Palestinians to Appeal Police Refusal to Issue Permit for “Naqba” March

Organizers of the annual march by Palestinians to protest the “Naqba” – or “catastrophe” that was the creation of the state of Israel – say they will appeal the refusal by police to issue a permit to the Supreme Court. The intent is for the so-called “March of Return” to take place simultaneously with Israeli celebrations of Independence Day. The event has been held for the past 18 years. The Israeli police insist the refusal was on logistical grounds because there are not enough policemen and women to work a march and crowd as large as 25,000 people on the same day the force is stretched thin by Israeli Independence Day. The March of Return is a reference to the “right of those who lost their homes in the 1948 war to return,” some 5 million according to Palestinian sources.