By Shaza Al Muzayen
KUALA LUMPUR: Families desperately fleeing to safety, their arms and backs straining under the weight of whatever belongings they could grab for their trek into the unknown.
House keys are safely tucked away in pockets or hung around their owners’ necks, awaiting the day of their return home.
Rows of tents, housing thousands, dot the dusty, rubble-strewn landscape. Some look worn, others newer, but both provide meagre protection for their inhabitants against the scorching heat, rain and cold.
These are some of the scenes captured from the ongoing Israel genocide in Gaza, forever immortalised in the images we see on our news feeds and now, etched in our minds.
However, these same images evoke memories of a different time in Palestinian history – a time of forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and the beginning of a permanent exile for many Palestinians.
That of the Nakba of 1948.
This year marks 76 years since the events of the Nakba, and for many Palestinians, it is a Nakba that hasn’t ended – especially now.
What does Nakba mean?
Al-Nakba is an Arabic word that literally translates to ‘the Catastrophe’.
Palestinians use it to refer to the violent, mass expulsion, and ethnic cleansing experienced by their forebears in 1948. During that time, Zionist militias, and later the Israeli military, dispossessed Palestinians of their homes and land, looted and destroyed Palestinian properties, and massacred entire villages.
In his book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, historian and social activist Ilan Pappe estimates that nearly one million Palestinians had been expelled from their homes and turned into refugees during Israel’s establishment, between 1947 to 1949.
By 1949, nearly 80 percent of the Arab population of Palestine had been forced from their homes, writes historian and professor Rashid Khalidi in The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance. Only a fifth of the Palestinian Arab population – or just about 160,000 people – would remain.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 531 towns and villages were destroyed during the Nakba. More than 70 massacres were committed by the Zionist militias, leaving over 15,000 Palestinians dead.
Much of pre-Nakba Palestine remains hidden amongst the glittering cities and agricultural communities of modern-day Israel. But glimpses of the past stubbornly remain – in between the boughs of trees planted over the ruins of depopulated Palestinian villages and the names de-Arabised streets and towns.
What caused the Nakba?
The Nakba was preceded by many events that culminated in the fall of Palestine and the formation of the settler state of Israel.
Palestine had earlier been under Ottoman rule (1516-1918) which ended after World War 1. It was towards the end of this period that early Zionist settlers began buying plots of land in order to establish themselves in the local labour market.
In 1917, just before the end of the First World War, the British Foreign Secretary at the time, Lord Balfour, promised the Zionist movement their right to establish a home in Palestine. This would come to be known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
Post-World War I, the League of Nations (predecessor of the United Nations) would then place Palestine under the administration of the United Kingdom as a ‘mandate’. This mandate would last for around 30 years. Zionist settler migration to Palestine also increased during this period, mainly due to the British promise of a future Jewish homeland and increased persecution in Europe. This led to growing clashes among the local Palestinian population, the Zionist settlers, and the British.
By 1947, the British sought to end their mandate and turned over their “Palestine problem” to the United Nations (UN). This resulted in the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine. Under this plan, Palestine was to be divided into two states – one Jewish and one Arab, and Jerusalem was to be placed under UN administration. The Palestinians and other Arab countries rejected the plan, calling it unfair.
Palestine would be in a full-blown war by 1948. Zionist militias (who are the precursors to the current Israeli military) launched attacks against Palestinian cities and towns, leaving thousands dead and forcing thousands more to flee. Many of those who fled ended up in refugee camps in neighbouring states such as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Others found refuge in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Most of their descendants still live in those camps till today and are unable to return to their homes.
The significance of May 15
In 1998, the then President of Palestine, Yasser Arafat, officially declared that May 15 was to be annually commemorated as ‘Nakba Day’. This annual remembrance comes a day after Israel’s Independence Day, which is May 14. The date also coincides with that of the end of the British Mandate of Palestine – May 15, 1948.
In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) requested that Nakba Day be commemorated by the UN. The Resolution containing this request passed with 90 votes in favour, 30 votes against, and 47 abstentions. For the first time in UN history, Nakba Day was observed by the body on May 15, 2023, at their New York headquarters. This was the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.
What’s happening now?
Death is once again relentlessly stalking the footsteps of Palestinians, but it has reached a scale unheard of since the days of the Nakba.
Seven months into Israel’s war on Palestinians, nearly all of Gaza’s population (over 2.3 million people) have been forcefully displaced. The death toll in Gaza has reached horrific levels. As of May 17, 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) reports that at least 35,303 Palestinians have been killed. This figure includes more than 14,500 dead children – just over two percent of Gaza’s child population. More than 8,000 to 10,000 Palestinians have been listed as missing or are feared to have been buried under the rubble. OCHA also reports that the number of injured in Gaza has reached at least 79,261 people.
Seven mass graves have been found inside Gaza’s hospitals. Three have been found at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, three more at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and one at Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza. So far, a total of 520 bodies have been recovered from these graves.
Israel’s threat to carry out a mass military invasion in Rafah looms constantly over Gazans. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has estimated that more than 630,000 Palestinians have fled the city. Most of the displaced are seeking refuge in Al Mawasi, Deir Al-Balah, and Khan Younis – areas that the UN say “lack the basic services required to support civilians who need food, shelter and healthcare.”
Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem too have not been spared from the brutality of Israel.
OCHA reports that since October 7, 2023, a total of 480 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been killed, including 116 children. The number of injured has risen to nearly 5,040 people. Attacks by Israeli settlers too are on the rise. To date, the settlers have carried out 848 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 87 casualty incidents and 669 incidents of damage towards Palestinian-owned properties.
Home demolitions in the occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities have displaced 1,950 Palestinians, while 1,385 people have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.
On May 9, 2023, Israeli residents attacked UNRWA’s headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem after nearly two months of demonstrations. Two fires had been lit by the residents outside the compound, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas. UNRWA has been forced to temporarily close its office after the attack.
The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza has drawn widespread condemnation and inspired a new wave of resistance against its existing apartheid towards Palestinians.
On December 29, 2023, South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). As a result, several provisions have been issued by the ICJ ordering Israel not to carry out any acts that fall under the Genocide Convention – an order, various rights groups say, that Israel is not complying with. A final ruling for this case could take years for the ICJ to reach.
A recent vote by UNGA saw overwhelming support given to Palestine in their bid to become a full member of the UN. The Resolution received 143 votes in favour, nine votes against, and 25 abstentions.
There is also a rise of pro-Palestinian student encampments on college and university campuses worldwide. Dubbed the ‘Student Intifada’, the protests began on April 17, 2024, at Columbia University in New York. It has now spread to campuses in at least 25 countries.
Protestors, mostly comprising students and some faculty members, condemned the genocide in Gaza and continued violence being perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians. Demands have also been made for the universities to divest from investing in Israeli companies, end partnerships with Israeli academic institutions, and for greater financial transparency over university funding. The protest movement is still ongoing. – BERNAMA
