Nakba

Literally, the “Catastrophe” in Arabic; a term Palestinians use to refer to the deliberate and systematic expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinians from Mandate Palestine by Zionist militias (and later, the Israeli army) and the establishment of Israel in 1948. The mass expulsions and flight for safety were accompanied by the depopulation and destruction of more than 400 towns and villages across Palestine, the property confiscation of those who had been ethnically cleansed from their homeland, and the passage of laws banning their return. Palestinians commemorate the depopulation of Palestine (Nakba Day) on May 15, the day after Israel proclaimed its independence, but they also view the Nakba as an ongoing process, not a time-limited event.