Hundreds of protesters carrying Palestinian flags held the Nakba Day rally at Tel Aviv University on Monday. Communist Party of Israel Secretary General Adel Amer and Hadash MK Ofer Cassif took part in the rally as well. The large crowd of Arab students and Jewish supporters, among them dozens of lecturers, waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against occupation of the Palestinian territories. Other Nakba Day events were held by Hadash students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Haifa University and Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Nakba Day rally at Tel Aviv University, Monday, May 15, 2023 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Two people were arrested at the entrance to Tel Aviv University during the Nakba Day event. One was an extreme right-wing activist who tried to tear down the lighting for the ceremony. The other person arrested was the leftist well know film director Eran Torbiner. This is the 11th year the ceremony has been held in Tel Aviv’s Entin Square, just outside the university in Ramat Aviv.
During the rally on Monday, a dozen of right-wing activists from the fascist Im Tirtzu movement raised a sign reading “Nakba? Nonsense”. Last year, clashes broke out in Tel-Aviv University between participants and fascist counter-protesters at the scene, with police arresting a number of students amid the violence.