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In Pictures: Palestinians mark Nakba Day on both sides of the Green Line

Palestinians mark the original mass-displacement of Palestinians that took place between 1947-49, and develop the ongoing struggle for return
More than 10,000 Palestinians attended the annual 'Return March' in the depopulated village of Lubya on 6 May (MEE/Rich Wiles)

For more than 66 years, Palestinians have struggled against colonisation and forcible displacement. Between 1947-49, at least 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes and lands during the period that Palestinians refer to as al-Nakba ('the catastrophe'). May 15th is marked annually as Nakba Day across historic Palestine, although Palestinian events marking the Nakba take place throughout the month.

This year, traditional commemorative Nakba events continue yet are rejected by many amongst the new generation in favour of more progressive grassroots actions which attempt to develop the struggle for return rather than simply sustain memories. For this generation, and for others observing the day, the Nakba is an ongoing process which continues under various tools today through which the state of Israel continues to colonise Palestinian land and displace the Palestinian people, as well as deny the rightful return of displaced people to their homes.

At a Nakba Day demonstration on Thursday outside Ofer Prison near Ramallah, two Palestinian youth were shot dead by Israeli forces. In al-Walaja village near Bethlehem, Palestinian protestors breached sections of the Israeli-imposed separation barrier as they headed towards the Green Line, which loosely defines Israel's internationally recognised borders. A small group of activists managed to cross into the Israeli side of the Green Line.

A large Israeli counter-demonstration was held near the 'Return March' in Lubya (MEE/Rich Wiles)

Many of the attendees at the 'Return March' were internally displaced Palestinians (MEE/Rich Wiles)

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A fleet of pre-Nakba buses and cars led a commemorative convoy through Ramallah on May 14th. Many Palestinians now reject such commemorative events in favour of more direct actions towards the realisation of rights (MEE/Rich Wiles)

The old vehicles were intended to symbolised the expulsion from villages between 1947-49 in which many people were loaded on to trucks by Zionist militias (MEE/Rich Wiles)

Abdul-Salam Harhara holds the key to his original house during an event in Ramallah's Manara Square (MEE/Rich Wiles)

On the eve of Nakba Day, Palestinian youth led candle-lit marches in cities across the West Bank (MEE/Rich Wiles)

As night fell on May 14th, black flags of 'Return' were raised in Yasser Arafat Square, Ramallah (MEE/Rich Wiles)

In al-Walaja village near Bethlehem, a Nakba Day march broke through barbed-wire sections of the Apartheid Wall system, heading towards the village lands that were depopulated in 1948 in a direct action towards the Right of Return (MEE/Rich Wiles)

After breaching the Wall, activists were confronted by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) (MEE/Rich Wiles)

Activists who broke and passed the Wall were immediately attacked with a barrage of tear-gas. A small group of activists successfully reached 1948 occupied lands before returning to the West Bank (MEE/Rich Wiles)

The IOF continued to fire huge tear-gas at activists who remained within the West Bank in al-Walaja village and later entered the village and demolished an activists' tent that had been set up in the West Bank side of the village (MEE/Rich Wiles)

After 2 youth were shot dead at a Nakba Day protest outside Ofer Prison, spontaneous demonstrations broke out closing Ramallah's shops in solidarity, and reaching the hospital were the two martyrs had been brought (MEE/Rich Wiles)

The two youth killed outside Ofer have been named as 22-year-old Mohammad al-Thahir and 17-year-old Nadim Nuwarah. The IOF have injured hundreds of Palestinians in various locations throughout the day with live and rubber-coated bullets (MEE/Rich Wiles)

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