Palestinians prepare for mourning day on May 14
Palestine, History, 5/11/1998

The Supreme National Secretariat to Mark the 50th anniversary of the Palestinian disaster, Nakbeh, released the schedule for the main events in the Palestine government areas and in the Occupied Territories.

Next Thursday, according to the schedule, approximately one Million Palestinians will take part in the largest ever march the Palestinians have held since the loss of their country in 1948.

Secretariat members have been holding a series of contacts with Palestinian officials and public figures to make sure that the ceremonial events take place with utmost success. The schedule, released Thursday, asked Palestinians all over the Palestinian land to gather at 10:00 hr. local time in the main centers of their respective towns and villages. An hour later, marches will take place starting from the gathering points to destinations designed by the planners. At 12:00 hr. Palestine time, mourning sires will go off through the Voice of Palestine radio station and will be played through megaphones of local mosques. Right after the sirens, Palestinians will stand for a one-minute silent in remembrance of Palestinian and Arab martyrs who fell in the struggle for Palestinian liberation. The Palestinian national anthem will follow and then a speech by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, will later read a special appeal addressed from the people of Palestine to all nations throughout the world.

On 14 May 1948, the British Mandate came to an end in Palestine. One day later, David Ben Gurion unilaterally proclaimed the Jewish nation. That day, known as the day of Nakbeh, Arabic for disaster, has since then become a mourning day for Palestinians. This year, half a century after the creation of Israel, more than half of the Palestinian people are still living in exile. Their right to return has never been recognized by Israel. Their cause is among a set of issues that both the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel agreed in the Oslo Accords to leave to the final status talks.

Palestinians living inside Israel will also take place in the national mourning day. They will hold a main rally in the demolished village of Safourya in the Galilee to which marchers are expected to arrive from Shafa Amr and Nazareth.

Previous Stories:
  Memories of a veteran Palestinian fighter in 1948   (5/1/1998)
  Arabs and some Jews mourn Israel's anniversary   (4/28/1998)
  Interviews: 50th anniversary of Deir Yassin massacre   (4/10/1998)

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