by Nurah Tape,

What does 77 years of Nakba mean for Palestinians today — and why does dispossession still continue?

May 15 marks the 77th anniversary of the Nakba — the destruction of historic Palestine, the catastrophe of dispossession, and the mass ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population in 1948, which continues to this day.

The Arabic word ‘Nakba’ means ‘catastrophe’, with this day designated as Nakba Day.

The Balfour Declaration

The Balfour Declaration, a pledge by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in November 1917, is regarded as one of the main catalysts for the Nakba.

The pledge came in the form of a letter written on behalf of the British government by the then Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter Rothschild, “a figurehead of the British Jewish community, for circulation among the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland,” according to the Geneva International Center for Justice (GICJ).

The “declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations” for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” marked the beginning of injustice against the Palestinian people.

“For the declaration of the British government promised the Zionist movement a country that did not belong to it, thus ignoring the political and national rights of the resident Palestinian population,” GICJ said in a statement in 2017 marking 100 years since the Balfour Declaration.

“The dire consequences of the Balfour Declaration continue to affect the Palestinian people every single day, with the Israeli occupation of Palestine since 1967 constituting the longest-lasting military occupation in the world,” the statement continued.

 

While Britain did not possess any moral or legal grounds for promising Palestine to the Jewish people as “national home”, a concept that is not entailed in international law, the provision was incorporated in the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine subsequent to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War I (1914-1918), the statement noted.

“An immediate consequence of the Declaration was growing popular support for Zionist aims in Palestine. Two years later, it would serve as basis for the creation of Mandatory Palestine. In 1948, its provisions would materialize in the creation of the State of Israel amidst the dispossession, expulsion, oppression and killing of the indigenous Palestinian population,” GICJ said.

UN Resolution

In November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution partitioning Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with Jerusalem under a UN administration.

The Arab world rejected the plan, arguing that it was unfair and violated the UN Charter, the UN website states.

“Jewish militias launched attacks against Palestinian villages, forcing thousands to flee. The situation escalated into a full-blown war in 1948, with the end of the British Mandate and the departure of British forces, the declaration of independence of the State of Israel and the entry of neighbouring Arab armies. The newly established Israeli forces launched a major offensive. The result of the war was the permanent displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population,” according to the UN.

Mass Displacement

Between 1947 and 1949, a mass displacement occurred in which over 750,000 Palestinians from a population of around 1.9 million were forcibly expelled from their homes by Zionist militias. Some historians put the number to be higher than 800,000.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) puts the figures at between 750,000 and one million, saying that this amounts to approximately 75 percent of all Palestinians.

 

“Almost immediately after the partition plan was passed, the expulsion of Palestinians by Zionist militias began, months before the armies of neighboring Arab states became involved. By the time these militias and the new Israeli army finished, the new state of Israel covered 78% of Palestine. The remaining 22%, comprising the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, fell under the control of Jordan and Egypt, respectively. In the 1967 War, the Israeli military occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, which Israel began colonizing shortly afterwards,” the IMEU states on its website.

 

Massacres

Between 1947 and 1949, Zionist militias attacked major Palestinian towns and villages, destroying at least 530 villages and committing dozens of massacres, resulting in approximately 15,000 deaths.

They included the Deir Yassin Massacre, Tantura Massacre, and the Beit Daras Massacre.

Before May 15, some massacres had already been committed, including “the Baldat al-Sheikh massacre on December 31, 1947, killing up to 70 Palestinians; the Sa’sa’ massacre on February 14, 1948, when 16 houses were blown up and 60 people were killed; and the Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948,” according to Al Jazeera.

Zionist paramilitaries stormed the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem from various directions, slaughtering at least 107 Palestinians, including women and children.

 

In The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), historian Ilan Pappé writes that “The systematic nature of Plan Dalet is manifested in Deir Yassin, a pastoral and cordial village that had reached a non-aggression pact with the Hagana in Jerusalem, but was doomed to be wiped out because it was within the areas designated in Plan Dalet to be cleansed.”

