Palestinians mark Nakba day as fears of displacement grow
Police officers stand guard in front of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against Israel to mark the 77th anniversary of the \"Nakba\" or catastrophe, in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
People march to commemorate Nakba day, the \"catastrophe\" of the mass dispossession of the Palestinian territory in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, in Madrid, Spain, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Ana Beltran
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator speaks to a Police officer during a protest against Israel to mark the 77th anniversary of the \"Nakba\" or catastrophe, in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator holds a mock body bag at a protest against Israel to mark the 77th anniversary of the \"Nakba\" or catastrophe, in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against Israel to mark the 77th anniversary of the \"Nakba\" or catastrophe, in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
GAZA/JERUSALEM - Palestinians marked Nakba day on Thursday, commemorating the loss of their land after the 1948 war at the birth of the state of Israel, as Israeli military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have again displaced hundreds of thousands.
The Nakba, or "catastrophe", has been one of the defining experiences for Palestinians for more than 75 years, helping to shape their national identity and casting its shadow on their conflicted relationship with Israel ever since.
The resonance has been amplified by the war in Gaza and the Israeli army's months-long campaign in West Bank refugee camps, where hundreds of thousands of descendants of Palestinians who lost their homes in 1948 have lived for decades.
The war has destroyed large swathes of Gaza and forced most of the more than 2 million people who live there to move multiple times, clinging on in tents or bombed-out houses and other makeshift shelters.
"During all the wars that there have been, there has been nothing like what happened during this war," said Badryeh Mohareb, who lived through the Nakba as a child, when her family fled their home in the seaside city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv to come to Gaza.
The May 15 Nakba day commemoration marks the start of the 1948 war, when neighbouring Arab states attacked Israel a day after the new state declared its independence following the withdrawal of British forces from what was then called Palestine.
The fighting lasted for months and cost thousands of lives, with more than 700,000 Palestinians fleeing their homes or driven away from villages in what is now Israel, most into makeshift camps like the ones now occupied by the displaced of Gaza.
Sitting in front of the ruins of her house in the southern city of Khan Younis, where she moved after she was married, she said two of her grandchildren had been killed and everything she had was lost.
"People are destroyed," she said.
Israel's campaign in Gaza, launched in retaliation for the devastating Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 has been one of the longest, and certainly the most bloody in its history, leaving much of the Gaza Strip barely habitable.
Hardliners in the government, encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for a Gaza emptied of its Palestinian population and converted into a beachside resort, have spoken openly about seizing the entire enclave.
After a two-month truce, Israel resumed its operation in Gaza in March, squeezing the population into an ever-narrowing area against the coast and in the area around Khan Younis as its forces have pressed in from the border zones.
According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, 70% of Gaza is now within the no-go areas set up along the edges of the enclave or in areas under displacement orders by the military and more than 436,000 people have been displaced since March.
WEST BANK
In the West Bank too, Palestinians have been facing growing pressure as Israeli settler violence and the military operations in northern cities like Jenin and Tulkarm have forced tens of thousands from their homes.
"I only took two outfits with me, hoping that it would last for two, three or four days," said Mustafa Abu Awwad, an 88-year-old Palestinian, as he described his hurried departure from the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm in January.
"I move from one area to another... every week or 10 days we move from place to another."
The military moved into the area in January, in a large-scale operation it said was aimed at rooting out militant groups that had become entrenched in refugee camps that have developed into crowded urban townships.
The military has remained ever since, in the longest operation the West Bank has seen since the second Intifada uprising two decades ago, systematically destroying houses, roads and infrastructure.
According to United Nations figures more than 40,000 people in the West Bank have been displaced since the start of the operation, a situation OCHA says could amount to forcible transfer, defined as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
Stripped of their inhabitants, the camps in Jenin and Tulkarm have been reduced to ghost towns with no functioning power, water or other infrastructure, making it increasingly difficult for anyone to return. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
Hong Kong activist challenges China's Tiananmen taboo from exile in Taiwan, Asia News
TAIPEI - Fu Tong and his wife Elaine To were among the first demonstrators in Hong Kong to be charged with rioting in 2020 after pro-democracy and anti-China protests started in 2019 in the former British colony. After leaving for Taiwan, Fu continued his activism and is now preparing to mark this year's anniversary of Beijing's bloody June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in and around Tiananmen Square. Fu has co-hosted a Hong Kong human rights exhibition in Taipei, showcasing artwork from the protest movement, and leads guided tours of the displays. "When Hong Kong can no longer hold the June 4 vigils, and can no longer even mention it, Taiwan's existence becomes very important," Fu, 43, told Reuters in Taipei. "It's one of the very few places in Asia, where people can openly commemorate the accident on June 4, discuss it, and even condemn the Chinese Communist Party. The existence of such a space is already hugely significant," he said. Taiwan is the only part of the Chinese-speaking world where June 4 can be remembered openly, though Chinese communities in the United States, Britain, Australia and other Western countries will also mark it. In Hong Kong, a national security law has outlawed such events, which previously drew tens of thousands of people. Fu says he remains committed to advocating for Hong Kong issues and the values of freedom. "I really feel like I've been chosen to be in this era. If I don't step up to do things that seem foolish and unrewarding, then who will? As long as I can, I'm willing to keep going," he said. Before dawn on June 4, 1989, Chinese tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, crushing weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations by students and workers. China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into thousands. Public discussion of what happened is taboo in China, which blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the ruling Communist Party. [[nid:717396]]
