Thousands of Israeli Arabs call on Independence Day for return to homes
Thousands of Arab Israelis from across the country attended a demonstration in the Negev on Independence Day – the 19th annual event – calling for a return to their villages lost during the War of Independence.
As Palestinian flags waved in the crowd and the national anthem Biladi (My Country) blared, thousands stood with hand over heart – with a strong nationalist feeling in the air.
Speakers made calls to unity and used phrases such as “our land.” There were tents with pictures of Arab villages lost during the 1948 war.
Numerous Israeli Arab media outlets were present and some 30 buses and hundreds of cars were parked in a field at the event site near Rahat. The atmosphere had the feeling of a cultural event, with families and children in strollers.
Joint List head Ayman Odeh said, “The question of the Nakba [the “disaster” that Arabs consider the establishment of Israel] is not a question of the past, but a question of the future.