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Rallies mark "catastrophe day"

Abbas addresses Palestinians worldwide

GAZA/RAMALLAH: The Palestinians in the territories and diaspora marked on Monday the 58th anniversary of what they call ``Al-Nakba,'' or catastrophe, a date on which Israel proclaimed independence.

The Palestinians all over the world consider the date as a black day in the Palestinian history, as the state of Israel was declared and was established in the lands of the historic Palestine.

Differing views

The Israelis, however, considered the 1948 Arab-Israeli war as a war of liberation, as the Jews managed to liberate the Holy Land where their ancestors used to live.

The Palestinians say they were living in their villages and towns in Palestine till the Jews came and forced the Palestinians to leave and established the state of Israel.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian fled Palestine for fear of war and then were recognised as refugees settled in refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as in three nearby Arab countries — Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The Hamas-led Cabinet and the Palestinian Legislative Council held special sessions to mark the Al-Nakba Day.

The Palestinian National Council, or Assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement that this year's Nakba anniversary came under difficult conditions and needed a realistic standpoint to overcome the difficulties and reach national goals.

Marches were organised on Monday in and out of the territories to send a message to the world that there will be no peace without the return of Palestinian refugees, said the statement.

In the afternoon, sirens and bells of churches sounded as traffic halted for five minutes in the territories.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a televised speech to the Palestinian people in the territories and diaspora.

Meanwhile, a report prepared by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics expected that the number of Palestinians would be equal to the number of Jews in Historic Palestine in 2010. — Xinhua

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