World Marks Palestine’s Nakba Day
Local Editor
People across the world are commemorating the Nakba Day which marks the anniversary of the forcible eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland by ‘Israeli' occupiers in 1948.
The Day of Catastrophe is officially marked every year on May 15, but the occasion this year coincides with a hunger strike being observed by more than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in ‘Israeli' jails.
Some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war. Today, more than 7 million Palestinian refugees are living in exile, while 1.8 million Palestinians are living in the world's largest open-air prison in the Gaza Strip.
Ahead of the anniversary, the besieged Gaza Strip and several parts of the world witnessed protests against the ‘Israeli' oppression and occupation which has continued for decades.
On Sunday, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said ‘Israel' must acknowledge that its establishment in 1948 was a "catastrophe" for the Palestinians and apologize for it.
The Nakba Day, he said, "means an ongoing journey of pain, loss, and injustice."
Erekat also urged Tel Aviv to open all its 1948 archives and show "the truth of what was done to our people, including its ethnic cleansing policies and the policy of shooting to kill Palestinians that attempted to return home."
The official further urged the UK "to apologize for its role in the Palestinian catastrophe, beginning by the infamous Balfour Declaration and the denial of our national rights."
The document issued in November 1917 by the then British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour said the UK government "views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," settling the stage for creation of the Zionist entity.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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