A march commemorating the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” was organized on Monday evening in Sydney, Australia, by the Palestinian Action Group in Sydney, according to the group’s official Facebook page.
The march, which was also held in support of some 1,300 Palestinian prisoners who entered their 30th day of mass hunger strike on Tuesday, drew a large crowd of people, including politicians, parliament members, activists, and Diaspora Palestinians.
Several academics and politicians gave speeches at the march, commemorating the Nakba and supporting the prisoners’ struggle, while protesters waved Palestinian flags and signs calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
15 May, Sydney: Solidarity with Palestinian Hunger Strikers + Nakba Rally https://t.co/Y3bZJhaOwU pic.twitter.com/4vCsxrRlVX
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) May 14, 2017
More than six million Palestinians, whether in the occupied Palestinian territory or in the Diaspora, still call for the application of their internationally recognized right of return to their homes and villages in present-day Israel, a right which has been enshrined in international law following the adoption of United Nations Resolution 194.
Every May 15, commemorations recall the Nakba, during which hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Zionist militias and more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their lands in 1948 and scattered across refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Commemorating al Nakba, May 15th, 2016. Sydney. pic.twitter.com/6kLHTArYIH
— San (@sansdn) May 16, 2016
On Monday, as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank commemorated the day by holding large demonstrations, Israeli forces violently suppressed marches, with several Palestinians sustaining gunshot injuries and suffering from severe tear gas inhalation during marches in Bethlehem and Ramallah.
(Maan, PC, Social Media)
