Occupied Jerusalem- Under the slogan “Stop the War on Gaza,” masses of Palestinians from the 1948 commemorated the 76th anniversary of the Nakba by participating in the 27th March of Return, which was held on the lands of the displaced villages of Hosha and Al-Kasair in the Haifa District, at the invitation of the Association for the Defense of Displaced Persons’ Rights.
The march – which toured many of the lands of displaced towns under the title “Here We Remain… The Day of Their Independence is the Day of Our Catastrophe” – carried messages that affirmed the insistence on the right of refugees to return to the destroyed and displaced villages, numbering 531 towns, and to continue the struggle until freedom and independence are achieved.
The march included a speech festival that opened with the Palestinian national anthem, “My Homeland,” then “The Oath of Return.” During the festival, the head of the Supreme Follow-up Committee for the Arab Masses, Muhammad Baraka, and the representative of the Association for the Defense of Displaced Rights, Noura Nasra, spoke. Mahmoud Sobh also spoke on behalf of the people of the displaced villages.
The festival included artistic activities and cultural stations, and a tent to defend freedoms demanding the liberation of the bodies of imprisoned martyrs, including the martyr Walid Daqqa, who was martyred on April 7 last year after spending 38 years in captivity, as the Israeli authorities continue to detain his body.
New generation
The march turned into a protest station during which Palestinian flags and banners bearing the names of displaced villages were raised, and slogans insisting on the right of refugees to return and denouncing war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
There was widespread participation by the young generation and young people who broke the barrier of fear and challenged the Israeli measures that, since the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” have prohibited the raising of the Palestinian flag and prevented any activities denouncing the war and supporting the Gaza Strip.
Zakia Shinawi led the return march, accompanied by a group of girls who waved the Palestinian flag. Shinawi told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the march comes within exceptional circumstances in light of the war on Gaza, as if a new Palestinian generation is experiencing the scenes of the Nakba that are transmitted in historical novels.
She pointed out that the march comes to affirm the right of return, and that the Palestinian youth will not forget the Nakba, which will be embodied in the year 2024, through the war on Gaza, which targets the existence of the Palestinian people everywhere they exist.
She also pointed out that commemorating the Nakba during the war represents a challenge to the Israeli establishment, which since October 2023 has adopted a method of restricting, persecuting, and suppressing every Palestinian voice at home in solidarity with Gaza under the pretext of incitement to violence and disruption of public order.
Shinawi attaches great importance to commemorating the Nakba and national events, as the widespread participation of youth and younger generations from inside Palestine in the March of Return – which has turned into an arena in support of Gaza – confuses and frightens Israel.
She believes that the march expresses the feelings of belonging and unity of the Palestinian people, and carries within it many messages that have an impact on public opinion, shape Palestinian awareness and narrative, and contribute to refining national identity.
Inheriting hope
In turn, the seventy-year-old Hajo Hajo and his wife Amina insist on participating in the return march. They come from the displaced village of Lubiyah in the Upper Galilee, and took refuge in the town of Deir Hanna.
Hajo recounted to Al-Jazeera Net the scenes of displacement and displacement from his village, which had a population of about 3,000 people at the time of the Nakba, including those who were displaced to Lebanon and Syria, and some of whom remained refugees inside the country and live in the hope of return that they inherited and are keen to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
Hajo says that the scenes of the Nakba and the same events continue in Gaza through the war launched by Israel against the Palestinians, “but the widespread participation in the activities of returning to the displaced villages confirms that the Palestinian youth will not forget, and that they will carry the banner faithfully and insist on returning.”
The media coordinator for the Return March, Maqboula Nassar, an activist in the Association for the Defense of Displaced Rights, adopts the same proposition, noting that the widespread participation in the march carries implications that there will be no new Nakba in the year 2024, in reference to the war on Gaza, and that the Palestinian people have decided. His decision to adhere to the right of return and not to give up on it, whatever the circumstances.
Nassar pointed out in her interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the distinguished presence of the young generation in the March of Return confirms that the Palestinian people have not and will not forget what happened in the Nakba, and they are raising their voice loudly for return despite the Israeli policy of oppression against the Palestinians of the 1948, for their solidarity and support for the people of Gaza.
She explained that the March of Return is a message of steadfastness to the people of Gaza and a link between what happened in the Nakba in 1948 and the ongoing war on Gaza, and it reflects the march of the Palestinian people towards freedom and independence.
Hold on to the truth
For his part, Dr. Youssef Jabareen, a member of the Supreme Follow-up Committee for the Arab Public, believes that the March of Return is reminiscent of the chapters of the Nakba, and has great significance and importance, especially in light of the continuing war on Gaza, as the broad public participation represents a challenge to the policy of persecution and intimidation adopted by Israel against the Palestinians of the 1948.
Jabareen explained to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the march turned into the largest demonstration demanding an end to the war inside Palestine since the aggression on Gaza, which indicates the insistence of the Palestinian youth inside the country to relate to the issues of its people.
It is believed that there is a symbolism for the success of the national events and the return marches, as they contributed to consolidating the status of the Palestinian flag despite Israeli attempts to ban it and prevent it from being raised during protest activities denouncing the war on Gaza throughout recent months.
Jabareen pointed out that the March of Return, in which the younger generations raised Palestinian flags, confirms the failure of the Israeli plans aimed at obliterating Palestinian symbols, in exchange for the young generation’s clinging and adhering to the justice of the Palestinian cause and strengthening its convictions in the inevitability of its victory.
