Nakba didn’t end in 1948; Palestinians still suffering from dispossession, apartheid: Activists

Prominent pro-Palestine activists have taken to Twitter from different corners of the world to mark the Nakba Day, saying the “catastrophe” did not stop in 1948 as Palestinians continue to suffer various forms of oppression and apartheid to this day.

Israel proclaimed its illegal existence on May 15, 1948 at the expense of the forced expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland. The day is known among Palestinians as the Day of Nakba, or catastrophe.

Former British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted that the Nakba has been maintained by Israel, and successive Israeli administrations have expropriated Palestinian-owned lands, expanded illegal settlements and severely restricted Palestinians’ freedom of movement.

“The Nakba did not end in 1948 — Palestinians continue to resist a system of colonial dispossession and apartheid,” he tweeted.

He went on to voice his support for the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.

Francesca P. Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, also termed the Nakba as a "defining moment of Palestinians’ collective life, history and still ongoing dispossession."

She pointed out that Israel has entrenched its occupation, and keeps violating Palestinians’ freedom of expression.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, tweeted that the Nakba is not simply something Palestinians commemorate; but rather an ongoing and all-encompassing system that affects all aspects of their lives.

Clare Daly, a member of the European Parliament, also wrote on Twitter that a catastrophe, “the violent beginnings of Israel's occupation,” was visited on the Palestinian people in 1948, and still continues today.

The Irish politician further took a swipe at Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, who had earlier praised Israel’s illegal creation as the realization of “a dream.”

"This is unacceptable and must be condemned," she said.

Maha Hussaini, an award-winning journalist and human rights activist based in Gaza, also said the Tel Aviv regime’s adamant refusal to grant her a permit has not undermined her quest to visit her ancestral home.

Moreover, social media activist Ramy Abdul, citing a report published by the Haaretz newspaper, revealed that Israel's first prime minister David Ben-Gurion ordered that Palestinian wells be poisoned during the Nakba to prevent people from return.

Wells in Acre, Gaza, Beersheba, Ariha, Galilee, Bedouin, & al-Quds were poisoned, he wrote, adding, Zionist gangs spread germs that caused typhus and dysentery.

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