Palestinians face repression on Nakba Day rallies

Palestinians across the West Bank held rallies and protests to commemorate Nakba Day Wednesday with many protests facing violent repression.

Dan Dennison

Nakba (catastrophe) Day commemorates the forced expulsion of the Palestinian population in 1948, although the rallies that began the day in the centre of Ramallah focused on unity and patriotism.

Many of those present emphasised that the commemoration was also for those still living in poverty in places such as Lebanon:

“That’s 64 years of refugee camps," said one of the demonstrators, Awni Khateeb. "The Palestinians live in refugee camps and nobody looks after them, they look after themselves.”

A small group of protesters then moved to the Qalandia checkpoint, while 600 people gathered outside Ofer prison, west of Ramallah.

Israeli Defence Force soldiers were on high alert, responding with volleys of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs and spraying protestors with the chemical sewage concoction known as “skunk”.

The Palestine Medical Red Crescent service stated that they treated a total of 308 people for tear gas inhalation, 129 people for injuries associated with rubber bullets and 20 for other associated injuries.

Overall, 41 people from protests across the West Bank required further medical treatment or hospitalisation.

“What we see here today is the usual use of military might against civilian protestors, who are trying to exercise their legitimate right to resist an illegitimate occupation," Israeli protestor Jonathan Pollak told RFI. "We see use of disproportionate force … life as usual in the West Bank under occupation.”

Protests also occurred in Nazareth, Jerusalem, Gaza as well as Amman and Beirut, with many protests staged outside UN offices to demand better treatment of refugees.