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Nationalist Karol Nawrocki wins Polish presidential election
Mr Nawrocki scored 50.89 per cent of votes in June 1's run-off, the national election commission said. PHOTO: REUTERS WARSAW - Nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki won Poland's presidential election, official results showed on June 2, in a major blow for the country's pro-EU government. The 42-year-old, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, scored 50.89 per cent of votes in June 1's run-off, the national election commission said. His 53-year-old rival Rafal Trzaskowski, Warsaw's pro-EU mayor and an ally of the country's centrist government, won 49.11 per cent in the highly polarised Nato and EU nation. 'Congratulations to the winner!' outgoing conservative President Andrzej Duda said on X. Mr Duda, who had endorsed Mr Nawrocki, thanked Poles for 'carrying out your civic duty' and for the turnout, which was 71.63 per cent. The results followed a tense evening as both candidates had claimed victory when an exit poll indicated they were neck and neck. 'We will win and we will save Poland,' Mr Nawrocki told a crowd of supporters at his election night rally in Warsaw soon after polling stations closed. Mr Nawrocki's win will block the government's progressive agenda for abortion and LGBTQ rights and could revive tensions with Brussels over rule of law issues. It could also undermine strong ties with neighbouring Ukraine as he is critical of Kyiv's EU and Nato accession plans and wants to cut benefits for Ukrainian refugees. Mr Nawrocki visited the White House during his campaign and said he had been told by Mr Trump: 'You will win.' US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also endorsed Mr Nawrocki when she attended a conservative conference in Poland last week, saying: 'He needs to be the next president.' 'Catholic values' Polish presidents have some influence over foreign and defence policy and wield veto power over legislation, which can only be overturned by a three-fifths majority in Parliament, which the government does not have. Reforms planned by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council president who came to power in 2023, have been held up by a deadlock with the current president. Many Mr Nawrocki supporters said they want stricter curbs on immigration and advocate conservative social values and more sovereignty for the country within the European Union. 'Catholic values are important to me. I know he shares them,' Warsaw pensioner Lila Chojecka, 60, told AFP as she came to cast her ballot for Mr Nawrocki. Mr Trzaskowski voters tend to back greater integration within the EU and an acceleration of social reforms. Mr Trzaskowski supports introducing civil partnerships for same-sex couples and easing Poland's near-total ban on abortion. Ms Malgorzata Wojciechowska, a tour guide and teacher in her fifties, said Polish women 'unfortunately do not have the same rights as our European friends'. Dr Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at the University of Warsaw, called the election 'a real clash of civilisations'. Campaign controversies Mr Nawrocki's victory is likely to embolden the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which ruled Poland between 2015 and 2023. Some analysts have predicted it could lead to fresh parliamentary elections if political deadlock with the government persists. Mr Nawrocki's campaign was overshadowed at times by controversies over the circumstances in which he bought an apartment from an elderly man and his football hooligan past. A former amateur boxer, Mr Nawrocki also strongly denied media reports in the last days of the campaign that he had procured sex workers while working as a security guard at a hotel. His opposition to Ukraine's Nato membership also brought heavy criticism from Ukrainian officials. Mr Nawrocki used his last campaign hours on May 30 to leave flowers at a monument to Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II. 'It was a genocide against the Polish people,' he said. Poland is an EU and Nato member and a fast-growing economy of 38 million people with a leading role in international diplomacy surrounding Ukraine. It is also a key supply route for Western arms and aid going into Ukraine. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Polish eurosceptic Nawrocki wins presidential vote, electoral commission says
Electoral commission members count votes of the second round of presidential election, in Lodz, Poland, June 1, 2025. Agencja Stepien via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND. REFILE - CORRECTING LOCATION FROM \"ZAKOPANE\" TO \"LODZ\". Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, backed by the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, gestures after he voted in the second round of presidential election, at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, June 1, 2025. Agencja Kaminski via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND. Electoral commission members count votes of the second round of presidental election, in Lodz, Poland, June 1, 2025. Agencja Stepien via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND. A person holds a placard with a message in support of Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, backed by the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, on the day of the second round of presidential election, in Warsaw, Poland, June 1, 2025. The placard reads: \"Karol Nawrocki, Poles are with you, you will win\". REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, backed by the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, talks to the press after he voted in the second round of presidential election, at a polling station in Warsaw, Poland, June 1, 2025. Agencja Kaminski via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND. WARSAW - Polish nationalist opposition candidate Karol Nawrocki won the second round of the country's presidential election with 50.89% of the votes, the electoral commission said early on Monday on its website. His rival, Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal Warsaw mayor and an ally of the government led by Donald Tusk, got 49.11%. Nawrocki, 42, a eurosceptic historian and amateur boxer who ran a national remembrance institute, campaigned on a promise to ensure economic and social policies favour Poles over other nationalities, including refugees from neighbouring Ukraine. While Poland's parliament holds most power, the president can veto legislation, and the vote was being watched closely in Ukraine as well as Russia, the United States and across the European Union. On social media platform X, current President Andrzej Duda, also a conservative, thanked Poles for going to vote in large numbers. Turnout was 71.31%, the electoral commission said, a record for the second round of a presidential election. "Thank you! For participating in the presidential elections. For the turnout. For fulfilling your civic duty. For taking responsibility for Poland. Congratulations to the winner! Stay strong Poland!" Duda wrote. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
