The Palestinian Nakba
Preface In one of the introductory chapters to his book, Six Days, the journalist Jeremy Bowen describes the Nakba of 1948 like this; “A society that had grown up over more than a thousand years was destroyed and Ǥ ƪ for reasons that civilians do in all wars, to save their lives and protect their children and also because, in some places, Israel practised what is now called ethnic cleansing.” Between 600,000 and 700,000 Palestinians were made refugees by the summer of 1949. A few managed to rebuild their lives and prosperity elsewhere. Most were left destitute and ended up in refugee camps. “The Palestinian refugees’ children, grandchildren and great grandchildren,” argues Bowen, “became the foot soldiers in the Middle East’s long war.” The collective memory of the Nakba is as real for Palestinians as the collective memory of centuries of oppression and dispossession is real for Jewish people around the world. The pain which Palestinians across the world will experience on the 60th anniversary of the Nakba will be just as real as the pride which Israelis will feel on the simultaneous 60th anniversary of the birth of their state in the land of Palestine.
you that the central thing they demand is recognition. Recognition of what happened to their families and their homes; Recognition that they are not simply an inconvenient side-issue in the Middle East; Recognition they have a voice that should be heard; Recognition that they have rights like anyone else. If the world’s leaders - and particularly Israel - took that step of ƥ that Palestinian refugees have rights, agreement on what steps should now be taken in practice to resolve the situation may be far less complicated or threatening than many believe. The greater danger and the continuing tragedy lies in refusing to face up to the issue. ơ Ǥ ƪ ơ Ǧ child hit by a Qassam rocket in Sderot, or the mother of a Palestinian child killed by an Israeli missile strike on Gaza City. A just solution to the refugee question could be one of the keys to ensuring that Palestinian and Israeli mothers in future do not have to experience similar anguish. Richard Burden MP Chair, Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group
Today, recognising the right of Israelis to retain and live in peace in the state that their parents and grandparents created in 1948 is rightly regarded as a pre-requisite to any lasting peace in the region. Yet, all too often, the Nakba is barely talked about. Even mentioning it can attract the accusation that you are undermining the search for peace or threatening the existence of the state of Israel. It should not mean either of these things. Talk to Palestinian refugees and they will tell
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