Israeli Arabs mark 'Nakba' in march
<snip>
"Thousands of Israeli Arabs Thursday marked the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" that accompanied Israel's foundation in a march to where two Arab villages existed before 1948, an AFP journalist said.
Bearing Palestinian flags and banners with names of displaced villages, the procession left Abu Snan in northern Israel for the nearby Kibbutz of Beit Haemek, which was established on the grounds of Kweikat and Omqa villages.
The marchers chanted slogans against peace negotiations with Israel and in favour of Hamas-Fatah Palestinian reconciliation, the correspondent said.
They also bore signs saying "no peace without the right of return," which is claimed by Palestinian communities in the diaspora but rejected by Israel.
It was the fifteenth such march, which each year commemorates different displaced communities."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iAwwYKDwB4X_oqu_SkNAnp_aHUyQ?docId=CNG.49fe4ed78bb118741f605fc2a55c9a73.121
Police besiege, arrest activists planning to commemorate Nakba in Tel Aviv
<snip>
Some 15 activists from the organization Zochrot were besieged by police on Wednesday night in the NGO’s offices, in order to prevent them from quietly commemorating the Palestinian Nakba on Israeli Independence Day. Three were arrested for reading aloud names of destroyed villages.
Reports started flowing in at around 22:30 p.m. through text messages and phone calls. Some 15 activists from Zochrot (“Remembering”), an Israeli NGO dedicated to preserving the memory the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) among the Hebrew-speaking public, had gathered in the group’s offices on Ibn Gabirol Street in central Tel Aviv. They were planning a quiet symbolic action entailing placing placards with the names of villages demolished in the 1948 war on the ground in Rabin Square, the epicenter of Independence Day festivities. Actions very much like it have been carried out by the group every year on the same day for at least seven years.
However, this time the activists were surprised to see riot police forces building up a barricade around the building while they were inside. When they tried to leave for their quiet ceremony, activists were told by high ranking officers on the site that they are forbidden to do so, and that anyone trying to skip over the fences would be immediately arrested. “They said their goal was to prevent us from disturbing the peace,” says Liat Rosenberg, Zochrot director. “We were held captive for about four hours, and were told we could only leave if each and every one of us shows an ID, turns in all [protest-related] materials, and goes through an interrogation and a physical search. Attorney Gabi Lasky told police that they are unlawfully imprisoning the activists, but they refused to stand down.
(Update: Short clip in Hebrew showing a man reading out the names of Palestinian villages on which Tel Aviv was built. A riot police officer tells him he is violating the peace, and he is quickly arrested while continuing to chant the names. Shot by: Aviv Sela)
Other protesters on the scene said they were asked to sign a form in which they vowed not to “distribute propoganda” or to disturb the peace. “It’s amazing that a small, quiet action of little more than ten people can be considered a violation of the peace, while the whole street is filled with masses of drunk people celebrating,” said another activist."
more
= new reply since forum marked as read
