Hundreds of Palestinians in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories commemorated on Friday (19/5/2017) the 69th anniversary of the Tantura massacre which was committed by the Zionist gangs against unarmed inhabitants of Tantura village to the south of Haifa before displacing the rest in May 1948.
The festival commemorating the massacre which was organized by Filastiniyat Association which is active in the 1948 occupied territories was opened with a minute of silence in remembrance of the martyrs followed by the Palestinian national anthem.
The participants raised the names of the martyrs who were killed in the most horrific massacre in the 1948 Nakba in addition to branches of olive trees which were planted on the Tantura beach in reference to the right of return.
The prisoners’ issue was present in the event which was held for the third year in a row. The participants raised portraits of a number of Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike for 33 consecutive days in Israeli jails and wore T-shirts that read “water and salt”.
The head of Filastiniyat Association lawyer Jihad Abu Rayya said that for the first time scout groups from Palestinian villages that were displaced in the Nakba participated in the festival.
Abu Rayya told Quds Press that a march was launched from the village’s cemetery which was turned by the Israeli authorities into a parking lot to hide the crime. He pointed out that as in every year there was a wide participation by the remaining residents of Tantura and the Palestinians of the 1948 occupied territories.
He also pointed to the presence in the event of a number of descendants of Tantura residents who are currently living in Bulgaria and other European countries.
Abu Rayya said that Tantura village witnessed the most brutal massacre where 230 Palestinian youths were executed after being forced to dig their graves with their hands.
“The Tantura massacre is one of the forgotten massacres which the Israeli regime tried to conceal so that it won’t be held accountable for it” Abu Rayya added.
He explained that the purpose of organizing this event is to honor the martyrs prosecute the criminals who committed the massacre and reveal the real image of Israel to the world.
