Friday marked the 67th anniversary, according to the Gregorian calendar, of Israel’s first full day of Independence on 15 May, 1948. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a large percentage of Arab citizens of Israel, staged marches and other events to mark what they call “Nakba (Catastrophe) Day” with sermons in mosques dedicated to the topic of the “right” for ancestors of Palestinians who left Israel during the 1948 and 1967 wars to come to Israel, with several PA officials making speeches at rallies held on Wednesday declaring that this “right” is nonnegotiable and that no Palestinian anywhere is allowed to concede it. In related news, US President Barak Obama emerged from meetings with officials from several Arab countries at Camp David on Thursday with a statement that although peace between Israel and the Palestinians “seems distant now” the implementation of the oft-discussed two-state solution is “absolutely vital” for greater Middle East peace. Read More
