On May 15 2011, it became clear that Israeli guns may kill individuals, but cannot destroy a renewed Palestinian revolt.
By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"Sunday May 15 witnessed the killing of 20 Palestinians who were demonstrating inside the Occupied Territories or trying to cross the Israeli "borders" with Lebanon and Syria - but it's not the first time that the Israeli army has shot at Palestinian refugees trying to return to their homeland.
Although the Palestinian marchers were staging a symbolic return to their homeland on the 63rd anniversary of their dispossession (an-Nakba), many of their ancestors had made real attempts to physically go back to their homes, and were shot or killed by the Israeli army in the process.
In the years that followed the 1948 Nakba ["catastrophe"] - and those following the occupation of the rest of Palestine in 1967 - many Palestinians crossed the barbed-wire fences to see their homes, or spend time in the orange groves - few succeeded, and scores of others were killed.
The revival of a strong collective movement worldwide affirming the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland is partly inspired by the Arab revolutions which empowered Palestinians, particularly young Palestinians, to challenge the Israeli denial of their national rights.
Many of the young people taking part in the Nakba marches around the world have never even been to Palestine, yet they refuse to give up or forget. They joined hands with the older generation - still carrying the keys to their homes - in a moving, even deadly, show of renewed determination to reclaim their rights and restore their identity.
The movement, which has its roots in more than a decade of activism, is a strong expression of rejection of the Oslo negotiations - something Israel has used to not only expand its colonisation of Palestinian lands, but also to put an end to the Palestinian refugees' right of return.....
If the marches on the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba show anything, it is that just as those in the wider Arab world are awakening to their human rights and freedoms, the Palestinians - especially the new generation - are now courageously reclaiming their rights, and those of their ancestors. It is a new era, where, though Israeli firepower may still kill individuals, it will never kill the idea that is manifesting into a renewed Palestinian revolt."
By Lamis Andoni
Al-Jazeera
"Sunday May 15 witnessed the killing of 20 Palestinians who were demonstrating inside the Occupied Territories or trying to cross the Israeli "borders" with Lebanon and Syria - but it's not the first time that the Israeli army has shot at Palestinian refugees trying to return to their homeland.
Although the Palestinian marchers were staging a symbolic return to their homeland on the 63rd anniversary of their dispossession (an-Nakba), many of their ancestors had made real attempts to physically go back to their homes, and were shot or killed by the Israeli army in the process.
In the years that followed the 1948 Nakba ["catastrophe"] - and those following the occupation of the rest of Palestine in 1967 - many Palestinians crossed the barbed-wire fences to see their homes, or spend time in the orange groves - few succeeded, and scores of others were killed.
The revival of a strong collective movement worldwide affirming the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland is partly inspired by the Arab revolutions which empowered Palestinians, particularly young Palestinians, to challenge the Israeli denial of their national rights.
Many of the young people taking part in the Nakba marches around the world have never even been to Palestine, yet they refuse to give up or forget. They joined hands with the older generation - still carrying the keys to their homes - in a moving, even deadly, show of renewed determination to reclaim their rights and restore their identity.
The movement, which has its roots in more than a decade of activism, is a strong expression of rejection of the Oslo negotiations - something Israel has used to not only expand its colonisation of Palestinian lands, but also to put an end to the Palestinian refugees' right of return.....
If the marches on the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba show anything, it is that just as those in the wider Arab world are awakening to their human rights and freedoms, the Palestinians - especially the new generation - are now courageously reclaiming their rights, and those of their ancestors. It is a new era, where, though Israeli firepower may still kill individuals, it will never kill the idea that is manifesting into a renewed Palestinian revolt."
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