Belfast Mural commemorates 60th Anniversary of Dair Yassin and Nakba

Friday April 11, 2008 13:20 by John Smith - IMEMC & agencies

A mural commemorating the Sixtieth anniversary of the Dair Yassin massacre and the Palestinian Nakba (the catastrophe of the establishment of Israel) was on Friday unveiled in the predominantly Nationalist area of the Falls Road, located in West Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The mural, produced by local community artist ‘Danny D’ was painted on the so-called ‘International Wall’ on the Falls road – a wall featuring murals dedicated to, amongst others, the people of the Basque region, the Iraqi people, and the government of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The unveiling, attended by several local politicians and members of the Palestinian community in Belfast, was organized in conjunction with the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and is the first in a series of events designed to highlight the importance of Dair Yassin and commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba.

An Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign press release described the events of sixty years ago as “a tragic day for the Palestinian people and mankind, in general […] village inhabitants were herded together and murdered in cold blood […] in all, some 750,000 peaceful people were expelled from their lands and 531 villages, towns and cities were destroyed in the name of founding the state of Israel […] the number of refugees currently refused the right to return to their homes, now stands at an overwhelming 6 million.”

The painting replaces an earlier mural also highlighting the prevailing condition in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

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