On May 15, 2023 the Palestinian Authority (PA) marked the 75th anniversary of the Nakba with an array of activities, chief among them an unprecedented high-level event at the UN General Assembly. The event included a speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas, in which he called for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes and stated that he himself is a refugee who wishes to return to the city of his birth, Safed, in the north of Israel.[1] At many Nakba Day rallies and events in the West Bank, officials from the PA, PLO, and Fatah also stressed that the Palestinians will never relinquish the refugees' right to return to their original homes.[2]
The same message was highlighted in a broad range of Nakba Day activities in West Bank schools, in which children held up posters showing maps of Palestine "from the river to the sea," bearing names of cities and villages within Israel to which the Palestinians seek to return, such as Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, and Lod, and proclaiming that the right of return is "sacred." Very prominent at these school events and activities was the motif of the "key of return," symbolizing the refugees' aspiration to return to their homes.
It should be noted that the narrative of return is a major component in the PA's school curricula and textbooks.[3]
West Bank schools mark Nakba Day (wafa.ps, May 15, 2023)
Below are pictures of Nakba Day activities at West Bank schools that were posted to social media.
The "Key Of Return" Symbolizes The Refugees' Desire To Return To Their Original Homes
As stated, the key – a major Palestinian symbol representing the refugees' desire to return to their original homes – was very conspicuous at Nakba Day events at West Bank schools. Pupils held up models and pictures of keys.
School in Tulkarm (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057452710042, May 15, 2023)
School in Hebron (Facebook.com/UmSalamh, May 15, 2023)
School in Tulkarm (Facebook.com/1511881165718497, May 15, 2023)
School in Nablus (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057597512998, May 15, 2023)
School in Hebron; the poster says "We return" (Facebook.com/MdrstHswntAlasasytLlbnat, May 15, 2023)
School in Hebron; the text on the poster reads, "The right of return is sacred" (Facebook.com/UmSalamh, March 15, 2023)
The Aspiration To Return To Localities That Are Now Within The State Of Israel
Many of the posters held up by the pupils bear names of localities and areas inside Israel, stressing the principle that Palestine stretches from the river to the sea. Others underlined that the right of return is sacred and can never be relinquished.
Girl at school in Nablus holds sign saying "One day we will return to where we were [before the Nakba]" (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057597512998, May 15, 2023)
Girl at school in Nablus holds sign saying "Palestine is [always] from the river to the sea" (Facebook.com/almanar.school, May 15, 2023)
Girl at Nablus school with sign saying, "75th anniversary of the Nakba. We will definitely return, Jaffa" (Facebook.com/almanar.school, May 15, 2023)
Children at Nablus school hold signs bearing names of cities: Haifa, Acre, Beit Shean, Tiberias, Lod (Facebook.com/almanar.school, May 15, 2023)
School in Nablus: cutouts of Palestine from the river to the sea, with names of cities: Ramleh, Jaffa, Beersheba, Acre, Umm Al-Fahm, Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth, Safed, Kafar Qassem, Beit Shean, the Galilee, Umm Al-Rashrash (Eilat) (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057226789729, May 15, 2023)
Girl at school in Al-Ram with sign saying "The Right of Return" (Facebook.com/Alis.School, May 15, 2023)
Boy at school in Al-Ram with poster saying, "The right of return is sacred" (Facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057452710042, May 15, 2023)
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10597 – Ahead Of 75th Anniversary Of The Nakba, Palestinian Leadership Stresses It Will Never Relinquish Refugees' Right To Return To Their Homes, May 8, 2023. For excerpts from 'Abbas' UN speech, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 10291, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas In U.N. General Assembly Speech: U.S., Britain Created Israel To Get Rid Of Their Jews; The Israelis Lie Like Goebbels, May 15, 2023.
[2] Wafa.ps, May 15, 2023.
[3] See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 950, The Narrative Of Return In Palestinian Textbooks, March 20, 2013.
