DES MOINES, Iowa — A memorial held at Gray’s Lake on Saturday honored 200 Palestinian children in a special way.

The Catholic Peace Ministry, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and the Middle East Peace Education Coalition held a memorial observance of the 77th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.

Kathleen Mcquillen, the Director of the Catholic Peace Ministry, said that the observance served to educate the public.

“May 15th marks the 77th anniversary of what’s called the Palestinian Nakba, which means catastrophe. This is when Israel proclaimed itself a state and drove 750,000 Palestinian off their own land. They’ve never been allowed to return, although the U.N. has declared and has resolutions affirming their right to return. It’s never happened,” Mcquillen said.

The observance memorial had 200 pinwheels placed in the ground with the names of Palestinian children that have been killed since the Palestinian Nakba.

“What we have here are 200 pinwheels reminding us that these are our children. These are kids who should be playing. They should be playing above ground. Instead, they’re buried in the ground. We have the names and ages on them. Now, the 200 represents something like 1.2% of those who have been killed just since October of 2023,” Mcquillen said.

Mcquillen said that the response from people walking by was positive.

“I feel very good about the response. I mean, again, we do a lot of events in which our allies come to it, but this was to reach people who maybe don’t even know the story. And so I feel very good about people who suffered to people who made a donation and requested people who signed our sign up.” Mcquillen said.