On May 15th of every year, Palestinians commemorate the Nakba, or catastrophe, which refers to the near-total destruction of Palestinian society at the hands of Zionist militias upon the establishment of Israel. However, the Nakba is not a tragic relic of the past; it is a planned, organized, and ongoing process of ethnic cleansing.
The Nakba officially began with the issuing of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British government committed to the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, as if the land was their property in the first place. The British colonization of Palestine followed, marked by a brutal crackdown on any anti-colonial organizing or national sentiment with the help of the Brits. As a result, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 9 to almost 27 percent.
After 27 years of colonial rule, the British government announced it would be handing over Palestine to the United Nations. The U.N recommended dividing Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947, allocating 55 percent of Palestine to the Jews, including cities with Palestinian majorities and important coastlines. Naturally, Palestinians rejected this ridiculous plan, as the proposed Arab state would mean they'd lose key agricultural lands and seaports, not to mention their homeland.
Shortly after, fighting broke out between Palestinians and Zionist armed groups who had gained training and arms from fighting with Britain in World War II. The Zionist forces raised a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing, forcibly expelling over 750,000 Palestinians from their lands and rendering them refugees outside of the borders of their own homeland. The Zionist forces had seized over 78 percent of historic Palestine, destroying and depopulating 530 villages and cities and committing over 70 massacres.
The Nakba became firmly established as a systemic practice that continues to be implemented by the Israeli state to this day. To understand the Nakba, one must understand Zionism, the political ideology born in 19th century Europe, which argued that the creation of a Jewish state would be the only viable solution for the persecution of Jews around the world. However, that salvation within itself necessitated the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of an entire population in the Palestinian territories who have lived under Zionist rule for the past 75 years.
Zionism is best defined by its material manifestations, and the Nakba is the clearest crystallization of the Zionist ideology. The movement did not stop eating away at Palestinian land in 1948. In fact, in 1967, the Israeli regime occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the eastern part of Jerusalem, forcibly expelling 430,000 Palestinians, half of which had already originally been dispossessed from their homes in 1948.
Today, millions of Palestinians continue to live in fear of home demolitions and arbitrary arrests, their towns are encircled by Jewish-only colonies and military outposts, and millions of Palestinians live without access to basic rights, be it in the West Bank, where they are immobilized by the apartheid wall or in the open-air prison that is the Gaza Strip. As for Palestinians that hold Israeli citizenship, they live under the rule of a regime with dozens and dozens of laws that discriminate against them as non-Jews.
The Nakba is far from over. The movement did not stop eating away at Palestinian land in 1948. In fact, in 1967, the Israeli regime occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the eastern part of Jerusalem, forcibly expelling 430,000 Palestinians, half of which had already originally been dispossessed from their homes in 1948.
Today, millions of Palestinians continue to live in fear of home demolitions and arbitrary arrests, their towns are encircled by Jewish-only colonies and military outposts, and millions of Palestinians live without access to basic rights, be it in the West Bank, where they are immobilized by the apartheid wall or in the open-air prison that is the Gaza Strip. As for Palestinians that hold Israeli citizenship, they live under the rule of a regime with dozens and dozens of laws that discriminate against them as non-Jews.
There are nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees around the world, and with the mass force expulsions of Palestinians in places like the Knock-ups, Hebron, and elsewhere, the number of internally displaced persons increases every year. At a certain point in every Palestinian's life, we recognize that the Nakba is far from over. If you're not expelled from your home, it's demolished. If you're not imprisoned, you're shot in the street. If you're not shot, there's a drone in your sky in the Gaza Strip. If it's not a bomb, it's exile.
But just as the Nakba continues, Palestinian resistance against it has not stopped a single day.