Umm al-Zinat - ام الزينات: Ha'artz Daily: Over 2,500 participate in Nakba march

_{By Jack Khoury}
More than 2,500 people took part in yesterday's ninth annual march to mark the Nakba ("catastrophe"), the term used by Palestinians for Israel's victory in the 1948 War of Independence and its aftermath.

The march took place on the site of the abandoned village of Umm al-Zinat, located south of Daliat al-Carmel on the slope of Mount Carmel. Participants included Arab mayors and Knesset members as well as representatives of various Arab political and social movements.

Large numbers of young people turned out this year, as did dozens of Jews, some of them representing political and civil rights organizations. The march was organized by the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel (ADRIDI) and the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee.

Marchers carried Palestinian flags, signs bearing the names of some of the 530 villages that were abandoned or destroyed in 1948 and slogans against the occupation and in favor of the "right of return." One marcher carried an Iraqi flag.

The march was broadcast live on Arab satellite television.

Salim Fahmawi, 65, was a first-grader when soldiers entered Umm al-Zinat. He now lives with his family in Daliat al-Carmel.

"I am standing on the soil of the village, but I understand that according to Israeli law, I have no rights to this land," Fahmawi said. "The presence of so many young people, many of whom are third- and fourth-generation [post-1948], gives me a sense of relief, because I know the torch has not been extinguished and is passing from generation to generation."

The head of ADRIDI, Wakim Wakim, echoed Fahmawi's comments, adding: "The presence of young people and Jews is of great importance, proving that the issue of the refugees and the right of return has not died down, but has rather grown stronger."

Dr. Ilan Pappe, a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa who has participated in all nine Nakba marches, told Haaretz that more Jews participate in the march each year, reflecting "a clear trend in Israeli civil society, which, unlike the establishment and successive Israeli governments throughout the decades, does not deny the Nakba."

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