A crowd of a few hundred amassed in front
of Tel Aviv University to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the Palestinian
“Nakba,” or disaster, which refers to certain consequences of the establishment
of the State of Israel: the destruction of an estimated 622 villages and the
exodus of roughly 700,000 Palestinians who became permanent refugees.
A mosaic crowd of progressive and left-wing students—both Jews and Arabs—listened to activists announce the names of destroyed villages, recite the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? and deliver speeches about the urgent need for reconciliation,Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. equality, and social justice.
The commemoration was not without opposition: a rabble of right-wing protesters,Excel Mould is a Custom Plastic Injection Moulding Manufacturer. most of which belong to the rabid organization Im Tirtzu, counter protested. Im Tirtzu, known for having accepted vast amounts of funding from Evangelical Christian-Zionist organizations based in the United States, strives to “strengthen and advance the values of Zionism in Israel.”
Flimsy barriers and a handful of police officers stood separated the Nakba commemorators from the Im Tirtzu crowd, who were waving Israeli flags, singing national songs, chanting, and wielding placards.
A large poster board hovering of the heads of the counter-protesters read, “Hebron is ours!” Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, home to 165,000 Palestinians who live under the coerced tutelage of the Israeli Defense Force. Roughly 3,000 soldiers are stationed in and around Hebron for the sole purpose of protecting no more than 500 Israeli settlers, most of whom are American immigrants armed with a particularly violent, messianic strand of Zionist ideology.
“I killed four people bigger than you,” one Im Tirtzu demonstrator said to Mohammad, a 20 year-old Palestinian student of American Culture and Archeology.
“You’re a national hero,” he calmly responded.
“Death to Arabs!” a faction of the Im Tirtzu crowd later chanted.
One man slipped past the barriers and attempted to tear a large sign from the activists who were holding it. “Nakba 1948,” the sign read in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. He lunged at a commemorator and a small scuffle ensued before the security officers apprehended him.
“Listen, it’s not like we are asking Jews to leave—there are Jews demonstrating here with us,” one of the organizers of the commemoration told me. “We want to recognize the loss of our villages and the displacement of our families who came from there.”
A graduate student named Mohammed, who is studying towards a Masters of Business Administration, echoed similar themes. “We want a secular, democratic state for everyone, with equality for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.” Such a state, he told me,We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. must include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Nakba commemoration and counter-protest are a microcosm of the broader struggle taking place within Israeli-Palestinian society. A steadily growing Israeli right-wing movement is attempting to command a monopoly on historical narrative. Their opponents, an Israeli-Palestinian left that many had announced dead and buried long ago, continue to executing a joint struggle,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. despite the inattention of the international media.
The Israeli state and its staunchest supporters decry each demand for equality as an assault on its very existence. Peace activists are persecuted and often physically assaulted by state security forces. Meanwhile, West Bank settlers—citing a religious-colonial ideology as the warrant for the continued theft of Palestinian land—generally enjoy legal immunity.
The Second Intifada is often referred to as a setback for the left-wing movements in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The high frequency of violence and the religious undertones led many to brand the Israeli-Palestinian peace camp as naive at best, or a fifth column at worst.
Discontent with the state, however, is stirring again, and the left is seizing the opportunity.
Palestinians living inside the Green Line—along with many Israeli Jews, for that matter—reject the government’s classification of Arabs as second class citizens. To expect the over one million Palestinians citizens of Israel to endorse an exclusively Jewish state that renders them mere footnotes is nothing short of absurd.
Their demands are not inherently violent or destructive, as their detractors say. Rather, the overwhelming majority are calling for a secular and democratic state that does not treat its citizens preferentially according to religion or ethnicity.
A mosaic crowd of progressive and left-wing students—both Jews and Arabs—listened to activists announce the names of destroyed villages, recite the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? and deliver speeches about the urgent need for reconciliation,Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. equality, and social justice.
The commemoration was not without opposition: a rabble of right-wing protesters,Excel Mould is a Custom Plastic Injection Moulding Manufacturer. most of which belong to the rabid organization Im Tirtzu, counter protested. Im Tirtzu, known for having accepted vast amounts of funding from Evangelical Christian-Zionist organizations based in the United States, strives to “strengthen and advance the values of Zionism in Israel.”
Flimsy barriers and a handful of police officers stood separated the Nakba commemorators from the Im Tirtzu crowd, who were waving Israeli flags, singing national songs, chanting, and wielding placards.
A large poster board hovering of the heads of the counter-protesters read, “Hebron is ours!” Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, home to 165,000 Palestinians who live under the coerced tutelage of the Israeli Defense Force. Roughly 3,000 soldiers are stationed in and around Hebron for the sole purpose of protecting no more than 500 Israeli settlers, most of whom are American immigrants armed with a particularly violent, messianic strand of Zionist ideology.
“I killed four people bigger than you,” one Im Tirtzu demonstrator said to Mohammad, a 20 year-old Palestinian student of American Culture and Archeology.
“You’re a national hero,” he calmly responded.
“Death to Arabs!” a faction of the Im Tirtzu crowd later chanted.
One man slipped past the barriers and attempted to tear a large sign from the activists who were holding it. “Nakba 1948,” the sign read in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. He lunged at a commemorator and a small scuffle ensued before the security officers apprehended him.
“Listen, it’s not like we are asking Jews to leave—there are Jews demonstrating here with us,” one of the organizers of the commemoration told me. “We want to recognize the loss of our villages and the displacement of our families who came from there.”
A graduate student named Mohammed, who is studying towards a Masters of Business Administration, echoed similar themes. “We want a secular, democratic state for everyone, with equality for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.” Such a state, he told me,We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. must include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Nakba commemoration and counter-protest are a microcosm of the broader struggle taking place within Israeli-Palestinian society. A steadily growing Israeli right-wing movement is attempting to command a monopoly on historical narrative. Their opponents, an Israeli-Palestinian left that many had announced dead and buried long ago, continue to executing a joint struggle,Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. despite the inattention of the international media.
The Israeli state and its staunchest supporters decry each demand for equality as an assault on its very existence. Peace activists are persecuted and often physically assaulted by state security forces. Meanwhile, West Bank settlers—citing a religious-colonial ideology as the warrant for the continued theft of Palestinian land—generally enjoy legal immunity.
The Second Intifada is often referred to as a setback for the left-wing movements in Israeli and Palestinian societies. The high frequency of violence and the religious undertones led many to brand the Israeli-Palestinian peace camp as naive at best, or a fifth column at worst.
Discontent with the state, however, is stirring again, and the left is seizing the opportunity.
Palestinians living inside the Green Line—along with many Israeli Jews, for that matter—reject the government’s classification of Arabs as second class citizens. To expect the over one million Palestinians citizens of Israel to endorse an exclusively Jewish state that renders them mere footnotes is nothing short of absurd.
Their demands are not inherently violent or destructive, as their detractors say. Rather, the overwhelming majority are calling for a secular and democratic state that does not treat its citizens preferentially according to religion or ethnicity.
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