The Israeli cabinet on Sunday voted in favour of a draft law to ban yearly Nakba commemorations. Since 1948, the Palestinians have been marking the establishment of the state of Israel as Nakba (catastrophe).
In the proposal, anyone participating in the commemoration of 15 May 1948 could face a three-year prison sentence. The proposal has been presented by the right wing party Yisrael Beitenu, led by the Foreign MInister Avigdor Lieberman. It still has to be approved in the Israeli parliament.
Arab deputies have already condemned the move. Balad chairman MP Jamal Zahalka said there was no international precedent for legislation against sorrow and mourning, calling it, according to Haaretz,"an Israeli invention that reveals bankruptcy."
