Pro-Palestinian protesters stage ‘Nakba Day’ rallies worldwide
Pro-Palestinian protesters have staged rallies to commemorate “Nakba Day” in major cities across the globe.
Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians 77 years ago during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
The Israeli regime’s genocidal war has flattened much of the Gaza Strip, killed more than 53,000 people, driven almost the entire population of 2.3 million from their homes, and threatens to push them into famine.
Many Palestinians and other people across the world fear a repeat of the painful history on a bigger scale.
In the United States, pro-Palestinian protesters flooded the streets of New York City to commemorate the 77th Nakba anniversary and to condemn the US administration’s full support of its continuation through the Gaza genocide.
In Australia, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Melbourne on Sunday to mark Nakba Day. “We mourn and reflect on the violent ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during 1948 and reinforce their right to return,” organizers of the march said in a statement.
The large crowd gathered at the State Library and marched towards St Kilda beach via the US consulate. “We’re marking 77 years since the catastrophe… I felt inclined to come and show solidarity,” Fouad Chamma, one of the protesters at the rally, said.
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, pro-Palestinian protesters, on Saturday, marched through the city, chanting and waving Palestinian flags, while carrying signs with slogans such as “The 1 percent kill the 99 for profit,” “Stop killing kids,” and “Stop the murderer Netanyahu.”
Later, the crowd assembled at Dam Square to hear speeches by organizers and participants.
“Israel really upped the antics with a new ground offensive lately, so many people have been dying,” stated a protester. “It’s still important to come forward and organize so we can really change public opinion in this country.”
Another demonstrator criticized Israel’s “deliberate policy to destroy” humanitarian workers in Gaza, and condemned the Dutch government’s continued support for the Israeli regime.
In the Spanish capital, Madrid, pro-Palestinian protesters once again took to the streets in solidarity with the Palestinian people, rallying to mark the anniversary of Nakba.
In Stockholm, Sweden, thousands assembled at Odenplan Square, responding to calls from various civil society organizations to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Participants waved Palestinian flags, displayed photographs of children killed, and carried banners reading, “Stop the Zionist regime’s genocide in Palestine.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Austria’s second-largest city, Graz, hit the streets on Saturday to protest the ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of Palestinians.
In London, British protesters, some dressed in keffiyehs and waving green, white, black, and red Palestinian flags, walked across Westminster Bridge as they gathered to mark the anniversary of Palestinians’ mass expulsion from their land.
Demonstrators in London chanted slogans such as “Stop the genocide in Gaza”, “Free Palestine”, and “Israel is a terror state.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets in Dublin, Ireland, to mark Nakba, calling for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.
In Italy, pro-Palestinian rallies have been held across the country over the past days.
On Saturday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in Rome, Milan, and Florence to show solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were also held in German cities. The Pro-Palestinians gathered at Potsdamer Platz, waving flags and holding signs reading, “Your silence is complicity” and “You cannot kill us all”.
Women in traditional dress carrying Nakba-themed visuals were also present at a rally.
German police violently clashed with pro-Palestinians, arresting a number of them.
In Athens, Greece, protesters dressed in keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags marched first to the embassies of the United States and the Israeli regime.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon also commemorated the 77th anniversary of Nakba. Demonstrators emphasized that the belief that one day they would return to their homeland, Palestine, runs deep among them despite the ongoing genocide, atrocities, and conspiracies.
Protesters demanded an immediate cease to the Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere.
May 15 is commemorated around the globe as Nakba Day, marking the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes following the illegal establishment of the Israeli regime in 1948.
