The Nakba of 1948

[Watermelonpower]

Hello everyone
I’m creating this thread because I feel there is not enough awareness about the Nakba of 1948 and the impact this had on the Palestinian people, community and the diaspora that was created as a result. Anyone seeking to understand current events in the Middle East needs to understand The Nakba, what it meant to Palestinians and how the consequences and generational trauma impacts Palestinians to this day. For those who are unaware, 70% of Gaza’s population are Nakba refugees/their descendants.

At the outset I would like to say this thread is about understanding and awareness. Above all, it is about the Palestinian experience and perspective. I would therefore appreciate it if people would keep this in mind and be respectful in their posting, ensuring MN Talk Guidelines are adhered to. I will be also be sharing some personal stories and
suggesting some additional resources and media for those who wish to learn more.

https://www.un.org/unispal/about-the-nakba/

A recent Washington Post article

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/03/israel-nakba-history-1948/

A fact sheet summary

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/JVP-Nakba-Fact-Sheet.pdf

It's so saddening and disappointing that this is never taken seriously, as if these people don't deserve to live in peace

As many Jewish people as those Arabs living in the British Mandate of Palestine also lost their homes and livelihoods in Arab countries, after living there for generations, in 1948. While the Muslims were herded into refugee camps by their fellow Muslims the displaced Jews were taken in by Israel.

During the Nakba, thousands of Palestinians were killed in massacres by Zionist militants. Some of the most well known are listed below (there are others of course, the list is not exhaustive):

Deir Yassine

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/4/9/the-deir-yassin-massacre-why-it-still-matters-75-years-later

Tantura

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNtrUjUNkJw&pp=ygUPVGFudHVyYSB0cmFpbGVy

Lyda

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_expulsion_from_Lydda_and_Ramle

Sharing a personal story from someone I know (posted with their permission)

And another

Hi - thank you for your post but as I have said in my OP, this is about the Nakba, which many view as still ongoing, from a Palestinian perspective.

Whilst Jews in Arab countries also undeniably suffered injustices, Palestinians should not be held responsible for what was done to Jewish Arabs in Iraq, Egypt or others countries.)

@Watermelonpower thanks for all those links. This may sound a bit ignorant but why is this not widely talked about? I've only heard "Nakba" a few months ago and googled it. This is generational trauma, just the sense of helplessness they must feel.

I honestly don’t know. I believe it’s an inconvenient fact to those who sought to position Israel as “a land without a people for a people without a land”. This mantra wasn’t true and yet it was perpetuated to gain support for the establishment of Israel, following the Holocaust. It’s far easier to portray the Palestinian people as simply antisemites who are driven by hatred, rather than to contextualise their struggles and traumas. It becomes far more complex to justify the ongoing occupation and how they have been treated all these years.

FYI in Israel it is illegal to commemorate the Nakba:

https://www.adalah.org/en/law/view/496

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_Law#:~:text=It%20declares%20that%20the%20Minister,of%20racism%2C%20violence%2C%20or%20terrorism

From Wikepedia:

“In 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Mandatory Palestine's Arab population – fled from their homes or were expelled by Zionist militias and, later, the Israeli army during the 1948 Palestine war, following the Partition Plan for Palestine.
The expulsion and flight was a central component of the fracturing, dispossession, and displacement of Palestinian society, known as the Nakba.
Dozens of massacres were conducted by Israeli military forces and between 400 and 600 Palestinian villages were destroyed. Village wells were poisoned in a biological warfare programme and properties were looted to prevent Palestinian refugees from returning”

“The 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions were a continuation of the 1948 expulsion and flight of Palestinian Arabs from Israeli-controlled territory that occurred after the signing of the ceasefire agreements.
This period of the exodus was characterised predominantly by forced expulsion during the consolidation of the state of Israel and ever increasing tension along the ceasefire lines ultimately leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Between 1949 and 1950, according to historian Benny Morris, Israel had displaced and expelled between 30,000 and 40,000 Palestinians and Bedouin.
Many villages along the ceasefire lines and the Lebanon border area were also leveled, many emptied villages were resettled by new Jewish immigrants and demobilized Israeli military forces.
Israel argued this was motivated by security considerations linked with the situation at the borders. During the consolidation period, Israel was more intent on gaining control of the demilitarized zones on the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian fronts than on her image abroad”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_expulsion_and_flight

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949–1956_Palestinian_expulsions

Thank you for a very timely post. I struggle with the paradox that Jewish people whose ancestors last set foot in the Holy Land have “right of return” , but those displaced in 1948 are expected to move to Egypt while the Israelis get , yet again, to keep the land they steal from them by conquest.

Now it appears that Netanyahu hopes to transfer the Gazans to the Congo instead of Egypt

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-in-talks-with-congo-and-other-countries-on-gaza-voluntary-migration-plan/

What happened during the Nakba and what's happening now in Palestine is truly disgraceful. I see a lot of comments mentioning the 7th of October like history started there and then. And no I don't condone the violence that happened on the 7th of October. I dread to think how the cycle of violence WILL for sure continue after the war is over. With the level of trauma the Palestinian kids are living now, there will be retaliation when they're older. But seriously what options do Palestinians have at this point after losing quite literally everything?

Now it appears that Netanyahu hopes to transfer the Gazans to the Congo instead of Egypt
It does appear some factions of the Israeli government would certainly like the ethnic cleansing to continue.

Yes, this is considered one of the greatest injustices for many Palestinians. Some Jewish people argue that all Jews have ancestral ties to the land and therefore anyone born anywhere - even if there is so history in modern times - can “return” to Israel and gain citizenship/ full rights etc. Whereas those Palestinians whose ties are still within living memory are forbidden from doing so.

my own grandmother was born in Jaffa Palestine in 1937. Her father was a landowner there who owned orange farms. They were forced to leave everything behind at gunpoint, and never allowed to return. Her mother (my great grandmother) died when she was a young girl and she was never allowed to return to visit her own mother’s grave. It continued to be a source of pain for her until she passed away some years ago.

Thank you for this thread though. I'll leave this picture here. More than 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced internally so far and are living in uninhabitable conditions.

Thank you for this thread.

Thank you for this, OP. It is so heart breaking to think how much the Palestinians have suffered, and how long.

It's heartbreaking

Thank you for this thread. So important that this history and trauma is not forgotten, as we witness another tragedy unfold in front of us. Heartbreaking.

So you're not giving anyone disputing your assertions about Israel a right to reply? Got it.

,
It’s absolutely pointless to try and rewrite history , the Nakba did Happen all these expulsions and massacres did happen, many towns and villages were illegally taken from people who have lived there for centuries,

I was reading Yesterday about the Semiramis hotel bombings , yesterday marked the event which took place in 1948,
it was carried out by the Haganah group , their excuse was that it was a meeting place for Palestinians gangs, (wonder where I’ve heard this before ) 🙄

So when Palestinians say this has been going on for decades , it’s absolutely true , it’s been going on since the British mandate , a little over a century.

Thanks for this thread

Thank you for this thread
The deir yassin massacre is one of the most horrific things i have read
And yes there certainly is generational trauma. And the likes of Ben Gvir and Smotrich seem to get a sadistic pleasure from repeating that they would like to do the same again

That is the repeat of the nakba