The Everlasting Effects of the Nakba

Regarding Economy, Agriculture and Politics

Palestinian socio-economy is till this day shattered due to the effects of the Nakba. The major effects at hand is the social distraught as villagers in different parts of Palestine were forced into fleeing their homes, upsetting the very basis of being able to feel safe and protected. Such a right is mentioned in the Universal declaration of Human rights, Article 3 stating that ‘Everyone has the right to live, to be free and to feel safe.’ Unfortunately we find that this right has in fact been breached as the land they once roamed so freely in, feeling safe, taken from them. How is it fair that we are applicable to this right – yet humans similar to us simply divided by water are somehow exempt from it?

The 500 villages that the Palestinians left behind, with the belief that they may one day return with their families, were destroyed by the Israeli authorities. Not only shattering the previous homes to numerous families, but along with it the very hope that they may one day be able to return and establish the society that they had previously worked so hard to build.  The amount of land lost by the Palestinians is immense and prevalent till this very day. As if this loss was not enough, it was found that an exceedingly large amount of moveable property once owned by the citizens was also lost, due to the move that they were forced to make.

Agriculture too was majorly impacted as farmers were – and still are – separated from the land that they had once the freedom to nurture, the infrastructure of Palestinian agriculture ruined. The land seizures have increasingly led to the neglect of the crops. There was once a time in Palestinian history in which their nurtured land was one of the best, so much so that poetry and  literature would be dedicated to it. Their identity and culture surrounded agriculture for it was such an essential part of their identity. How would you feel to be robbed of your identity?

Communities that had once run on the produce of the land, suffering. By the downfall regarding the Land of the Palestinians society too suffered. This is due to the heavy link between agriculture and the food industry which too suffered heavily from the losses. A culture, once food orientated in the sense that it was a crucial aspect of their community seized.

Zaynab, 15, London, Interpal Volunteer