For the first time, Israeli police block the annual march to commemorate the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948.
Nazareth - The annual "March of Return" by Palestinians in Israel , commemorating the Nakba - the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948, has been blocked by the Israeli police for the first time in its history.
Nakba - Arabic for "catastrophe" - refers to the creation of Israel on the ruins of the Palestine in 1948
Some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled outside the new state of Israel's borders and some 500 villages razed to the ground
Palestinians in Israel commemorate the Nakba every year in the annual 'March of Return', affirming the right of return
The police have denied the organisers a permit, saying there is a shortage of officers to oversee the march.
But Palestinian leaders in Israel accuse the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu of being behind the decision, in what they believe is the latest move to silence their commemoration of the events of 69 years ago.
The Nakba - Arabic for "catastrophe" - refers to Israel's creation on the ruins of the Palestinians' homeland in 1948. Some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled outside the new state of Israel's borders, and more than 500 villages razed to prevent the refugees from returning.
The march has rapidly grown in size over the past few years, in defiance of increasingly repressive measures from the Israeli authorities.