nakba day

Protesters carry away someone who was shot by an Israeli sniper along the Gaza border, May 14, 2018. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The bloody scenes I’ll never forget from Gaza’s Return March

A year ago, Israeli forces gunned down 64 demonstrators during Gaza’s Great Return March. Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary was there to see it all — the bloody stretchers, the wounded, and the dead. By Hind Khoudary GAZA CITY — F16s are flying on low velocity over the Gaza sky as I get flashbacks to May 14 of…

By +972 Magazine May 15, 2019

Palestinian citizens of Israel take part in the Return March, held at the destroyed village of Khubbeiza, to mark Nakba Day, May 9, 2019. (Mati Milstein)

PODCAST: The other Palestinian march of return

The +972 Podcast heads to the destroyed village of Khubbeiza to hear what Nakba Day means to different people, including Palestinians internally displaced in Israel. Every year for over two decades, thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel have marked Nakba Day by marching to the site of a different village that was depopulated and destroyed…

By +972 Magazine May 15, 2019

Abdullah Abu Rahmah being arrested by Border Police in Bil'in, May 13, 2016

Palestinian activist sent to prison for ‎riding a bike in his village

An Israeli military court sentenced Abdullah Abu Rahma, a recognized human rights defender, to 110 days in prison for riding a bicycle during a protest against the occupation two years ago. An Israeli military court sentenced renowned Palestinian activist Abdullah Abu Rahma to four months in prison on Wednesday, for two charges stemming from a bicycle race to mark Nakba Day…

By Oren Ziv November 14, 2018

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An Israeli soldier raises his rifle toward unarmed Palestinian protesters along the border fence separating Israel and Gaza, Gaza Strip, near the Nahal Oz crossing, October 30, 2015. (Ezz Zanoun/Activestills.org)

Gaza ‘Return March’ organizer: ‘We’ll ensure it doesn’t escalate to violence — on our end’

Palestinians in Gaza are planning 45 days of protests along the border with Israel leading up to the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, and they fear Israeli troops may open fire. One of the organizers speaks to +972 Magazine about why he believes hundreds of thousands of people will show up, and what message he’d…

By Rami Younis March 27, 2018

Siam Nuwara, the father of Nadeem Siam Nuwara, mourns over his son before his funeral procession in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 16, 2014. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

‘There is no justice in Israel — it’s always postponed’

The Nawara family expected to hear the sentence of the Israeli soldier who killed their son, Nadeem. Instead, they were forced to sit quietly while the soldier’s lawyer argued that it was not his client but Nadeem who was guilty of a crime. The hearing began poorly. Siam Nawara was on the stand, testifying in what was supposed…

By Joshua Leifer January 10, 2018

Palestinians participate in a rally marking the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 15, 2017. (Flash90)

WATCH: Palestinians mark Nakba on both sides of Green Line

Both the March of Return in al-Kabri and a Nakba Day demonstration in Ramallah were held to mark 69 years since the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. Read more: Mapping the Palestinian villages erased and replaced with Jewish towns How we learned to forget the villages we destroyed Fighting occupation…

By Social TV May 26, 2017

Members of the Palestinian national security forces carry the bodies of Nadim Nawara and Muhammad Salameh during their funeral procession in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 16, 2014. Both teens were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes the previous day outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison following a protest commemorating the Nakba. (Activestills.org)

Pallywood: The dark matter of the Zionist universe

Two recent cases of Israeli troops caught murdering Palestinians demonstrate the power, and limitations, of an entire nation deciding to believe what it wants to believe, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. By Eishton They call it “Pallywood.” Like Dark Matter, it’s a non-observable phenomenon, derived from our need to settle the contradiction between the viewable…

By +972 Magazine February 17, 2017

Members of the Palestinian national security forces carry the bodies of Nadim Nawara and Muhammad Salameh during their funeral procession in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 16, 2014. Both teens were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes the previous day outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison following a protest commemorating the Nakba. (Activestills.org)

How to whitewash the killing of two Palestinian teens

Video and forensic evidence didn’t stop the Israeli authorities from failing to properly prosecute the killing of two Palestinian youths at a Nakba Day protest in 2014. By John Brown* The Israeli state prosecutor will shortly sign a plea bargain with Border Police officer Ben Deri, who is on trial for killing Palestinian teenager Nadim Nawara in…

By +972 Magazine December 12, 2016

From Palestine to South Carolina, justice is scarce for victims of police violence

The trials of two police officers in Israel-Palestine and the U.S. collapsed within hours of each other on Monday. Both cases prove how difficult it is to secure justice for Palestinian and African-American victims of state violence. On May 15, 2014, three Palestinian teenagers were shot by Israeli security forces with live ammunition as they attended…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland December 6, 2016

My grandfather, Mohammed Samara, shaking hands with an official at a football tournament in Jerusalem during the British mandate of Palestine, 1946. Photo courtesy of the Samara family.

Nakba Day attests to the power of our grandparents’ stories

For young Palestinians, Nakba Day is dedicated to remembering the catastrophes that our grandparents went through. But with every passing year, we realize how much the day belongs to our catastrophes too. My maternal grandfather was born in 1929. Although Alzheimer’s disease eroded his memory during the later years of his life, he had a…

By Amjad Iraqi May 16, 2016

The ‘Return Train’ turns around at the Israeli separation wall, May 15, 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Palestinian ‘return train’ is stopped at Israel’s wall

On Nakba Day, activists build a symbolic train to bring Palestinian refugees back to their homes in what is today Israel. Photos and text by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org Hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the Bethlehem-area Dheisheh Refugee Camp on an unseasonably hot Sunday, Nakba Day, in order to board and accompany a symbolic “Return Train” meant…

By Activestills May 15, 2016

Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel take part in March of Return to the destroyed village of Hadatha, near Tiberias, April 23, 2015. (Activestills)

Recognizing the grief of the Nakba

In appointing itself the gatekeeper of historical memory, Israel has shackled the promotion of its own narrative to the suppression of the Palestinian narrative. A few years ago I took part in a class about the Armenian genocide at Toronto University with students from around the world, including several Armenian and Turkish participants. Three of…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 15, 2016

March of Return, May 2016 (Samah Salaime)

I lost my Palestinian flag on the March of Return

I went down to the Negev to participate in this year’s Nakba Day events. The fact that it’s the 68th year and little has changed depressed me; the sense of unity and the bubbly optimism of some of the activists encouraged me. “I will not come with you to the march!” my adolescent son exclaimed.…

By Samah Salaime May 14, 2016