First-ever Palestinian Heritage Parade held in the Loop

A crowd of more than a hundred paraded through the Loop Saturday in what organizers said was the country’s first-ever Palestinian Heritage Parade.

Many waving the red, black, white and green Palestinian flag danced in the traditional “dabke” style and sang folk songs as others on colorful floats waved to spectators.

Sponsored by the Palos-Hills-based non-profit American Muslims for Palestine, the parade also featured the recreation of a Palestinian wedding and other traditions unique to the Middle East.

The parade fell less than a week before the anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as “Nakba Day,” or the “Day of the Catastrophe,” which marks the group’s uprooting in the war over Israel’s 1948 creation.

Organizers said the aim of the parade was to showcase their pride in their “deep cultural and religious history.”