NAKBA DAY (1948)
Categories: Anniversary, Civil Rights, Military, Legal& Real Estate
Location: Worldwide
Type of Event: Daily Event
Updated: May 15, 2024
Location: Worldwide
Type of Event: Daily Event
Updated: May 15, 2024
About International Nakba Day
Al Nakba, or the Catastrophe, is the Palestinian equivalent to the Trail of Tears in America which represented the rounding up and forced ethnic cleansing of Native Americans off their own land and homes into federally designated reservations for containment and control by a state military.
Only Nakba didn’t happen 150 years ago. It happened in 1948 and it is still happening today.
The tradition for Nakba is to hold marches in the streets where Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, carry the deeds to the property they still own but are prohibited from returning to because they are the wrong faith. Each year the international community of support has grown to the point where Nakba events are held in major cities throughout the world, including the United States.
Nakba is the culmination of events, which began in Europe in the 1860s, were codified in 1897 and came to fruition on November 29, 2024 when the United Nations agreed to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Palestinian State. What was given didn’t match the aspirations of those petitioning. On November 30, 2024 the massacres and raids against the indigenous population began. By the time Israel became a state on this day in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims were forced to flee their homes and businesses ahead of terrorist gangs, the most notorious being the Irgun and Stern gangs. Thousands of Christians and Muslims were slaughtered in dozens of massacres, the most notorious being at the village of Deir Yassin in April 1948. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine or Nakba, was an event planned for beginning in the 1920s and vigorously researched and tactically mapped out beginning 1938 according to the diaries, speeches and public records of David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann and other notable leaders of the Zionist movement.
What makes the Nakba unique is not that it happened. Wars happen. People get displaced. International law provides for the repatriation of civilians fleeing war or turmoil. International law says they may return. What makes Nakba unique is that to this day the state of Israel continues to prevent those holding the deeds to their property and keys the right to return nor will it compensate those displaced for their losses. The sole reason they are prevented from returning is because they are the wrong religion. If they were Jewish, they would be given their property back.
During Nakba entire villages were razed to prevent the return of their owners. Laws were put on the books to state that people fleeing terrorist gangs had abandoned their homes. They had not. If this sounds familiar, taking a person’s home and business, evicting families and hunting people down because they’re the wrong faith, it has happened before. In Germany and later Poland, Holland, France and other nations occupied by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Germany has paid and continues to pay reparations to the most notably the Jewish community for what they lost simply because they were the wrong faith.
Unlike Germany, Israel has yet to pay reparations or make any overture to replace the personal property of those it disposessed. As such, the Nakba continues and justice evades. Nakba Day is a day to insist upon ending racism directed at people because of their faith in all areas of the world. It is a time to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, confront racism on this issue and look at hard truths. It is a day of mourning for the catastrophe which created the strife, violence and unrest the world lives with today. The result of Nakba and its continued enforcement is the number one cause of unrest in the Middle East and the underlying factor to the realities on the ground and the end of nearly 500 years of peaceful cohabitation between all three faiths of the book.
Only Nakba didn’t happen 150 years ago. It happened in 1948 and it is still happening today.
The tradition for Nakba is to hold marches in the streets where Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, carry the deeds to the property they still own but are prohibited from returning to because they are the wrong faith. Each year the international community of support has grown to the point where Nakba events are held in major cities throughout the world, including the United States.
Nakba is the culmination of events, which began in Europe in the 1860s, were codified in 1897 and came to fruition on November 29, 2024 when the United Nations agreed to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Palestinian State. What was given didn’t match the aspirations of those petitioning. On November 30, 2024 the massacres and raids against the indigenous population began. By the time Israel became a state on this day in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims were forced to flee their homes and businesses ahead of terrorist gangs, the most notorious being the Irgun and Stern gangs. Thousands of Christians and Muslims were slaughtered in dozens of massacres, the most notorious being at the village of Deir Yassin in April 1948. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine or Nakba, was an event planned for beginning in the 1920s and vigorously researched and tactically mapped out beginning 1938 according to the diaries, speeches and public records of David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann and other notable leaders of the Zionist movement.
What makes the Nakba unique is not that it happened. Wars happen. People get displaced. International law provides for the repatriation of civilians fleeing war or turmoil. International law says they may return. What makes Nakba unique is that to this day the state of Israel continues to prevent those holding the deeds to their property and keys the right to return nor will it compensate those displaced for their losses. The sole reason they are prevented from returning is because they are the wrong religion. If they were Jewish, they would be given their property back.
During Nakba entire villages were razed to prevent the return of their owners. Laws were put on the books to state that people fleeing terrorist gangs had abandoned their homes. They had not. If this sounds familiar, taking a person’s home and business, evicting families and hunting people down because they’re the wrong faith, it has happened before. In Germany and later Poland, Holland, France and other nations occupied by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Germany has paid and continues to pay reparations to the most notably the Jewish community for what they lost simply because they were the wrong faith.
Unlike Germany, Israel has yet to pay reparations or make any overture to replace the personal property of those it disposessed. As such, the Nakba continues and justice evades. Nakba Day is a day to insist upon ending racism directed at people because of their faith in all areas of the world. It is a time to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, confront racism on this issue and look at hard truths. It is a day of mourning for the catastrophe which created the strife, violence and unrest the world lives with today. The result of Nakba and its continued enforcement is the number one cause of unrest in the Middle East and the underlying factor to the realities on the ground and the end of nearly 500 years of peaceful cohabitation between all three faiths of the book.
PROMOTIONAL DETAILS
Event Sponsor:
Historic Anniversary. See Al-Awda The Palestine Right to Return Coalition for details
Videos
Archbishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna Speaks about the Right of Return from Al-Awda on Vimeo.
This video presents the inspiring speech in Arabic with English subtitles of Archbishop Atallah Hanna as filmed at the Sixth International Annual Al-Awda Convention. The convention was held in Anaheim California May 16-18, 2008 to mark the 60th Year of the Nakba and Struggle to Return.
Archbishop Theodosios "Atallah" Hanna is a distinguished Arab nationalist and spiritual leader for Palestine. He is Archbishop of Sevastia of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is also the designated spokesperson for the Greek Orthodox Church for all of Palestine. The Archbishop is a member of the Arab Nationalist Congress as a representative of Palestine, and has received numerous awards for his work to strengthen Arab unity and for being a powerful spokesperson for the Palestinian cause.
Images
Downloads
Origin of the Israeli Conflict and the Occupation of Palestine
Frequently Asked Questions on the Occupation
Fact Sheet on Nakba
