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Palestinians unveil Nakba anniversary activities

11.05.2014 - Update : 11.05.2014
Palestinians unveil Nakba anniversary activities

RAMALLAH 

Organizers of a Palestinian popular campaign to mark the 66th Nakba Day, or "the catastrophe" which befell Palestinians following Israel's establishment in 1948, unveiled a list of activities that will be carried out in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to mark the day.

Mohamed Elian, the coordinator of the National Campaign for the Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, said the celebration this year will seek to underline the Palestinians' insistence to return to the homes they had been forced to leave after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Speaking to a press conference in Jalazone refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Elian said his campaign will launch several activities to mark the Palestinian Nakba, including a march on May 14 by the very same cars that carried Palestinians away from their homes in 1948.

"The refugee camps are mere waiting places for Palestinians until their return to their land," he said.

Another march will also be staged on May 15 from the shrine late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in central Ramallah to the square of Dawar al-Manarah, he said.

Palestinians mark the annual anniversary of the Nakba on May 15. Around 800,000 Palestinians had to leave their homes in Palestinian villages and towns for Arab countries Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt on the heels of Israel's establishment.

Meanwhile, scores of Palestinian elderly people who were kicked out of their homes in 1948 on Sunday staged a protest to call on the United Nations and other international organizations to find solutions to their problems.

The protesters carried signs, underlining the Palestinians' right to return to their homes and lands. "No turning back from the right of return," one of the banners read. 

By Qais Abu Samra

englishnews@aa.com.tr

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