As Nakba Day rages, Prime Minister Netanyahu promises to pass law that states Israel is the country of the Jewish people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s answer to the Palestinian-Arabs’ annual ‘Nakba’ commemoration is to pass a Basic Law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
‘Nakba’ is Arabic for ‘catastrophe’ and the Palestinian Authority (PA) recognizes Nakba Day as an official national holiday that marks the catastrophe of the establishment of Israel.
Protesters hold pictures of relatives jailed in Israeli prisons for acts of terror at a demonstration for their release in Ramallah last month. (Photo: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
Against the Nakba Day backdrop, two Palestinian Arabs were allegedly killed by rubber bullets fired by Israeli soldiers during a riot held near Ofer Prison, located near Ramallah, on Thursday, according to initial unverified Palestinian media reports.
The Israel Defense Forces said they were investigating the reports of the deaths, Israel Radio said.
In clashes elsewhere in the greater Jerusalem area and around the Old City, five Israeli policemen were wounded by Arab stone throwers.
Earlier, some 2,000 Palestinian Arabs gathered in Ramallah’s Manara Square, and public sirens wailed for 66 seconds to mark Israel’s just-held anniversary.
The riots followed official ceremonies in which top Palestinian Authority officials declared that they would never rest until the descendants of every single Arab who fled Israel in 1948 were restored to the land their families lived on previously, even if it was beyond the 1948 armistice lines.
Birzeit University student supporters of Hamas and of Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority. (Photo: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Jihadist organization Hamas participated in Nakba Day events in cities administered by the PA. Hamas terrorists were allowed to display their flags and rally supporters openly.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a special Nakba Day television address that Israel will pay a price for its “complacency” and blamed it for the breakdown of peace talks.
Back in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu noted the Palestinian Authority is educating children with “endless propaganda” calling for the disappearance of Israel.
Speaking in Jerusalem following his return from a four-day visit to Japan, the Israeli Premier said that one answer to Nakba Day is to pass the Jewish Nation-State bill that “makes it absolutely clear to the world that Israel is the state of the Jewish people.”
Netanyahu added that besides the Nationality bill, Israel’s response to Nakba Day is to “build up our country, and our united capital of Jerusalem.”
Author: Gidon Ben-Zvi, Staff Writer, United with Israel