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Berlin police arrested dozens ofpro-Palestine activists on Sunday in a crackdown against expressions of solidarity with Palestinians on Nakba Day. German authorities, who last week banned a number of pro-Palestine demonstrations in the capital, arrested around 20 people on May 15 for showing support for the Palestinian cause, including clothes with the colours of the Palestine flag or a keffiyeh. Activists in the capital told The New Arab they were beaten by police in ‘unprovoked assaults’ and detained as part of an ongoing clampdown on any “visual presence of Palestine” in Berlin. “This is a … Continue reading “German police crack down on Palestinian activists in Berlin”

Israel still retains the body of Palestinian leader Daoud Zubeidi, dead on Sunday of wounds caused by Israeli forces in a military raid in the Jenin refugee camp, north of the West Bank days earlier, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said on Monday. “The continuous withholding by the Israeli occupation of the body of Daoud Zubeidi, the 228th Palestinian to die in prison since 1967, raises the number of dead prisoners whose bodies continue to be withheld to nine, the oldest being withheld since 1980”, the club said in a statement. “This is only the number of withheld bodies of Palestinians who ha… Continue reading “Israel withholds body of Palestinian leader killed in Jenin”

On 11 May, Muhammad Ayoub Abu Sabha watched as the Israeli army bulldozed – without warning – his property in the village of Al-Fakheit in the occupied West Bank. Within a few hours, soldiers levelled his home, water tank, chicken coop, and sheep barn – leaving him and his 19 relatives homeless. Abu Sabha’s family weren’t the only ones left without shelter. Approximately 50 people slept without a roof over their head that night in the villages of Al-Fakheit and Al-Mirkez after 19 structures were razed. Since then, another 19 demolition orders were issued in Masafer Yatta, the rural enclave sou… Continue reading “In Masafer Yatta, the Nakba is ongoing”

Pro-Palestinian activists in the UK said they “occupied and dismantled” the site of an Israeli arms firm,Elbit Systems, on Sunday to “commemorate Nakba Day”. Palestine Action, which describes itself as a “direct-action network”, stormed the Bristol headquarters of Elbit Systems UK, according to videos shared on social media. Nine people were arrested following the incident, and all are still in police custody at the time of writing. Avon and Somerset Police told The New Arab: “Intruders had forced entry to the property and barricaded themselves inside. There is damage to the building, includin… Continue reading “UK Palestine activists storm HQ of Israeli arms firm Elbit”

On the same day veteran Palestinian American Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was assassinated by Israeli snipers, Prince Charles used his Queen’s Speech opening of Parliament to announce the UK government’s plans to introduce a ban on public bodies participating in boycott and divestment campaigns. Over here in Australia, also on the same day, Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrewsannounced his government’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) so-called ‘Working Definition of Anti-Semitism”. Andrews’ announcement follows other Federal and State governments … Continue reading “Shireen Abu Akleh and the silencing of Palestine resistance”

Twenty Palestinians were injured on Sunday during confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at the northern entrance of Ramallah, in the centre of the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that 17 Palestinians were injured with rubber bullets, while seven more were hit with live fire. The Red Crescent added that its teams treated 20 cases of suffocation by tear gas. Protests followed the commemoration activities of the 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba Day in Ramallah. Earlier on Sunday, a central march, organised by the PLO… Continue reading “20 Palestinians injured in Ramallah Nakba Day protests”

Across Morocco, hundreds of citizens took to the streets on Sunday to commemorate the 74th anniversary of Nakba Day, voicing once again their anti-normalisation position. In the capital Rabat, a myriad of political factions gathered in front of the Moroccan parliament, where the presence of security forces significantly increased ahead of the sit-in. In a rare scene, Moroccan leftist and Islamist leaders stood abreast, wrapped in keffiyehs, chanting against the Moroccan-Israeli normalisation and calling for the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland from which they were expelled ahe… Continue reading “Moroccans mark Nakba Day with anti-normalisation sit-ins”

On a sunny day in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC more than a thousand people gathered to honour the Palestinian Nakba and to demand justice for the slain journalist Shireen Abu Akhleh. Activists took turns giving speeches next to a makeshift memorial for Abu Akleh, where demonstrators placed flowers beneath her picture. This was one of many similar demonstrations taking place this weekend across the world to mark the anniversary of the creation of Israel, when more than 700,000 Palestinians (more than half of the pre-war population) were forced from their homes. This year, the… Continue reading “US pro-Palestine activists mourn Abu Akleh on Nakba Day”

Israel reopened its only crossing with Gaza to Palestinian workers on Sunday nearly two weeks after closing it over alleged unrest, the defence ministry said. “Following an assessment of the security situation, it has been decided… to open Erez Crossing for passage of workers and permit holders from the Gaza Strip into Israel, beginning Sunday,” said COGAT, a unit of the Israeli defence ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs. The newest episode of @TheNewArabVoice is now out! This week, we look at the challenges faced by reconstruction efforts in Gaza, and how Israel’s blockade i… Continue reading “Israel reopens Gaza crossing after nearly two weeks”

At least 15,000 protesters rallied in London on Saturday to demand justice for past and present Palestinian victims of Israeli violence and ethnic cleansing. The UK national demonstration was held one day before Nakba Day, which each 15 May remembers the 750,000 Palestinians expelled with the Israeli state’s 1948 creation and those facing forced displacement today. It comes as Israeli forces shot dead veteran Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, as she covered an Israeli security raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday before brutally assaulting mourners at her funeral on Friday. … Continue reading “Nakba Day: 1000s rally in UK after Shireen Abu Akleh killing”