What exactly is the "Nakba"?

May 15, 1948, marks a pivotal moment in Middle Eastern history with the declaration of the State of Israel. On this day, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the Jewish state, which followed the end of the British Mandate and the UN's approval of the partition plan to create separate Jewish and Arab states. This declaration was met with both jubilation in the Jewish community and immediate hostility from neighboring Arab states, leading to the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli War.
The establishment of Israel is celebrated by many Jews around the world as a moment of great national achievement and fulfillment of the Zionist dream. However, this event is also viewed through a different lens by Palestinians and many in the Arab world, who refer to it as the Nakba, meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic. The Nakba represents the mass displacement of Palestinians that occurred as a result of the conflict. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced or fled their homes, and many of their villages were destroyed or depopulated.
Israel was attacked by 6 Arab nations when it declared its independence. The Arab world did not expect it to take too long to achieve their intent to destroy the newly established country and annihilate the Jewish people. To their surprise, Israel won the war although this young nation paid a dear price in the loss of 1% of their small population. The Arabs who fled their homes tried to return to them following the war however they were not able to enter the new country. They became refugees.
It is important to note that over 850,000 Jewish people were expelled from their homes across the Middle East during this transitional time in history. The Newly formed tiny State of Israel, that is about 8000 square miles, absorbed all the Jewish refugees as they fled to their Homeland. They were given citizenship and were no longer refugees.
Unfortunately, the Arab world which is more than 16X the size of Israel, more than 5 million square miles, did not embrace the Palestinian refugees. Instead, they have remained as refugees for 76 years. Many of them have Jordanian or Egyptian citizenship however they have continued to be treated as second class citizens in every Arab nation in the Middle East. In fact, they were persecuted, killed and also exiled from multiple countries including Jordan, Kuwait and Lebanon.
 

The Nakba narrative is a significant part of Palestinian collective memory and identity, highlighting the profound losses and ongoing displacement faced by the Palestinian people. It underscores issues of historical grievance and the struggle for justice and recognition of their plight. However, the blame is placed on the wrong people. Israel is blamed for their “catastrophe” but Israel did not initiate the war that resulted in their displacement.
When Israel declared independence, all the Arabs who lived within its borders were offered citizenship of Israel and all of them have been able to thrive within this democratic country. There are over 2 million Arabs today who enjoy equal rights, education, social services and the ability to live a happy life.
The Nakba narrative only came to being with the establishment of the terrorist organization, the PLO. Under Yasser Arafat’s leadership, this terrorist group popularized this narrative in 1998 while Israel was celebrating its 50th anniversary. The PLO used this “narrative” to incite more hate toward Israel, demonizing the Israeli people and teaching a new generation of Palestinians to focus all their energy on destroying Israel through propaganda, violent uprisings and a distortion of history.
The loss of homes and displacement of people is terrible for anyone. In 1948, there were Arab communities displaced and there were Arab people who fled and could not return. This is absolutely tragic for those people.
However, one must also look at the other side. Many people around the world are displaced during times of war. In 2024, close to 900,000 Venezuelans have been displaced, Yemen has experienced more than 4.5 million people displaced during their war, Myanmar has had close to 30,000 people displaced and how about Sudan war resulting in close to 25 million people displaced or facing starvation.
Furthermore, there were 3 million Jewish refugees from Europe in 1945 after they survived the worst genocide in modern history. There were 6 million Jewish people annihilated and the remaining survivors lost everything. They had no homes to return to and most of them had lost their family members. That was a catastrophe. However, they resettled in other places around the world and moved on, building families, living life, building businesses and contributing to society. They did not use their “catastrophe” as a weapon to justify murdering any other people.
It is time that the Arab world take responsibility for the Palestinian refugees. There shouldn’t be any refugees 76 years later. The role of UNRWA was to help them resettle the way that other refugees around the world resettle in new places. However, UNRWA along with the Arab world has failed them. Instead, the Palestinian people have been in limbo and not been able to move forward. They have been used as political pawns to demonize the State of Israel. They need to place the blame where the blame is due.
The Nakba has been commemorated annually on May 15th, marking the anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, as a day of mourning and reflection on the losses suffered by Palestinians. The day serves as a reminder of the ongoing conflict and the unresolved issues of displacement and refugee status that continue to affect the region. It must not be used to justify the murder of innocent people.  The Nakba can be a commemoration of loss but it must not be a political tool to demonize and delegitimize a sovereign nation.  That would be antisemitism.