Nakba Day (1948)
Sat May 15, 1948
Image: Palestinian civilians forced to flee from an unidentified village in Galilee some five months after the creation of the state of Israel [Reuters]
The Nakba, commemorated annually on this day as "Nakba Day", was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 following Israel's creation. Nakba Day protests take place around the world and have been attacked by Israel.
The foundational events of the Nakba took place during and shortly after the 1947-1949 Palestine war, including 78% of Mandatory Palestine being declared as Israel, the exodus of 700,000 Palestinians, the depopulation and destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages and subsequent geographical erasure, the denial of the Palestinian right of return, and the creation of permanent, stateless Palestinian refugees.
Although May 15th had been used as an unofficial commemoration of the Nakba since 1949, Nakba Day was formalized in 1998 after Yasser Arafat proposed that Palestinians should mark the 50th anniversary of the Nakba during the First Intifada.
The Nakba was a key event in the development of Palestinian culture and is a foundational symbol of Palestinian identity, along with "Handala", a ten-year old cartoon character developed by Naji al-Ali; the keffiyeh, a checkered black and white scarf worn around the head; and the "symbolic key" (many Palestinian refugees have kept the keys to the homes they were forced to flee).
On Nakba Day 2011, Palestinians and other Arabs from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria marched towards their respective borders, or ceasefire lines and checkpoints in Israeli-occupied territories, to mark the event. At least twelve Palestinians and supporters were killed and hundreds wounded as a result of shootings by the Israeli Army.
"In resisting the Nakba, the Palestinians have struck at the heart of the Zionist project that insists that the Nakba be seen as a past event. In resisting Israel, Palestinians have forced the world to witness the Nakba as present action; one that, contrary to Zionist wisdom, is indeed reversible." - Palestinian scholar Joseph Massad
- Date: 1948-05-15
- Learn More: www.palquest.org, www.aljazeera.com, en.wikipedia.org.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org