OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Thousands of flag-waving Palestinians marched towards the Arab villages of Hosha and Al-Kasair within the Green Line on Tuesday to commemorate the 1948 Nakba and to demand their right of return.
The protesters also called for an end to the war in Gaza as they took part in the march marking the “Nakba”, or “catastrophe”, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced in 1948 that accompanied Israel’s creation.
The annual Return March started from the eastern entrance to Shefa Amr where many held up Palestinian flags and wore keffiyeh headscarves.
The “Nakba,” which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the forced removal of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in preparation for the founding of Israel in 1948.
Every year, participants of the annual Return March, among them descendants of Palestinians who were internally displaced during the 1948 war, visit a different village that was destroyed or depopulated by Zionist militias.
This year, the Nakba anniversary comes amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 35,000 Palestinians.
