Nakba 2.0: The Catastrophe continues

LAST Thursday, May 15 marked Nakba Day - a solemn commemoration of the 1948 catastrophe, during which more than 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes following the establishment of the colonial-settler “State” of Israel.

- SOZARN BARDAY

Seventy-seven years later, the Nakba is not a closed chapter in history - it remains a brutal and ongoing reality. In both Gaza and the West Bank, Israel’s military onslaught has revived the original trauma of displacement.

In Gaza, relentless bombardment has decimated entire neighbourhoods, forcing over 2.4 million people into repeated, desperate flight. Families cling to survival in makeshift shelters, often bombed again, starved of food and water - reduced to eating grass and carrying what little they can.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israeli officials have openly advocated for the complete depopulation of Gaza, calling for the permanent expulsion of its Palestinian population.

Meanwhile, the West Bank - under Israeli military occupation since 1967 - remains a landscape of daily repression. Refugee camps are raided and dismantled.

Residents endure constant surveillance, arbitrary detention, and are often subjected to physical and sexual abuse ~ including rape - living under conditions that strip them of dignity and basic rights.