Date: 14 / 05 / 2009  Time:  13:01
Gaza - Ma'an -

Commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, Catastrophe, of 1948, crowds in Beit Hanoun called on Palestinians to dig deep and find more strength to remain steadfast and resist in an increased effort to demand their right of return.

The anniversary of the Nakba is observed by Palestinians on Friday 15 May. Israel’s independence day, on 15 May 1948, is observed according to the Hebrew calendar and was marked on 29 April this year.

Crowds in Beit Hanoun stressed a restoration of unity so Palestinians could remain steadfast together and insist on their right of return to the villages and towns they were expelled from in 1948. “Those who abandon that right,” one protester said, “should not be considered Palestinian.”

The event was organized by the local branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the northern Gaza Strip area.

Qanu: Right of return legitimate, surrendering it treason

[ 14/05/2009 - 11:08 AM ]

JABALIA, (PIC)--

Abdul Latif Qanu, the spokesman of Hamas in northern Gaza, has asserted that the Nakba (catastrophe) anniversary, which is marked on Friday, is an opportunity to assert the right of return for six million Palestinian refugees who were forced out of their homeland.

Qanu in a statement on Thursday said that the return of Palestinian refugees to their hometowns is inevitable despite all attempts to negotiate that right.

Hamas would never give up the right of return, the spokesman said, noting that Hamas offered its leaders for the sake of steadfastness on Palestinian rights and constants.

Surrendering the right of return is high treason and all attempts to abandon that right were aborted by the Palestinian people's blood and Jihad and would not succeed, Qanu elaborated.

He called on the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip to participate in the massive demonstrations organized on Friday to highlight the right of return.