Thousands Mark Israeli Independence Day With 'March Of Return' To Al-Lajjun Village, Depopulated In 1948: Returning Even For One Day Is A Victory Over Israel

Lebanese TV channel Mayadeen TV aired a report about the "March of Return" held on April 26, 2023, which coincided with Israel's Independence Day, under the title: "Their Independence Day is the day of our catastrophe." The march was held in northern Israel, near the ruins of Al-Lajjun, a village depopulated in 1948. According to the report, participants in the march waved Palestinian flags and highlighted the "right of return." Ahmad Khalifa, an Israeli-Arab political activist, spoke about Israel's "Nakba Law," saying that commemorating the Nakba has caused the law to "collapse." Karim Younes, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, said: "Today, we are heeding the call and cry of the plundered land." Younes, an Israeli-Arab was released from Israeli prison in January of this year, after serving a life sentence for murdering Israeli Soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1980. The Al-Mayadeen TV reporter said that returning to the village, even for one day, is a victory over Israel.

Reporter: "Thousands of Palestinians gathered on the land of the depopulated village of Al-Lajjun, in the lands occupied in 1948. Children and the elderly raised the Palestinian flag, highlighting the right of return."

Ahmad Khalifa, Israeli-Arab political activist: "As you know, [Israel's] 'Nakba Law' prohibits commemorating the Palestinian Nakba, but [the law] collapsed, due to our commemoration efforts."

Reporter: "The rally is organized for the 26th year, on the same day that the occupation is celebrating what it calls 'Independence Day.' The main slogan of the rally is: 'Their Independence Day is the day of our catastrophe.'

"Returning – even if only for one day – constitutes a victory for Palestinians over Israel and the plans it has been seeking to carry out for seven decades – erasing Palestinian memory. But it has failed."

Karim Younes, Israeli-Arab released prisoner: "Today, we are heeding the call and cry of the plundered land, the call and cry of the prisoners, as well as the call and sighs of the refugees in the refugee camps and in the diaspora in Lebanon and everywhere."

Reporter: "[The village] used to spread over an area of 77,000 dunams. After the Nakba, the settlement of Megiddo was established on some of its lands. Some Palestinian traces remained in it, like this cemetery, with the graves of the martyrs of the Great Palestinian Revolution, before 1948."

Ziad Mahajneh, born in 1943 in Al-Lajjun: "Our house is about 200 meters from here. The door of our house was made of wood and it was painted blue. The windows were also blue. I remember it to this very day. Each time I come here, it feels as if my house is still standing."

Reporter: "The return [of the refugees] is a demand that cannot be relinquished. Palestinians renew their pledge to it every year, or rather, every day. This is Hanaa Mahamid, reporting from the depopulated village of Al-Lajjun, for Mayadeen TV."