Celebrating the Catastrophe: Nakba 2011
Photography by Peter Steudtner
Ramallah, Palestine, 15 May 2011: While protesters and refugees cross the Israeli borders from Jordania and Syria, while nonviolent Palestinian protesters are teargassed and shot at the Qualandiya checkpoint, in the city center of Ramallah the Nakba – the catastrophy of the evictions of Palestinians during the creation of Israeli state in 1948 – is remembered and mourned.
The look and feel of the demonstration from the Arafat memorial towards the city center is more like a popular festival. Politicians and students, organized and spontaneous celebrate the new emerging powerful identity as part of the “arab spring”.