Israeli Arabs commemorate the "catastrophe" of the exodus of Palestinians in 1948

Israeli Palestinians and Arabs protest on 9 may 2019 near Umm el Fahm in Northern & #39; Israel to commemorate the "" catastrophe of the & #39; exodus of Palestinians to the creation of & #39; Israel in 1948

Umm el Fahm (Israel) (AFP)-thousands of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians marched on Thursday to commemorate the "Nakba " or the "catastrophe" that represented for them the creation of Israel and which has been synonymous with exodus for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Israeli Jews celebrate on Thursday the "independence day", the anniversary of the proclamation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 which falls this year, according to the Jewish calendar, on May 9.

After this proclamation, more than 760,000 Palestinians were pushed to the exodus or expelled from their homes and more than 400 localities were razed by Israeli forces. They're asking for the right to return.

Israel refuses, arguing that even allowing a fraction of them to return would be tantamount to proclaiming its own end as a Jewish State.

On Thursday, thousands of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from East Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel, manifested near the Arab city of Umm Al-Fahm, in northern Israel, brandishing Palestinian flags, According to an AFP photographer.

On the site of a Palestinian village that was demolished during the war that followed the proclamation of Israel, they also sang the Palestinian anthem and chanted: "your day of independence is our catastrophe ".

Israeli Arabs are descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after 1948. They account for about 17.5% of the nearly 9 million Israelis. They mostly support the Palestinian cause.

"The commemoration of the Nakba has taken on exceptional importance this year, with the need to (...) counteract" the peace plan to be unveiled by the United States in the near future, "said Ayman Odeh, an Arab MEP from Parliament Israeli.

The Palestinians reject this plan even before they know it so much the administration of Donald Trump has discredited in their eyes by his actions hostile to their cause and fundamentally pro-Israel according to them.