'Nakba Day' protests
'Nakba Day' protestsIm Tirzu

Student activists from the Meretz party gathered in Entin Square at Tel Aviv University (TAU) to hold a memorial service for “Nakba” day and demanded the right of return to villages that had been destroyed in the wake of the War of Independence.

The Chairman of the Joint Arab List, MK Ayman Odeh, joined the ceremony along with the Arab students who wore black shirts. 

Activists from Im Tirtzu demonstrated against the ceremony and the “Nakba” narrative, which treats the establishment of the State of Israel as a tragedy. 

Members of Im Tirtzu distributed copies of the booklet Nakba Nonsense, which reviews the historical facts surrounding the “Nakba” narrative and the claims of expulsion and slaughter suggested by the Palestinian narrative.

The organization put up an exhibition of cartoons about the “Nakba” and called out slogans like “Nakba? Nonsense!”, “Lie, lie, lie!”, “Hooray for the independence fighters, the Palmach, the Etzel [the Irgun Zvai Leumi], the Lehi!”

Im Tirzu

Survivors of the “Jewish Nakba” in Iraq came to Im Tirtzu’s demonstration to tell the story of how the Muslim residents tried to eliminate the Jews and how they escaped to the land of Israel.  Additionally, they shared how Iraqis and Muslims in the Arab world collaborated with the Nazis.

At 4:00 pm on Wednesday another demonstration marking the “Nakba” took place at Haifa University where members of Im Tirtzu distributed the booklet Nakba Nonsense. 

At Hebrew University yesterday, Arab groups distributed without the approval of the Dean of Students t-shirts saying “Nakba in 1948 – We will not give up the right of return."  Im Tirtzu sent an urgent letter to the Dean demanding the immediate suspension of the Arab groups.

“The purpose of the ‘Nakba’ day events in Israel, especially in academia, is to burn into society’s consciousness the idea that Israel was established in sin and through war crimes," Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu, said. "This is historically false and based on politically-motivated anti-Israel principles.  We call on every publicly funded academic institution in Israel to not allow propaganda that calls for Israel’s destruction on its campus.  No ‘Nakba’, no nonsense.”