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To stick with the origins of the conflict, recap of the Nakba, which is now being repeated in full view.
Ilan Pappé: The Untold Truths of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba
In this statement, delivered at the UN Forum on the Question of Palestine in 2017, Ilan Pappé delves into the events of 1948 that led to the Palestinian Catastrophe. He begins by recounting the role of the United Nations, which appointed the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) in 1947. This committee, comprising members who were largely unfamiliar with the region, "totally misunderstood either the Palestinian position or the general Arab League position on the Palestine question."
Pappé explains how the Jewish community in Palestine initiated a process of ethnic cleansing in early 1948, even before the end of the British Mandate on May 15. By April, over 150,000 Palestinians had been expelled from urban areas, with the massacre at Deir Yassin on April 9 exemplifying the brutality of these expulsions. By the time Arab nations intervened on May 15, 250,000 Palestinians were already refugees. Pappé highlights the systematic destruction of Palestinian villages, stating that "half of Palestine's population was expelled, half of Palestine's villages were demolished, and most of the Palestinian towns were wiped out."
He concludes by emphasizing the need for acknowledgment, accountability, and acceptance in any peace process. Pappé asserts that the international community must recognize the "catastrophe of 1948" and hold Israel accountable for the ethnic cleansing that occurred. Only through this acknowledgment can there be hope for a just resolution and acceptance of Israel as part of the Middle East. "The Israelis can ask both the Palestinians and the Arab world to accept them as an organic part of Palestine," he states, envisioning a future where past wrongs are addressed and true peace can be achieved.
To mark the anniversary of the 1948 War and subsequent uprooting and mass displacement of Palestinians, known in Arabic as Al-Nakba (the Catastrophe), the Committee convened the UN Forum on the Question of Palestine "70 Years after 1948 – Lessons to Achieve a Sustainable Peace" on 17-18 May 2018.
How Palestinians were expelled from their homes
Around the time that Israelis celebrate Independence Day, Palestinians commemorate “The Nakba,” or “The Catastrophe.” The Nakba was a series of events, centered around 1948, that expelled hundreds of thousands Palestinians from their homeland and killed thousands. The Nakba isn’t the beginning of the story, but it’s a key part of Palestinian history — and the root of Israel’s creation.
Prior to the Nakba, Palestine had a thriving population — largely made up of Arabs — that had lived and worked the land for centuries. But with the founding of Zionism, years of British meddling, and a British pledge to help create a Jewish state in Palestine — things began to change drastically. By 1947, with increasing tensions between Jewish settlers and Palestinian Arabs — the British left Palestine, and the UN stepped in with a plan to partition the land into two states. What followed was known as Plan Dalet: operations by Israeli paramilitary groups that violently uprooted Palestinians. An estimated 15,000 Palestinians were killed, more than 500 villages were decimated, and roughly 750,000 Palestinians displaced.
Most who were expelled from their homes couldn’t return to historic Palestine. And today, millions of their descendants live in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank and surrounding countries. The history of the Nakba has been deliberately concealed and often ignored in western narratives around the creation of Israel. In this episode of Missing Chapter, we break down how the Nakba happened — and how it defined the future of Palestine.
