Amman: Massive march on the 78th Nakba anniversary affirms adherence to the resistance option

Hundreds of Jordanian citizens gathered in the streets of the capital Amman after Friday prayers to participate in a massive public march commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. This event came to affirm the steadfast Jordanian popular stance in supporting the resilience of Palestinians in the face of ongoing Israeli occupation policies. The march set off from in front of the Grand Husseini Mosque in the city center, with a notable presence of various political and popular factions.

This demonstration was organized by the 'National Forum for Supporting the Resistance' in cooperation with a group of political parties, with the march raising the slogan 'Resistance is the path to return.' Participants carried banners emphasizing the Arab identity of Palestine from the river to the sea, declaring their categorical rejection of the normalization process with the occupation. The demonstrators stressed that national unity and adherence to the resistance option are the only way to liberate the land and restore usurped rights.

The participants' voices resonated with enthusiastic chants supporting the revolutionaries in the occupied territories, affirming that the voice of the Jordanian people will remain a support and backing for the Palestinian resistance. The demonstrators also directed sharp criticism at the American administration, describing it as a primary partner in the aggression through chants condemning the unlimited military and political support provided by Washington to Tel Aviv. The protesters affirmed that the Palestinian people will not yield or break, no matter the sacrifices.

In a speech delivered during the event, the head of the National Forum for Supporting the Resistance, Issam Al-Khawaja, affirmed that this year's Nakba anniversary comes amidst legendary steadfastness that has continued for decades. Al-Khawaja explained that the repercussions of the Nakba were not limited to the Palestinian interior alone, but its effects extended to include all Arab and Islamic peoples. He described what Palestinians have been subjected to since 1948 as a systematic ethnic cleansing and genocide whose chapters continue to this day.

Speakers at the march pointed out that 78 years of forced displacement have only increased the new generations' adherence to the sacred right of return. They considered that the popular movement in Jordan represents the pulse of the Arab street rejecting attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause or accept the fait accompli that the occupation tries to impose. The organizing forces of the march also called for the necessity of escalating popular pressure to stop the aggression and protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.

This anniversary recalls the tragedy of the displacement of about 957,000 Palestinians from their cities and villages in 1948, which represents the majority of Palestine's population at that time, according to historical data. Jordanians commemorate on this occasion the destruction of more than 1,300 Palestinian villages and towns by Zionist gangs. This march comes to affirm that Palestinian and Arab memory is still alive, and that the right of return does not lapse with time, no matter how long the occupation lasts.

The Nakba was not a catastrophe for the people of Palestine alone, but it affected our Arab and Islamic peoples and represented a blatant expression of genocide and systematic cleansing.