The Nakba (catastrophe) refers to the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes to make way for the state of Israel.
Israel forcibly expelled over half of the Palestinian population, creating 750,000 Palestinian refugees.
78% of Palestinian homeland was stolen and over 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed.
Israel has since denied Palestinians the right to return to their homes.
A deeper dive.
Nakba is Arabic for ‘catastrophe’. It refers to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland. This started in 1948 and it is still taking place today.
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of an ethnic, racial or religious group from a particular area.
In 1948 Israel carried out more than 70 massacres of Palestinians and destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages. 78% of Palestinian homeland was lost and only 15% of Palestinians kept their homes. 750,000 Palestinians became refugees.
On 9th April 1948 Zionists attacked the village of Deir Yassin just outside Jerusalem, murdering 100 Palestinians. There were mutilations, rape, and survivors were paraded through Jewish neighbourhoods before being executed. On 22nd May 1948 Zionists attacked the coastal village of Tantura. The villagers surrendered but 200 Palestinian men were still shot dead on the beach.
In 1967 the rest of Palestine was illegally occupied by Israel. Another 300,000 Palestinians became refugees. Palestinians call this the ‘Naksa’. ‘Naksa’ is Arabic for ‘setback’.
Israel is still ethnically cleansing Palestinians from their homes today. Despite having the Right of Return under international law, there are now more than 7 million Palestinian refugees. More Palestinians live outside their homeland than within it.
Join #TeamFOA today to help end the ongoing Nakba.
