Palestinian Protests on Israel’s Borders – in pictures

May 17, 2011 |- Alan Taylor | In Focus – The Atlantic

On Sunday, Palestinians and their supporters marked the 63rd anniversary of what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, that befell them as hundreds of thousands fled or were pushed out of their homes following Israel’s establishment in 1948. They observed the anniversary this year by staging coordinated demonstrations, in part inspired by recent protests around the Arab world. Thousands marched on Israeli borders and walls in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. Where they attempted to climb border fences and enter Israel, Israeli troops opened fire, reportedly killing a dozen and injuring over 100. At the Syrian border, over 100 protesters breached the border, at least one of them hitchhiking 130 miles into Tel Aviv. Gathered here are images of some of the scenes around Israel last weekend.

A masked Palestinian youth throws a fire bomb towards Israeli forces during clashes following Friday prayer in Arab East Jerusalem on May 13, 2011. Israeli police flooded the streets, fearing violence, as Palestinians began marking the anniversary of what they call the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, that befell them following Israel’s establishment in 1948. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian man holding a Palestinian flag looks at fellow demonstrators gathering during clashes with Israeli soldiers in Maroun al-Rass near the Israeli border in South Lebanon on May 15, 2011.(Reuters/Ali Hashisho)

Druze spectators stand on a roof as they watch Syrian protesters making their way back to Syria. The protestors had crossed into Israel during a demonstration marking the annivesary of “Nakba” on the border between Syria and Israel in the village of Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, on May 15, 2011.(Reuters/Nir Elias)

Palestinian protesters infiltrate the Israel-Syria border on May 15, 2011, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, Israel. Reportedly at least 12 were killed and several injured when IDF soldiers open fired on protesters attempting to cross the Syria-Israel border adjacent to Majdal Shams in Northern Israel.(Jalaa Marey/JINI/Getty Images)

Arab demonstrators marking the anniversary of the 1948 mass displacement of Palestinians run away from an Israeli military vehicle as they try to approach the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel on Sunday, May 15, 2011.(AP Photo/Yaron Kaminsky)

Palestinian protesters take cover after Israeli soldiers opened fire at them in the southern border village of Maroun el-Rass, Lebanon, on Sunday, May 15, 2011.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese soldiers take a position on the Lebanese-Israeli border as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (not seen) gather for a protest, as seen from the Israeli village of Avivim on May 15, 2011.(Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

A wounded Palestinian man is carried to safety during clashes with the Israeli police on May 15, 2011, at Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank.(Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

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Israeli border policemen detain a Palestinian protester during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Ammar Awad) #

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A masked Palestinian demonstrator walks past a graffiti message on Israel’s controversial separation barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Anata on May 15, 2011. Palestinians were marking the anniversary of the 1948 creation of Israel as “Nakba” or catastrophe. (Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Palestinian protesters in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh, Sunday, May 15, 2011, carry a couch to block the road during clashes with Israeli troops (not seen) following a demonstration to mark the 63rd anniversary of “Nakba,” Arabic for catastrophe — the term used to mark the events leading to Israel’s founding in 1948. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) #

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Palestinian refugee Mahmoud Amer, 75, shows the keys of his home in the village of Mansi in what is now Israel on May 15, 2011, in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin. (Saif Dahlah/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Israeli soldiers take up a position during clashes with Palestinian protesters on May 15, 2011, at Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) #

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A Palestinian protester throws a stone towards Israeli police vehicles during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) #

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Israeli soldiers fire tear gas during clashes with Palestinian protesters on May 15, 2011 at Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) #

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Two Palestinian men struggle after being overcome by tear gas fired during clashes with the Israeli police on May 15, 2011 at Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) #

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A Palestinian man recovers after being overcome by tear gas fired during clashes with the Israeli police on May 15, 2011, at Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, West Bank. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) #

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A plainclothes Israeli police officer detains a Palestinian protester following a demonstration to mark the 63rd anniversary of “Nakba,” Arabic for catastrophe, in the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on Sunday, May 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) #

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A Hamas security officer uses a club to prevent protesters from reaching Erez Crossing during a march heading towards the border with Israel in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, May 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) #

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An undercover Israeli policeman dressed as a Palestinian woman opens a car door after detaining a Palestinian protester during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) #

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Palestinians living in Syria clash with Israeli border soldiers in the Ain al-Tineh area in front of Ain Shams village at the Golan Heights border near the Israeli border on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Sana) #

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Israeli troops take positions along the damaged border fence between Israel and Syria after Syrian demonstrators, marking the anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians surrounding Israel’s establishment in 1948, approached the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, on Sunday, May 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) #

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Palestinian demonstrators throw stones during clashes with Israeli soldiers in Maroun al-Rass near the Israeli border in South Lebanon on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Ali Hashisho) #

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Lebanese soldiers hold a Palestinian demonstrator as they disperse protestors engaged in clashes with Israeli soldiers in Maroun al-Rass near the Israeli border in South Lebanon on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Ali Hashisho) #

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The body of a Syrian protester is carried near the border fence between Syria and Israel, close to the northern Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Hamad Almakt) #

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Photojournalists take pictures of Israeli riot police during clashes with Palestinian rioters in Arab east Jerusalem on May 13, 2011. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Palestinian youth throws a firecracker towards Israeli border police during clashes in the Shufat refugee camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem on May 15, 2011. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images) #

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An Israeli police officer aims his weapon as a Palestinian man sits outside his house during clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, May 13 , 2011. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) #

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An Israeli policeman carries a Palestinian boy after removing him from a burning house during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) #

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An Israeli police officer fires tear gas at Palestinian protesters (not seen) during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya on Sunday, May 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) #

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A Palestinian demonstrator jumps in the air during clashes with Israeli riot police on May 13, 2011, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) #

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Israeli soldiers stand guard during a demonstration by Syrian protesters near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on May 15, 2011. (Reuters/Nir Elias) #

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Israeli soldiers repair the border fence on May 16, 2011, after protesters crossed from Syria into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the Druze town of Majdal Shams the previous day during a mass protest. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Hassan Hijazi, a Syrian man who infiltrated Israel when a large crowd breached the border on Sunday, attends a remand hearing in a Tel Aviv court, Israel, on Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Hijazi, 28, claimed he spent a full day hitchhiking and riding a bus next to an Israeli soldier as he made his way some 130 miles (200 kilometers) from the Golan Heights to a Tel Aviv neighborhood to find the home he said his family lost during Israel’s 1948 establishment. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) #

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Palestinians carry the coffins of people who were shot dead yesterday by Israeli soldiers during clashes at the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, during a funeral in al-Yarmouk camp near Damascus, Syria, on May 16, 2011.(Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri)

Related links and information

The Israeli Border Protests Through the Lens of the Arab Spring – Atlantic Wire, May 16, 2011

How to Understand the Golan Heights Demonstrations – Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, May 15, 2011

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