Currently Online 
Palestinians say they face a second Nakba, but this time they are alone
Palestinians have been marking 76 years since the Nakba – the forced displacement of Palestinians in 1948.
Back then, all Arab countries were united against Israel. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say the ongoing war in Gaza and military expansion in the West Bank are clear evidence of a second Nakba. But this time, they are facing it alone.
Some recall the first Arab-Israeli war, where people from all walks of life fought and died for Palestine in 1948.
Adeeb Nazzal, from Qabatiya, said Iraqi soldiers had fought heroically side by side with Palestinians against Zionists in that war.
“Nowadays [Arab armies] have no say. Everyone is on their own. Everyone wants [to preserve] their own interests,” he said.
Palestinians flee from an unidentified village in Galilee some five months after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948
Palestinians suffering similar fate as ancestors during ‘Nakba’
Today marks the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian “Nakba”, which marks the period in 1948 in which at least 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their towns and villages and at least 15,000 killed by Israeli militias.
That brings us to the new reality Israel has set since October 7. We are experiencing similar situations. We are talking about more than 1.5 million Palestinians forcibly displaced from their homes and more than 70 percent of Gaza’s residential units completely destroyed. The entire Strip is no longer suitable for human habitation. Palestinians are living in tents out in the open.
The new reality that Israel has created reminds us of what our Palestinian ancestors went through in 1948. Palestinians did not expect to one day meet the same fate as their ancestors.
Palestinians mark 76 years since the Nakba
Palestinians are marking 76 years since their forced displacement by Israeli forces in 1948, in an event known as the Nakba, or catastrophe. They say Israel’s continuing war on Gaza and the military expansion in the occupied West Bank are clear evidence that a second Nakba is happening today.
But unlike it 1948, when militaries from across the Arab world supported Palestine, this time they are facing the Nakba alone.
Palestinians decry lack of Arab support on Nakba Day
Palestinian historian Saleh Abd al-Jawad has told Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank that Israel’s actions today are even more violent than during the Nakba in 1948.
Currently, he said, “the killing is from one side”. “There is a civilian population killed with the most sophisticated American weapons, day and night. Minute by minute.”
During the first Nakba, 13,000 Palestinians died over three years. Since October 2023, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
“In the West Bank, we’ve seen multiple raids and killings. There is an active genocide in Gaza,” Jenin Anzawi, from Jenin refugee camp, told Al Jazeera.
Mohammad Abu Ameera, also from Jenin refugee camp, said now Palestinians do not have the support of their Arab neighbours. “Gaza is at war by itself, it is fighting by itself, being slaughtered by itself,” he said, adding that Arab countries’ armies are not used to fight another country but instead are “used against their own people”.
Palestinian PM on Nakba Day: ‘We will not kneel’
On Nakba Day, Palestinian PM Mohammad Mustafa says Israel’s attacks on Gaza will not push Palestinians out of their land. In his remarks, he stressed that:
- Palestinians remain committed to their homeland despite Israel’s continuous attempts to displace them.
- Israel’s intensifying attacks in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, will not push Palestinians to “kneel, surrender, or leave”.
- Growing global support for the Palestinian cause challenges Israel’s narrative and brings Palestine closer to achieving statehood.
Sirens sound throughout Palestinian territories to commemorate the Nakba
Sirens have gone off throughout Palestinian cities for 76 seconds, marking the 76 years that have passed since the “Nakba” in 1948.
As the sirens went off in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, “everyone fell silent and raised two fingers in the air” reports Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, from the city where a large crowd has congregated in the streets for the occasion.
It is “a very clear sign that there can only be peace in victory and that only victory will bring peace”, said Basravi.
Amnesty says Palestinians’ right of return endures 76 years on from Nakba
Israel’s ongoing displacement of nearly two million Palestinians in Gaza highlights its historic denial of Palestinians’ legal right of return, said Amnesty International in a statement marking the Nakba.
“This Nakba day the fate of Palestinians is more perilous than ever – dispossessed and subjected to systematic human rights violations under a brutal occupation – with those in Gaza also facing the imminent risk of genocide and grappling with famine,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara Rosas.
“That’s why today, it is more important than ever to make a resounding call for Palestinians’ right to return and to remind the world that Israel has been denying them this legitimate right, in flagrant violation of international law, for more than 76 years.”
Essay Pro