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In Pictures: Palestinian ‘march of return’

Palestinians inside Israel march to the site of a destroyed village to mark their forced displacement in 1948.

With Israeli roads at a standstill under the weight of Independence Day traffic, many Palestinian activists disembarked from their buses and walked the last few kilometres to reach Lubya.
By Rich Wiles
Published On 15 May 2014

As Israelis celebrated ‘Independence Day’ on May 5, Palestinians collectively mourned the period of mass forced displacement that the Zionist movement inflicted upon them between 1947-49. More than 750,000 Palestinians became refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) during this period.

A few kilometres west of Tiberias in the Galilee, on the lands of the depopulated village of Lubya, thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel marched together in the annual March of Return, where they called for the implementation of their right of return. Many of those in attendance were themselves IDPs.

After the forced depopulation and subsequent military destruction of Lubya, the Jewish National Fund established South Africa Forest (also known as Lavi Forest) over the ruins. On ‘Independence Day’, many Israelis celebrated inside South Africa Forest among the trees that were planted to cover the ruins. At the other side of the forest, thousands of Palestinians demanded to return to their original villages.

For Palestinians, the creation of Israel and the Zionist movement that enforced it are synonymous with the Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe, of 1947-49.

Large groups of Israelis gathered alongside the highway to mock and shout abuse at Palestinians as they walked towards Lubya.
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Palestinians of all ages joined the March of Return under a heavy Israeli police and military presence.
The March of Return has been held annually since 1998. This year(***)s event was estimated to be the largest to date, which highlights its significance within the growing movement for return among Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Along the route of the march, placards hung from trees and cacti baring the names of Palestinian villages that were forcibly depopulated during the Nakba, or catastrophe, in 1947-49.
Lubya was first attacked by Zionist militias in January 1948, several months before Israel(***)s Declaration of Independence, yet was not finally occupied until July 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes before the establishment of the state of Israel in May 1948.
Lubya(***)s lands measured nearly 40,000 dunums (40 km sqr) and it was home to approximately 3,000 Palestinians when it was attacked and depopulated in July 1948.
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A photography exhibition about Palestinian refugees and the Right of Return, by Palestinian artist Mohammad Badarne, hung from trees that were planted by the Jewish National Fund over the ruins of Lubya.
One minute(***)s silence was observed to commemorate Palestinians who have been killed amid the struggle for national rights. This was followed by the singing of the Palestinian national anthem.
Israeli displacement policies against Palestinians continue today inside Israel as well as in the 1967 occupied lands. Salwa Zeidan has been struggling against threats to her house in Acre for 25 years, and one month ago was issued her latest evacuation and demolition order by Israeli authorities.
More than 66 years after the Nakba began, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live under immediate threat of displacement across all areas of historic Palestine.
According to BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, a Bethlehem-based NGO, the total number of displaced Palestinians today numbers an estimated 7.4m including both refugees and IDPs.
The March of Return illustrates the collective national identity shared among Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and across the diaspora.
South Africa Forest is one of several established by the Jewish National Fund over the ruins of depopulated Palestinian villages. The JNF controls 13% of the land of the state of Israel. In a 2004 response to a petition in the Israeli Supreme Court the JNF stated, "The loyalty of the JNF is given to the Jewish people and only to them is the JNF obligated. The JNF... does not have a duty to practice equality towards all citizens of the state."
Cacti remain littered around the ruins of Lubya. Traditionally villagers used cacti to mark village boundaries in pre-1948 Palestine.
On the day of the march, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli army radio: "Those who marched with flags of the Palestinian Authority... are a fifth column whose aim is the destruction of Israel." Lieberman also posted about the march on his Facebook page: "To those Arabs that took part today in the (***)Nakba Day(***) procession... I suggest that next time they march directly to Ramallah and they stay there."