Nakba

The term Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians that occurred during and after the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. It marks a pivotal event in Middle Eastern history, symbolising the loss of homeland, identity, and property for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The Nakba remains a central element of the Palestinian national consciousness and a point of contention in the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, shaping political discourse, historical memory, and peace negotiations to this day.

Historical Background

The origins of the Nakba can be traced to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of nationalist movements in both Jewish and Arab societies. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the British government, expressed support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then under Ottoman rule. Following the First World War, Britain took administrative control of Palestine under a League of Nations Mandate (1920–1948), during which tensions between Jewish and Arab populations intensified.
By the 1940s, increasing Jewish immigration, especially in response to the Holocaust, led to heightened conflict over land and sovereignty. The United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 proposed dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international administration. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, while Arab leaders rejected it, viewing it as a violation of the rights of the indigenous Arab majority.
When the State of Israel was declared on 14 May 1948, neighbouring Arab states invaded, marking the beginning of the first Arab-Israeli War. It was during this period that the Nakba unfolded, resulting in widespread displacement and devastation across Palestinian communities.

The Displacement of Palestinians

Between 1947 and 1949, an estimated 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinians—more than half of the Arab population of Mandatory Palestine—were forced to flee or were expelled from their homes. Over 400 villages were depopulated or destroyed, and many towns were emptied of their Arab inhabitants. Refugees fled to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, where several generations have since lived in exile.
The causes of this mass displacement remain debated among historians. Israeli narratives often attribute it to voluntary flight or the chaos of war, while Palestinian and many international scholars emphasise systematic expulsions, destruction of villages, and acts of intimidation carried out by Zionist paramilitary groups such as the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi.
The Deir Yassin massacre in April 1948, in which over 100 Palestinian civilians were killed, became a symbol of fear and a catalyst for further flight. After the war, the new Israeli government enacted laws such as the Absentees’ Property Law (1950), which legally transferred abandoned Palestinian land to the state, preventing refugees from reclaiming their properties.

Humanitarian and Political Consequences

The Nakba created one of the world’s longest-standing refugee crises. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established in 1949 to provide assistance, education, and healthcare to displaced Palestinians. By the early 21st century, the number of registered Palestinian refugees had exceeded five million, many still living in camps across the Middle East.
The Nakba also marked the beginning of a fragmented Palestinian national identity. Deprived of statehood, Palestinians sought to preserve their collective memory and political aspirations through resistance movements, literature, and education. The event became a unifying symbol of injustice and struggle for self-determination, influencing the rise of organisations such as the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the 1960s.

Memory, Commemoration, and Historical Narratives

Each year on 15 May, Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day, a day of mourning, remembrance, and political demonstration. Public gatherings, speeches, art exhibitions, and marches are held in Palestinian territories and across the diaspora to honour lost villages and families, assert the right of return, and reaffirm the demand for justice.
The memory of the Nakba remains deeply contested. In Israeli society, the 1948 war is largely remembered as the War of Independence, celebrated as the birth of the Jewish state after centuries of persecution. Conversely, Palestinians view the same events as the destruction of their homeland and the beginning of their statelessness. Efforts to reconcile these narratives are hindered by political tensions, educational censorship, and divergent interpretations of history.

The Right of Return and International Law

A central issue stemming from the Nakba is the Palestinian right of return. This principle, upheld by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), states that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace should be permitted to do so. However, successive Israeli governments have opposed large-scale repatriation, arguing it would undermine Israel’s Jewish demographic majority.
Negotiations in various peace processes, including the Oslo Accords (1993) and subsequent summits, have failed to produce a lasting resolution to the refugee question. Proposals have ranged from limited repatriation and compensation to resettlement in a future Palestinian state. The issue remains one of the most sensitive and unresolved elements in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Cultural and Academic Perspectives

The Nakba has inspired extensive cultural, literary, and academic engagement. Palestinian poets such as Mahmoud Darwish and novelists like Ghassan Kanafani used their works to articulate themes of exile, loss, and identity. In visual arts and cinema, filmmakers have depicted the enduring impact of displacement on generations of Palestinians.
In academia, the study of the Nakba gained new attention through the emergence of Israeli “New Historians” in the 1980s, such as Ilan Pappé, Benny Morris, and Avi Shlaim, who re-examined archival records and challenged official Israeli accounts of 1948. Their research revealed evidence of organised expulsions and deliberate destruction of Palestinian villages, reshaping international understanding of the events.

Continuing Legacy

The Nakba’s repercussions are still visible today in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The division of Palestinian territories, continued settlement expansion, and restrictions on refugees’ rights are direct legacies of the 1948 displacement. The event’s remembrance serves not only as a historical reflection but also as a political statement asserting the continuity of Palestinian claims to homeland and justice.