Nakba: The catastrophe that never ended

On 15 May 1948, the Palestinian people endured one of the greatest injustices of the modern era. The Nakba – Arabic for “catastrophe” – marked the beginning of a mass expulsion, as over 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes by Zionist militias during the creation of the state of Israel.

More than 500 villages were entirely depopulated or destroyed, their names erased from the map, their people scattered into a permanent exile.

As we mark Nakba Day, we must confront its living legacy.

What is the Nakba?

The Nakba was not a spontaneous outcome of war – it was a deliberate and well-documented campaign of ethnic cleansing. Long before the official founding of Israel, Zionist leaders had envisioned the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine with as few Palestinians as possible.

In 1947, following the United Nations Partition Plan, which allocated over half the land to a Jewish minority, tensions erupted into violence. Armed Zionist militias such as the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi began systematically attacking Palestinian villages to seize territory and terrorise the native population into fleeing.

In April 1948, the massacre at Deir Yassin – where over 100 Palestinian men, women and children were brutally killed – sent shockwaves through Palestine. The attack was not only brutal but highly publicised, designed to spread fear and hasten the exodus of Palestinians. In cities like Haifa, Jaffa, and Safad, Palestinian residents fled under the threat of violence or after enduring bombardment. Some were driven out at gunpoint, while others were forcibly loaded onto trucks and expelled.

By the time the British Mandate ended and Israel declared independence, the ethnic cleansing was well underway. Israeli forces occupied villages and towns beyond the borders allocated by the UN plan, and massacres, looting, and forced expulsions continued into the early 1950s. Refugees who attempted to return were shot at or arrested, and Israel passed laws that legally barred their return while expropriating their land and property.

The UK and the US swiftly recognised the newly formed Israeli state, while Palestinian refugees were denied their right to return, despite clear guarantees under UN Resolution 194 passed in December 1948. The international community, including Britain, which administered Palestine under the Mandate until 1948, failed in its responsibility to protect the Palestinian people.

The Palestine Land Society have documented the Nakba, especially the depopulation of villages and the land grab in extensive detail, which you can explore here.

The Nakba today

Today, more than 6 million Palestinians remain refugees, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world. Whether in camps across Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank, or under siege in Gaza, they continue to be denied their fundamental rights. As we wrote in our Land Day blog, the dispossession of Palestinians never ended – it has simply evolved.

In 2025, we are witnessing the continuation of the Nakba in real time:

• In Gaza, Israel’s relentless bombardment since October 2023 has displaced nearly 2 million people, wiped out entire neighbourhoods, and rendered large parts of the Strip uninhabitable. As of April 2025, over 52,000 Palestinians have been killed, and many remain buried under the rubble.
• In the West Bank, the past year has seen a record number of home demolitions and settler violence. Entire communities like Ein Samiya and Masafer Yatta have been forcibly evacuated by Israeli forces, echoing the village clearances of 1948.
• The UK and other Western states have continued to send arms and provide diplomatic cover to Israel, despite ICJ rulings in January and May 2024 warning that Israel’s actions in Gaza may constitute acts of genocide.

A call to action

Nakba Day is not only about memory – it is about responsibility. It is about recognising that Britain played a central role in the displacement of Palestinians and must now support justice and return. It is about understanding that the Israeli policies of apartheid, siege, and ethnic cleansing are not anomalies – they are rooted in 1948.

This Nakba Day, we urge you to:

• Write to your MP demanding full recognition of the Nakba and support for the right of return.
• Amplify Palestinian voices – especially those in Gaza and the refugee camps who are posting updates on social media.
• Learn about the boycott of companies complicit in Israeli occupation and settler violence from the BDS Movement.
• Educate others about the ongoing nature of the Nakba and the historical roots of the current crisis.

The Nakba is not over. But neither is the quest for freedom.