-12 |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref> At least 1,000 Arabs and Jews held the first public commemoration of the Nakba in [[Jaffa]] on May 14 to protest the "Nakba Law" passed by the Israeli [[Knesset]] in March. Organized by members of youth movements in Jaffa and [[Lod]], Arab Members of [[Knesset]] did not attend the protest, where demonstrators chanted pro-Palestinian, [[pan-Arabism|pan-Arab]], and anti-Israel slogans, and blocked traffic along Jaffa's main street.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068464,00.html |title=Hundreds mark 'Nakba Day' in Jaffa - Israel News, Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=1995-06-20 |accessdate=2011-05-18}}</ref><ref name="Hartman">Hartman, Ben. {{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=220514|title=Hundreds hold first-ever Nakba Day march in Jaffa|publisher=jpost.com|date=2011-05-15}}</ref>

Line 48:

===Syria===

In Syria, the demonstrations were organized by phone and Internet by Palestinian refugees, most of them university students independent of any political faction, in response to the call for a "Third Palestinian Intifada" on Facebook.<ref name=Golan>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hORDwISozjMd3J4mnoJRPRbpY9vA?docId=CNG.24720c3e4e4b36a7a28281c90f818eda.281 |title=Shot Palestinian youth proud of Golan protest |publisher=Google.com |date=2011-05-18 |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref><ref name=Nabulsi/> Demonstrators gathered near the Israeli-Syrian [[Purple Line (ceasefire line)|ceasefire line]] waving Palestinian flags. The first wave of demonstrators was stopped by Syrian police, who were later overtaken when a second group arrived.<ref name=MEO/> About 1,000 demonstrators approached the fence, and some 300 children among them, rushed toward the fence.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name=YNETG/> Some managed to breach the border and enter the Israeli side of the ceasefire line. The sole Israeli military patrol present was overwhelmed and opened fire on the demonstrators, who threw stones at Israeli troops.<ref name=MEO>{{cite web|url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=46168 |title='They crossed minefields,' Golan residents marvel |publisher=Middle-east-online.com |date=2011-05-17 |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref> Four demonstrators were killed and dozens injured.<ref name="AJE"/> The dead were Palestinian refugees: Qais Abu Alheija from Houd, Bashar Ali Shahabi from [[Lubya]], Samer Khartabeel from [[Tiberias]], and Abadah Zaghmout from [[Safsaf]].<ref name=Nabulsi>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/19/nakba-day-palestinian-summer |title=Nakba day: we waited 63 years for this |publisher=Guardian |date= 2011-05-19|accessdate=2013-10-02 |location=London |first=Karma |last=Nabulsi}}</ref> Two demonstrators were arrested and detained, but were returned to Syria.<ref name=YNETr/> About a dozen Israeli soldiers injured by stone-throwing during the clashes, and suffered mild-to-moderate injuries. Among the injured was the Israeli commander, Colonel Eshkol Shukrun, who was hit in the face.<ref name=YNETG/>

More than a hundred demonstrators managed to bypass the fence and enter the Arab [[Druze]] town of [[Majdal Shams]].<ref name=YNETG>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4069033,00.html|title=IDF says handled border breach well|work=ynet}}</ref><ref name=HaaretzP>{{cite web|last=Arens |first=Moshe |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-unprepared-for-syria-border-breach-despite-intelligence-tips-1.362173 |title=IDF unprepared for Syria border breach, despite intelligence tips |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-05-17 |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref> Arab residents of the [[Golan Heights]], many of whom still hold Syrian citizenship, had gathered near the fence when they heard shots, and welcomed those who entered Majdal Shams, offering them food and drink.<ref name=MEO/> The demonstrators eventually headed back to Syria after negotiations, and police combed the area for any additional infiltrators. At least one demonstrator, Hassan Hijazi, a 28-year-old Palestinian refugee, managed to hitch a ride to central Israel with Israeli and French Arab peace activists, and reached [[Tel Aviv]] by bus, even sitting alongside Israeli soldiers.<ref name=YNETr/> After finding his old family home in [[Jaffa]], he turned himself in at a police station, saying he had fulfilled a lifelong ambition.<ref name=Telegraph19>{{cite news|last=Blomfield |first=Adrian |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8524356/Israel-braced-for-further-Palestinian-protests.html |title=Israel braced for further Palestinian protests |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |date= 2011-05-19|accessdate=2013-10-02 |location=London}}</ref>