RAMALLAH, April 20, 2018 (WAFA) – The Palestinian march commemorating the destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages during the Nakba in 1948 in Atlit village, south of Haifa, hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Friday.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that thousands participated in the mass rally in the depopulated village of Atlit, located near Haifa.
Al-Ayyam added that participants held up signs affirming that they do not waive their right of return.
Al-Quds said that hundreds others took part in a rally to the depopulated village of al-Damoun, southeast of Akka (Acre).
The dailies printed photos showing participants holding up Palestinian flags and bearing the names of over 530 villages depopulated by Israeli forces in 1948.
On the other hand, the dailies reported that hundreds of Israeli settlers forced their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
They added that settlers also stormed the Bethlehem-district site of Solomon’s Pools, the Ramallah-district village of al-Mazraa al-Gharbiya. And assaulted a bus of schoolchildren in Yatta town, south of Hebron.
Al-Quds reported that Israeli occupation authorities have agreed to reopen Barta‘a crossing, west of Jenin.
Highlighting the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip, al-Quds reported that the European Parliament (EP) called on Israel to exercise self-restraint.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the EP urged Israel to refrain from using lethal force against Palestinian protestors and called for “an immediate and unconditional end to the blockade and closure of the Gaza Strip”.
Spotlighting the Great March of Return, al-Quds reported “clashes” between Palestinian protestors and Israeli forces along Gaza border.
Al-Ayyam added that Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians taking part in the Great March of Return protests, east of Jabalya town, injuring three protestors, including one who sustained a serious injury. According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces injured a Palestinian to the east of Jabliya.
Spotlighting the Palestinian National Council, scheduled to convene on April 30, al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) decided not to participate in the session.
Al-Quds said that a Hamas delegation concluded a “positive” visit to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
It highlighted a report by the German Press Agency (DPA) titled On the 70th anniversary of its Independence, Israel is a technological force facing international dismay over its policies towards the Palestinians.
It added that Barnard College, the elite women’s school in New York city, voted overwhelmingly for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The dailies reported that Israel’s ‘Defence’ Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a decision closing Elia Association for Youth Media in East Jerusalem.
They also highlighted a press statement by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah warning about and refuting false news accusing him of being complicit in the killing of a Palestinian young man from Jericho at one of Ramallah hotels.
Al-Ayyam reported Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat stating that the US administration’s resolve to relocate its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem destroys the two-state solution.
Moreover, President Mahmoud Abbas was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stressing the importance of the International Labor Organization’s role in protecting the rights of Palestinian workers in Israel.
Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that the dream of Alaa al-Daly, a 21-year-old Palestinian cyclist, of competing for Palestine at the Asian Games has been shattered.
Al-Daly has his right leg amputated after being shot by Israeli soldiers during the first day of the Great March of Return protests in Gaza.
K.F.
