At the end of March, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed the Nakba Law. The version that passed the third reading states that any body that receives government funding, such as schools, can be fined for commemorating the Nakba on the Israeli Day of Independence. The Nakba means “Catastrophe” in Arabic and refers to the 1948 war, the result of which was the depopulation of two thirds of the Palestinian population, which today numbers millions of refugees. To this day many still hold the keys to their original homes, but are not allowed to return. In defiance of the law, the Israeli organization Zochrot (Hebrew, feminine “we remember”), posted a sign with the law in German throughout the core of Tel Aviv where thousands celebrated. Within minutes, police surrounded the Zochorot office.
