Nakba Demonstration in Nablus

One of the programs directors for Project Hope had told all the volunteers that there were to be a peacfull rally and demonstration of the people against their Nakba, and it would be good to have an international presence. Many of us went so that we could have our own perspective on demonstrations in Palestine and see if the IDF would do anything to prevent it. When arriving to the demonstration site, I heard gun shots go off. Being from a big city like Toronto, I had heard this sound before and knew that it was probably to settle the crowd down. We got out of the taxi and closely together walked down the hill towards the demonstration. For the most part it was peacefull with a speaker and some government officials calling for liberation and freedom. There was a flyer but only being able to read Arabic and not actualy understand, I have no idea what it says. It turned out that the Palestinian local police forces shot off some bullets into the air to disperse the crowd and the IDF were nowhere to be found. During the end of the demonstration I became swarmed with kids inquiring to my camera. They were fascinated with the LCD screen where you could see the pictures. There are alot of things in Nablus as for the most part its very forward in education, some goods and services but an LCD screen is just not one of them. They asked lots of questions and were very friendly and playfull. All wa done and we head back to the house.