TEHRAN — May 15 marks Nakba Day, also known as the Day of Palestinian Catastrophe. It is the day that comprised the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people.

For Palestinians, this day is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement that preceded and followed Israel's so-called establishment.

Palestinians use suppressed anger on this day to express their hatred towards the occupiers that have stolen their land, and are proceeding with their ethnic cleansing. This year, however, the Palestinian Catastrophe Day could backfire on the Israelis, following the brutal killing of the veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. 

Abu Akleh, a veteran Al Jazeera Arabic TV journalist, was killed on Wednesday after being shot in the head while reporting the Israeli army’s incursions into the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, she was brought to a hospital in Jenin in severe condition, where she was proclaimed dead shortly after.

A Palestinian journalist who was with Abu Akleh described the incident as a “deliberate attempt” to assassinate the journalists.

“We made ourselves visible to the soldiers who were stationed hundreds of meters away from us. We remained still for around 10 minutes to make sure they knew we were there as journalists,” Shatha Hanaysha noted.

The tragic death of Abu Akleh sent a shockwave to the world. Scores of people poured onto streets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to protest the killing of the seasoned journalist and condemn the brutal atrocities of the Israeli regime. 

On Friday, 54 seconds of a disturbing footage shocked the whole world. During the funeral procession for Abu Akleh, Israeli troops attacked the mourners and tried to take the Palestinian flag off of her casket.

The footage raised the eyebrows of the free-spirited people in the world, who asked if the Israelis are afraid of a casket, what will the truth do to them?

Israelis attacking the mourners and the casket of Abu Akleh led to an outpouring of emotions all around the world. 

On Sunday, pro-Palestine activists took part in a demonstration in Auckland, New Zealand, in commemorations of the 74th anniversary of the Nakba Day and in protest to Israel's cold-blooded murder of the veteran journalist. 

South African activists also held a vigil in support of Palestine, calling on the South African government to cut diplomatic ties with the apartheid regime of Israel.

In this regard, a British member of Parliament for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, on Sunday called for ending arms sales to Israel, following a series of human rights violations committed by Israel against Palestinian people, the latest was Israel’s killing of Abu Akleh.

Also, Amnesty's Executive Director in Ireland Colm O'Gorman spoke out about Amnesty's report on Israel's apartheid that has built on decades of work by Palestinians. 

This is the first of many public events in the Irish campaign to end the Israeli Apartheid.

In Krakow, Poland, pro-Palestine activists took part in a vigil in commemorations of the 74th anniversary of the Nakba Day, and to condemn the brutal killing of Abu Akleh.

There is an expression in the English language that says “use your anger as a fuel.” This expression could be interpreted in the public hatred towards the Israeli regime. The suppressed anger of the Palestinians, as well as the scores of free-spirited people all around the world could be used as a motivational tool to end the occupation of Palestine once and for all.
 
Maybe, on May 15 next year, we would not be commemorating the exodus of the Palestinians from their lands. We could be celebrating the Palestinians regaining their independence. However, this could only be achieved through unity among the Islamic states.

As Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei outlined in his meeting with the Emir of Qatar on Thursday, “The Arab world is expected to explicitly enter into political action against these open crimes.”

While expressing his agreement with the statements of the Emir of Qatar in condemnation of the crimes committed by the Zionist regime, the Leader described the decades-long oppression of the vicious Zionists against the Palestinian people to be a bitter reality and a blow to the world of Islam. 

“Against such crimes, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects the Arab world to explicitly enter the arena of political action,” he said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has also called for unity among Muslim states in its statement issued on Saturday. 

“As shown by history, any compromise with the sworn enemies of the Islamic Ummah encourages the apartheid Zionist government’s inhumane acts and violations of human rights. Muslim nations and leaders should know that the only way to realize the Palestinian people’s rights is maintaining Islamic unity and convergence and the world’s freedom-seeking governments and Muslim nations’ support for the resistance against occupiers and bullying powers,” the statement said. 

Islamic unity can surely bring the Israeli regime to its knees.