Palestinians commemorated the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” of 1948, when hundreds of thousands of people were expelled from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel as Israeli forces continued their assault on Gaza.
The Nakba was one of the defining experiences for Palestinians, helping to shape their national identity.
This year’s commemoration was dominated by the plight of more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom live in temporary shelters or tents after being displaced from their homes by Israel’s war on the territory.
Israel’s more than seven-month-old military assault, which has left much of the Gaza Strip a wasteland of rubble and destroyed buildings, has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the population, according to the Gaza authorities, raising fears of a second Nakba. in which they would be forced out of Gaza altogether.
The commemoration of Nakba Day on May 15 marks the start of the 1948 war, when neighboring Arab states attacked Israel a day after the new state declared independence following the withdrawal of British forces from Palestine.
The fighting lasted months and cost thousands of lives. More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in what is now Israel, most to makeshift camps like those currently occupied by displaced people from Gaza.
Over the years, dozens of refugee camps have transformed into densely built townships spread across the Middle East, where the 1948 refugees and their descendants make up nearly half of the total Palestinian population.
More than 5.9 million Palestinians are currently registered as refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, according to United Nations figures, in addition to a diaspora across the world.
Protests marking the anniversary of the Nakba took place around the world, with thousands of people marching and waving Palestinian flags.
