Every year on May 15 Palestinians commemorate the day in which tens of thousands of civilians were forced out of their homes during the war that led to the creation of the self-proclaimed State of Israel in 1948.

When Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (the catastrophe) on May 15, they are not only remembering a violent historical event that took place 75 years ago which led to the uprooting of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland; Nor just the destruction of more than 400 villages and towns and the killing of thousands others; They are also marking the fact that the Nakba did not end in 1948, but continues in different forms to this day.

This year, the Nakba Day comes amid deadly Israeli airstrikes on besieged Gaza, Jewish mob attacks and other forms of violent tactics imposed by the Zionist forces.

Back in 1948, some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled into refugee camps that still exist in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

Millions of Palestinians, including those displaced with the establishment of Israel, now found themselves having to live under military occupation, as well as further Israeli expansionism in their lands.

For many Palestinians, the Nakba is the first chapter in a process of land grab that began in 1948.

The most important long-term implications of the Nakba for Palestinians have been the loss of their homeland, their transformation into a stateless people, and the fragmentation and marginalization of their national community and leadership. Approximately 4,244,776 acres of Palestinian land were stolen by Israel during and immediately after the establishment of the state in 1948. In the process, more than 400 Palestinian towns were systematically destroyed by Israeli forces or repopulated with Jews.

This relentless land grab continues today through Israel’s illegal settlement policy. Over the past 50 years, Israel has demolished tens of thousands of Palestinian properties and displaced large swathes of the population to build homes and infrastructure to illegally settle its own population in the occupied territories.

In 2022, the West Bank had about 199 settlements and 220 outposts. Within Israel itself, the government continues to promote the ‘Judaization’ of the Galilee and Naqab/Negev, two regions with significant Palestinian Arab and Bedouin populations.