Palestine mourns 15 killed in protests

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today declared three days of mourning for the 15 people killed in mass protest marches toward Israel’s borders from Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.

The marches, on the date Palestinians mourn their uprooting as a result of Israel’s 1948 creation, illustrated Arab dissatisfaction with the deadlocked efforts to establish a Palestinian state. The unprecedented tactic also reflected an Arab world emboldened by the anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East this year.