The Nakba: How did it happen?
Over seven decades have passed since the Nakba, the Arabic word for "catastrophe," which refers to the events of 1948 that led to the mass displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral homeland. The repercussions of this event have not subsided; they still resonate with more than 12 million Palestinians who remain stateless to this day.
Before the Nakba, historical Palestine was a mosaic of cultures and religions, home to Muslims, Christians, and a smaller Jewish population, coexisting with a relative sense of peace. The rise of anti-Semitic persecution in Europe spurred many Jews to seek a safe haven, culminating in the Zionist movement's goal of establishing a Jewish homeland, with Palestine as its desired location.
The initial phase of realizing this aspiration involved organized emigration of Jews to Palestine and the purchase of land, setting the groundwork for a future Jewish state. It was during World War I, amidst the global upheaval, that the British government issued the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917. This statement endorsed the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine while purporting to preserve the rights of the existing non-Jewish communities.
The end of World War I saw the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled over Palestine for centuries. In the post-war arrangement, Britain was granted a mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations. This mandate period, beginning in 1920, facilitated increased Jewish immigration under British administration, sowing seeds of tension between the Jewish immigrants and the Arab population.
The Palestinian Arab population viewed the growing Jewish presence and British policies as a direct threat to their homeland. This tension erupted into the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939, a nationalist uprising against British colonial rule and Jewish immigration. The revolt was ultimately suppressed by the British, leaving the Palestinian Arabs with diminished political and military capability.
As World War II approached, and with it the revelation of the Holocaust, the urgency for a Jewish homeland became more pronounced. Post-war, Britain, overwhelmed by the complex challenges in Palestine, referred the matter to the United Nations. In 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan to create independent Jewish and Arab states. This proposal was accepted by the Jewish leaders but rejected by the Arab side, who saw it as further encroachment on their rights and land.
In the power vacuum preceding the British withdrawal, Zionist militias took control of strategic locations and carried out operations that led to the mass flight and expulsion of Palestinians, a period marked by violence and fear. The British mandate officially ended on May 14, 1948, and on that same day, the State of Israel was declared, immediately leading to the first Arab-Israeli war.
Though the Arab states surrounding Israel were numerically superior, they were uncoordinated and outmatched by the well-prepared Israeli forces, which were backed by significant international support. By the end of the conflict, Israel had captured territory beyond the proposed UN partition plan, erased over 500 Palestinian villages, and forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Today, Israel's control over historical Palestine persists, with ongoing settlement expansions and differing legal systems for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The latter remains under a stringent blockade, with conditions so dire that it has been projected to become uninhabitable. The Nakba is not just a historical event but an enduring reality for Palestinians, who continue to demand their right to return home. It is a call for the restoration of their dignity and heritage, a call that declares the Nakba will only end when justice prevails.