About International Nakba Day

DESCRIPTION:

Al Nakba, or The Catastrophe, is the Palestinian parallel to the Trail of Tears (1838-39) in America. The Trail of Tears represented the rounding up and forced ethnic cleansing of Native Americans off their own land and homes onto federally designated reservations for containment and control by a federal military. It continues to be, with slavery and the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, one of the most shameful events in American history.

With the advent of the Geneva Conventions, Hague Conventions and other agreements, the Trail of Tears would be prosecuted as Crime Against Humanity today. If it occurred during a war or occupation, it would also be a War Crime. These international agreements did not exist in 1838.

Nakba, the forced expulsion of 700,000 people, their ongoing discrimination, prohibition from returning to their homes and confiscation of their property without compensation didn’t happen 150 years ago. Nakba began November 30, 1947 and continues today.

NAKBA HISTORY

Nakba is the culmination of events, which began in Europe in the 1860s through a nationalist movement that later became known as Zionism. The people who support this idea are called Zionists and can be of any faith, though most are either Christian or Jewish. The Zionist ideals were codified in 1897 and came to fruition on November 29, 1947, when the United Nations agreed to partition Palestine into an Israeli and Palestinian State.

Unfortunately for the Palestinians, what was given didn’t match the aspirations of those petitioning. They wanted it all, without the people. Over the next year and a half, Jewish terrorists, and later the Israeli army (upon statehood) would expand the land given them by the United Nations three-fold.

On November 30, 1947 the massacres and raids by Jewish terrorist gangs commenced against the indigenous population, (Palestinians). The British, whom were still in control of Palestine, turned a blind eye and let it happen. By the time Israel became a state on May 15, 1948, hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims were forced to flee their homes and businesses ahead of these gangs, the most notorious being the Lehi/Stern, and Irgun gangs. Most of Israel's future leaders would come from these groups.

Thousands of Christian and Muslim men, women and children were slaughtered in dozens of massacres leading up to and after the creation of the state of Israel. The most notorious being at the village of Deir Yassin in April 1948. During this period, from November 30, 1947 to May 14, 1948, the Palestinians were completely alone. They had no military and had expected a peaceful transition of power. The Zionists were just the next group in charge, they thought. What about the other countries in the region? Wasn't defenseless Israel under attack? No. The Arab armies would not defend the Palestinians during this period; doing so would require attacking Britain. Even once Israel was declared a state on May 15, 1948, these armies would not cross the border of the new state defined by the United Nations. The battles, for which the Zionists possessed superior weaponry and numbers, took place in the lands Israel was taking, not those granted by the United Nations. The Zionists had been collecting weapons for over ten years and smuggling them in. The end of World War II increased weapons quality and availability.

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine, or Al Nakba, was an event planned for beginning in the 1920s and vigorously researched and tactically mapped out beginning 1938 according to the diaries, speeches and public records of Zionist leaders David Ben-Gurion, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann and others. Dr. Illan Pappe maps this out in full detail in his book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine".

During Nakba, entire villages were razed to prevent the return of their owners. Laws were put on the books declaring Palestinian villages 'military zones' to prevent their owners from returning. After three years of military zoning, additional laws were put on the books declaring land not occupied for three years became the property of Israel. Laws, terror and guns are how the people of Palestine became refugees in their own country. Today, as a policy of cultural erasure, many of those razed villages are covered with pine trees and turned into Jewish-only parks, many of which are reached on Jewish only roads from Jewish only housing developments.

NAKBA: A UNIQUE EVENT IN MODERN HISTORY

What makes the Nakba unique is not that it happened. Wars happen. People get displaced. International law provides for the repatriation of civilians fleeing war or turmoil. International law says they may return; if that is not possible, they must be compensated.

What makes Nakba unique is that it continues. The sole reason Palestinians were prevented from returning to their homes and property is because they are the wrong religions under Israeli law. They are Christian or Muslim, predominantly, but also Druze, atheist, Buddhist and other faiths.

Faith. That’s it. That’s the reason.

There are currently nearly 70 laws on Israel's books explicitly discriminating against non-Jewish persons in all areas of life. If Palestinians were Jewish, (and many are. Palestine is a region, not a race), they would be given their property back, and in many cases large living subsidies. But, they're not Jewish.

Another difference between Nakba and other historical genocides, holocausts and ethnic cleansing campaigns, is accountability. Unlike Germany, Israel has yet to admit what it has done, pay reparations or make any overture to replace the personal, business and community property of those it dispossessed in 1948, in 1967 and continuing through today. Rather, the destruction continues and escalates, and the rest of the world continues to pay for Israel's discriminatory practices and occupation.

Nakba continues through siege, displacement, occupation and apartheid. This situation is now over seventy years in length, 5 times longer than the Nazi party ruled Germany and 11 times longer than the Holocaust.

MARKING THE EVENT

The tradition for Nakba is to hold marches in the streets where Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, carry the deeds to the property they still own, but are prohibited from returning to because they are the wrong faith. Each year the international community of support has grown to the point where Nakba events are held in major cities throughout the world, including the United States.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Nakba Day is a day to insist upon ending racism directed at people because of their faith in all areas of the world.

It is a time to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, confront racism on this issue and look at hard truths.

It is a day of mourning for the catastrophe, which created the strife, violence and the unrest the world lives with today.

The best thing you can do for Nakba is learn your history, make sure your friends know about it and why it must end. The only reason it continues is because, primarily the United States, but also the United Kingdom, Australia and European Union, continue to provide public relations, diplomatic, financial and military cover for the state of Israel. These nations all hold civil rights in esteem, and covering this up is contrary to the values of each. Your religion shouldn't determine your value as a person. When the people of these nations insist Israel uphold its pledge to the United Nations on November 29, 1947, a condition of statehood, to treat all people equally and with respect, regardless of faith, origin or race, policies will change and Nakba will end.