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On the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the “Nakba”, the forced exodus of Palestinians in 1948, several thousand demonstrators marched in Paris. A mobilization to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but also to remember.
A little less than an hour before the march in support of Palestine sets off, this Saturday, May 18, from the Place de la République in Paris, the keffiyehs pile up on the merchants’ stalls, before being quickly swung on the shoulders, while the flags twirling above the gray asphalt are exchanged at an almost metronomic rhythm. But on this day of commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the “Nakba” – understanding “disaster” or “catastrophe” in reference to the forced exodus of the Palestinian population during the Israeli-Arab war of 1948 – these are the keys that the demonstrators were called to brandish. A reference to the precious bunches of their homes that the 760,000 Palestinians driven into exile (in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt or the current West Bank) had taken with them in the hope a quick return.
The key forged from cardboard by Sanaa proclaims in Arabic: “We will come back.” This 47-year-old teacher, who walks for “break the silence of the world”, sees it almost as a prophecy. “Palestinian refugees will return to their land one day, that’s for sure. The question is when and thanks to whom.” Sanaa has not missed a single mobilization since October and is one of the thousands of people who
