Never forget the Nakba

The Nakba occurred 76 years ago today. Nakba means catastrophe. In 1948 Zionist settlers attacked and expelled 750,000 Palestinians from Palestine. Over 400 villages were destroyed. The racist, settler colonialist state of Israel came in being.

The expulsion of Palestinians and settlement by Zionists had long been planned. Zionists were in Palestine before the Second World War. Since 1948 the Palestinians have had to endure hatred, ethnic cleansing and murder in the apartheid state of Israel.

In 1990, Nelson Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress, who had fought against apartheid in South Africa said :

“If one has to refer to any of the parties as a terrorist state, one might refer to the Israeli government, because they are the people who are slaughtering defenseless and innocent Arabs in the occupied [Palestinian] territories, and we don’t regard that as acceptable.” 

Now Palestinians are facing a genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Netanyahu and the IOF. This has been going on for seven months and is the latest phase of the horrors inflicted on Palestinians by the Zionist occupiers. Complicit in this massacre are the USA, UK, EU and other western powers, and, of course, the mainstream western media.  At least 35,000 'citizens' of Gaza have been killed, including 15,000 children. Those are the quoted figures, but the real death toll is probably much worse.

Many decent people around the world are calling for a permanent ceasefire and the restoration of food, water and power to the people of Gaza, who are facing starvation - one of Israel's many war crimes. Peaceful marches have been held around the world calling for a ceasefire. Students in universities in the USA, UK, Europe and Asia have set up peaceful encampments calling for a ceasefire and their institutions to divest from Israel. Many of these protests have been met with brutal police violence and repression, but the protestors remain firm. 

Expelled Palestinians flee from their country in 1948

We must continue the fight to end the horrors in Gaza and the West Bank. We must have a ceasefire now and to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza get the humanitarian aid and medical help that they need. We need an end to the slaughter. Please keep working for this end. You can get involved by supporting the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign here.