GAZA CITY, May 16 (IslamOnline) – Palestinian artists painted a mural Wednesday, May 15, on a 54 meters long canvas to mark the 54^th anniversary of Nakba (catastrophe), to remind the world of the continuing suffering of their people, following the creation of Israel on their homeland.

In a location close to the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, 54 Palestinian artists portraying the dilemma of their people on a painting, set up two tents. On the first tent, they wrote “Nakba of 1948”, and on the other, they wrote “Nakba of 2002”, to express the non-stop catastrophe suffered by the Palestinians.

President of the General Union of Palestinian Cultural Centers, Yusry Hassan, organizer of the event, said the artists tried to create a unified cultural vision, comprising all Palestinians.

“This initiative is meant to immortalize the Palestinian Nakba, going on for 54 years now. That’s why we have chosen 54 artists, to give them the chance to express the suffering of our people through their talents,” Hassan said.

“Palestinian artists have always been part of our people, shared our suffering and they are the best to express it in their artistic styles,” he added.

For his part, Palestinian artist, Mohammad Gabr, said the painting aimed at reminding the people of the Palestinian Nakba from 1948, up till now, stressing the Palestinians would never give up their honorable struggle for freedom and dignity.

“We are here to belie an old Zionist saying about the Palestinian people: The old will die, the young will forget. We have not witnessed the Nakba, but we still remember and we will always remember,” said another artist, Ashraf Sahweel.

“My painting reflects being a refugee, in general. It reflects how our people were forced to go homeless under the threat of massacres and torture,” Sahweel added.

Another artist, Mohammad Gahlash, spoke of his painting saying, “I painted a Palestinian mother, representing our people, holding Al-Aqsa Mosque and telling her son never to give in or give up our rights even if the Israelis kill her.”

Around four million Palestinians were forced out of their homes and villages following Israel's creation in 1948 and live in poverty-stricken camps run by the U.N. in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.