Plan Dalet is described as the blueprint for Israel’s military operations starting in March 1948, playing a central role in the Nakba.

A week after the declaration of the State of Israel, the fishing village of Tantura, home to about 1,500 Palestinians, was attacked. The exact number of those killed is not confirmed, but reports indicate dozens up to 200, and at least three mass graves have been found there.

 

The 2022 documentary film Tantura based on the evidence uncovered by Israeli researcher Teddy Katz delves into the massacre, while the research agency Forensic Architecture provides detailed information on that massacre.

According to the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, more than 30 documented massacres were committed by Zionist forces during the 1948 war.

“This included 24 massacres in the north (Galilee), 5 massacres in the central area of Palestine, and another 5 in the south,” the Center states on its website.

“Between 80 and 100 men, women, and children were killed in the village of Dawayma on 29 October 1948 after Israeli forces entered the village. Other sources place the figure as high as 300,” the website states.

Massacres continue to this day as witnessed in Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza, such as the ‘Flour Massacres’ in which Israeli forces have opened fire on displaced Palestinians seeking food from aid trucks.

 

The first such massacre occurred on February 29, 2024, when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 were injured. Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians as they approached aid trucks on Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City. The dead and injured were reportedly found soaked in both flour and blood.

Since March 2, Israel has imposed a full blockade on the entry of all aid into Gaza, including water, food and medical supplies. The UN has warned that time is running out as malnutrition and famine-like conditions are becoming a growing concern.

 

The World Health Organization has said that since the aid blockade began last month, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, citing the Ministry of Health.

“If the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months,” the organization said.

1967 Naksa

The Naksa in Arabic meaning ‘the Setback’ refers to the 1967 defeat of an Arab coalition made up of  Egypt, Jordan and Syria in a six-day war with Israel. Over 300,000 Palestinians were displaced from the West Bank and Gaza. It also resulted in the military occupation by Israel of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, continuing to this day.

 

October 7 Resistance Operation

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood described as the “largest and most successful complex qualitative operation in the Arab-Israeli conflict,” by the late spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the operation in which resistance fighters broke through the fence separating besieged Gaza from Israel.

 

Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Tel Aviv then launched a military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which continues to this day and has killed over 52,000 people, wounding more than 118,000, with over 14,000 still missing.

Occupied West Bank

Home to about 3.3 million Palestinians, the West Bank is under ongoing occupation by Israel, with illegal settlements expanding and land grab continuing. About 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in settlements on stolen Palestinian land.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and should be brought to an end “as rapidly as possible.”

The Court also ruled that Israel is under an obligation “to immediately cease all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers” from the occupied land.

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” the 15-judge panel found.

 

According to the Israeli non-governmental organization, Peace Now, 24,258 dunams were declared as “State Land”in 2024 – “approximately half of all the land declared as state land since the Oslo Accords to date.”

“At least 59 new outposts were established, most of them agricultural outposts (“farms”) involved in land grabs and the systematic expulsion of Palestinians from the area,” Peace Now said.

“This is an unprecedented number of new outposts. For comparison, from 1996 to the beginning of 2023, fewer than 7 outposts were established on average each year,” it noted.

In January 2025, Israel launched Operation Iron Wall, primarily targeting the northern West Bank towns of Jenin and Tulkarem and surrounding refugee camps.

 

Since then, over 40,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced, with hundreds of homes demolished by the Israeli army, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

During the same period, 40 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin and 13 killed in Tulkarm and its camps, including a child and two women, one of whom was eight months pregnant.

Diaspora

According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) more than 5 million Palestinian refugees are scattered throughout the Middle East.

 

Today, Palestinians continue to be dispossessed and displaced by Israeli settlements, evictions, land confiscation and home demolitions, the UN states.

ICJ Case

On December 29, 2023, South Africa filed a complaint with the ICJ accusing Israel of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in its military assault on Gaza.

 

Source: https://www.palestinechronicle.com

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