Palestinians marked “Nakba Day” on Sunday with sirens, rallies and speeches. Sirens wailed at midday and Palestinians stayed still for two minutes throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip to mourn the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, Reuters reported. Palestinian leaders said peace must include a “right of return” to Israel for millions of Arab refugees and their descendants, a demand that effectively would eliminate the Jewish state. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech broadcast Sunday that peace efforts require “a just and agreed solution” for refugees and a state for Palestinians. Ehud Olmert, Israel’s deputy prime minister, described the annual Nakba, or “Catastrophe,” rites as anti-peace. “The very fact that the Palestinians celebrate May 15, which was the day of the proclamation of the State of Israel, as the day of disaster is very discouraging, because it shows a state of mind still disposed to looking at the State! of Israel as an obstacle that must be removed rather than a reality that must be reconciled with,” Olmert said.
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