Demonstrations were held by Arabs in Judea and Samaria earlier today as a way of commemorating the creation of the modern state of Israel.

Known in Arabic as the Naqba or Catastrophe it is marked on the 15th of May, the day after British rule over Palestine ended in 1948. This year as the day fell on a Friday demonstrations were held a earlier.

In response to scenes of Israeli citizens of an Arab heritage mourning the creation of Israel, Yisrael Beitenu the party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is proposing tough sanctions. The party would like to ban the event and imprison up to three years anyone who violated the ban:

“Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s party wants to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of what they term “the Catastrophe” or Nakba, when in 1948 some 700,000 Arabs lost their homes in the war that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.

The ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party said it would propose legislation next week for a ban on the practice and a jail term of up to three years for violators.

“The draft law is intended to strengthen unity in the state of Israel and to ban marking Independence Day as a day of mourning,” said party spokesman Tal Nahum.

The initiative could fuel racial tensions stoked by Lieberman’s February election campaign call to make voting or the holding of public office in Israel contingent on pledging loyalty to the Jewish state.

Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Israel’s population, said the allegiance demand was aimed at them and accused Lieberman of racism.”  [Source: Haaretz]

For more on the creation of Israel and ensuing transfer of refugees see Youtube Video: How The Palestinian Diaspora Was Created

Palestine Land Ownership By Sub-District 1945

Palestine Land Ownership By Sub-District 1945

image by  micky

Popularity: 2% [?]

Related posts:

  1. Quote: Emir Feisal Welcomes Creation Of Zionist Israel “We feel that the Arabs and Jews are cousins in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.