5 months ago
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Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle but in many ways pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza.
Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession on Wednesday amidst fear of a repeat of their painful history.
Palestinians refer to the day as the “Nakba,” which is the Arabic word for catastrophe.
Around 700,000 Palestinians – much of the pre-war population – fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 war that followed Israel’s establishment.
Following Israeli victory, Israel refused to allow the Palestinians to return to avoid a Palestinian majority within its borders.
Instead, the group formed a seemingly permanent refugee community with a current population of around 6 million. Most live in impoverished camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli occupied West Bank.
The refugee camps have always been a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
Israel’s rejection of what Palestinians say is their right to return has been a core grievance in the conflict.
The war on Gaza, which started following the October 7 attack on Israel, has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians according to local health officials.
It is by far the deadliest round of fighting in the long conflict.
