iqrit

On Easter Monday in the displaced Palestinian village of Iqrit, residents dance around the town's church, April 21, 2014. (Activestills.org)

Palestinians are holding weddings, baptisms, burials in villages destroyed by Israel

Third-generation survivors of the Nakba are returning to the churches in the villages Israel destroyed in 1948 to hold religious ceremonies. By Suha Arraf Just over two weeks ago, Khaled Bisharat, son of famed journalist and author Odeh Bisharat, was married in a church in the village of Ma’alul. It was a wedding like any other, apart…

By +972 Magazine July 30, 2019

A youth sits near a cross overlooking the surrounding countryside in the displaced Palestinian village of Iqrit in northern Israel, April 21, 2014. Iqrit's original inhabitants were forcibly evacuated in the Nakba of 1948. Though the Israeli high court granted the residents, who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, the right to return to their homes in 1951, the military destroyed the village and has since prevented their return. Only the village's church and cemetery remained intact, and are still used by village residents while they campaign for a full return.

WATCH: The Palestinian youth realizing their dream of return

For three years, a group of young Palestinian citizens of Israel has been meeting in order to imagine and plan their return to the destroyed villages from which their parents and grandparents were expelled. The project they initiated, “Udna” (“Return”), aims to give the younger generation an awareness of the Nakba, and to create actual…

By Social TV January 20, 2016

On Easter Monday in the displaced Palestinian village of Iqrit, residents dance around the town's church, April 21, 2014. (Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: On Easter, Palestinians resurrect their destroyed village

The Palestinian village of Irqit was depopulated in the 1948 war and then almost entirely razed. Now new generations of its original residents are trying to resurrect the town and realize a decades-old High Court ruling recognizing their right to return. Text and photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org It would seem that Israeli authorities conspired…

By Activestills April 22, 2014

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Havat Gilad outpost, just south of Nablus. (photo: Yuval Ben-Ami)

Instead of evacuating West Bank outpost, state continues to humiliate itself

One year after it was ordered to remove the illegal outpost of Amona, the government is now claiming that the evacuation has to be postponed, since it ‘may harm the interests of the state.’ We are, after all, negotiating with the Palestinians. By Yesh Din (written by Yossi Gurvitz) Last August, the High Court of…

By +972 Magazine October 18, 2013

The Iqrit garden before and after (Haggai Matar and Iqrit's Facebook page)

A day of ‘law enforcement’: Upheaval, banishment and persecution

In the past 48 hours Israeli police have raided the renewed Palestinian villages of Iqrit and al-Araqib, banished Al-Araqib residents from their homes and tried to shut down a Tel Aviv café that serves as a hub for activists and the municipal opposition. Just two weeks ago the displaced Palestinian community of Iqrit celebrated the…

By Haggai Matar August 28, 2013

Ruins of Bir'em, off the official park pathway (Oren Ziv / Activestills)

Authorities threaten displaced community’s return to village

The displaced Maronite community of Bir’em has decided to implement its right of return by resettling its land. Authorities have threatened to evict the villagers should they refuse to leave. Exactly one year ago, the displaced people of Iqrit decided that after 64 years of empty promises, they would wait no longer to return to…

By Haggai Matar August 22, 2013

The two summer camps outside the Iqrit church at sunset (Haggai Matar)

Palestinians celebrate anniversary of return to destroyed village

The displaced members of the village of Iqrit marked one year since their groundbreaking direct action: the return of the village youth to the village, the revival of its traditions and the strengthening of their hold on the land. Although they are now celebrating with friends and supporters, they fear a potential response from authorities.…

By Haggai Matar August 15, 2013

Palestinians celebrate as they wait for the arrival of prisoners freed from Israeli detention in the headquarters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14, 2013. 26 Palestinian prisoners will be released, 15 to Gaza and 11 sent to West Bank, as part of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (Photo: Activestills.org)

From prisoner releases to West Bank protests: A week in photos – August 8-14

This week: The release of pre-Oslo Palestinian prisoners, Eid at the sea, the return to villages destroyed in the Nakba, and weekly demonstrations against the occupation. See more photos: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank

By Activestills August 15, 2013

Dispite a unique rulling by the High Court in 1951 villagers are still not allowed to return (Oren Ziv / Activestills)

Displaced Palestinians return to village after 64 years

The third generation of the displaced community of Iqrit decided that they’d had enough of waiting for authorities to allow them to return to their village lands, taking matters into their own hands. Last August, they set up their base in a room adjacent to the old church and haven’t left since. In 1948, the…

By Haggai Matar March 18, 2013