In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Israelis and Palestinians held diverging commemorations Thursday to mark the sixtieth anniversary of Israel’s founding. In Israel, celebrations were held across the country, including rallies, fireworks displays and naval parades. In the Occupied Territories, Palestinians gathered to mark what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe. At least 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes upon Israel’s founding in 1948. In Northern Israel, thousands of Palestinians wearing black armbands held a rally where an Arab village once stood. Arab Israeli parliament member Muhammad Baraka said his family had been expelled from the village.

Muhammad Baraka: “We want to emphasize that when Israel celebrates its independence day, it is our Nakba Day. We want to tell our true story. We want to tell our true story. I was born in this village, and there are others who were expelled from their lands. We are here to say we are alive.”

Israeli independence was declared on May 15, 1948, but is celebrated each year according to the Jewish calendar. Palestinians will mark the Nakba on May 15th. Meanwhile, here in New York, more than sixty members of the group Rabbis for Human Rights held what they called an “alternative celebration” of Israeli independence. The group planted two trees to symbolize the coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians.

Rabbi Brian Walt: “What Rabbis for Human Rights means to me is it means the deepest vision of Judaism, which is a vision of justice for all people. And what Rabbis for Human Rights symbolizes for me is the deep commitment to act upon that vision of justice, not only for Jewish people, but for all people, both in Israel so that there will be justice for both Israelis and Palestinians and, more generally, for the world, that there be justice for every people in the world.”