Donegal branch of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign gather on Nakba anniversary

The 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba heard a call for the end of apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people.

Protesters gathered at the Pole Star roundabout in Letterkenny on Wednesday evening during rush hour.

The prominent symbol was a key which represents the desire and intention of the Palestinian people to return to their homes from which they were expelled in 1948.

This event is called the Nakba, or Catastrophe in English, by the Palestinians when over 700,000 people were expelled or driven from their homes and land by Zionist militias. Their homes were either occupied by settlers or demolished. The families took the key to their front door with them and this has become a symbol of their intention to return to their homes.

Tim Spalding, Co-Chair of the Donegal branch of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), said: “The Nakba is an ongoing issue. Those who were dispossessed became refugees or Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), many of whom ended up in Gaza, where they are currently facing genocide with over 35,000 slaughtered in the past seven months.

“Israel has implemented apartheid laws that are in contravention of international law to dispossess Palestinians from their land and to control where they can live and where they can travel to. At the same time, they have introduced the Law of Return, which gives any person of Jewish descent the right to move to Israel but does not allow any Palestinian refugees the right to return to their own land. Israel has supported, armed and defended these settlers where they have seized land and homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, again in contravention of international law and UN resolutions.”

The protest is part of Nakba Week and on Friday the Donegal IPSC are hosting a talk at 12 noon in An Grianan Theatre by Lubnah Shomali, Advocacy Manager with the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Refugee Rights.

Ms Shomali will talk about the Nakba and how it is ongoing rather than a historical event. She is in Ireland as part of a national tour and will be the keynote speaker at the Nakba demonstration in Dublin on Saturday. The event will be introduced by Derry civil rights activist Eamonn McCann.