The Nakba witnessed the destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages, the killing of 13,000 Palestinians, and the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands between 1947 and 1949.
During the vigil the names of all the destroyed villages were read out. A candle was lit for each village and placed on a large map of Palestine. Passersby stopped to participate in the vigil, to find out more about the Nakba and to light a candle. When all villages had been named and all 500 candles lit the vigil ended with the naming of the villages where massacres occurred and people stood in silence to remember the 13,000 who were killed.

The vigil was organized jointly by the Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the University of Oxford Arab Cultural Society and the University Palestine Society. It marked the start of Nakba Awareness Week.

Events for the remainder of the week are:

Wednesday May 17th, 8pm Wadham College, Old Refectory : Palestine then and Now, a lecture by Husam Zomlot ( Charge D’Affaires, Palestine General Delegation to the UK)

Thursday May 18th , 7.30pm Nakba Literature Readings, St Anthony’s College, Fellows Dining Room. Readings from the works of Palestinian and Israeli authors by Gabi Piterberg, Omar Shweiki and Abdel Razzaq Takriti

Friday May 19th, 8.15pm, Wadham College, old Refectory: Keynote Lecture: Commemorating the Nakba, a talk by Dr Ahmad Khalidi (Former Palestinian Negotiator and Senior Associate Member of St Anthony’s College).