Pro-Palestinian activists mark Nakba Day in TA

Dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists commemorated the Palestinian Nakba Day, or “day of catastrohpe,” at Tel Aviv University Monday by reading testimonials from families who were expelled from their homes in 1948.

Nakba Day falls on Wednesday, as it is memorialized internationally on May 15, one day after Israel’s Independence Day in 1948, according to the Gregorian calendar.

Activists read nearly 50 testimonies about their families’ experiences of displacement that surrounded the establishment of the State of Israel. They spoke in both Hebrew and Arabic so that Jews and Arabs could hear the stories and take part in the commemoration.

A few feet away, members of the right-wing group Im Tirzu staged a counter-demonstration, chanting pro-Zionist slogans, waving Israeli flags, and holding aloft signs that read, “[The] Nakba’s bullshit.”

One of the Nakba event’s organizers, Dan Walfis, told Electronic Intifada, a left-wing blog that covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that the tribute was purposely staged at the university’s entrance, a visible and central location.

“Our event is unique [because] it is very public [in] the main square on campus,” Walfis said. “It is not a demonstration… it’s non-partisan and open to everyone.”

The Nakba Day event was partially fenced in, and police officers were also on hand to maintain order. The assembly concluded quietly, as opposed to last year.

In 2012, the Nakba Day events at the university set off a fracas between rival protest groups. Dozens of police officers had to separate the sides.

Tel Aviv University allowed the demonstration to take place this year despite considerable political pressure to cancel it.

A university representative said that, according to the institution’s regulations, such events are to be permitted so long as the law is upheld.