Palestinians rally in Gaza for 51st consecutive Friday

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - For the 51st week in a row, Palestinians on Friday converged along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to take part in ongoing rallies against Israel’s decades-long occupation.

In a statement, Gaza’s National Authority for Breaking the Siege called on the people of Gaza to take part in Friday’s demonstration, which was held under the slogan, “We choose to march”.

It also urged participants to maintain the “peaceful nature of all demonstrations and marches”.

Protesters demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Writing by Mahmoud Barakat