“This year, the anniversary of the 1948 Nakba comes at a critical moment. Israel is threatening a full-scale military offensive against the 1.5 million Palestinian people who are currently trapped in Rafah.”
By Peter Leary, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Every year, in the days surrounding 15 May, we mark the Nakba, commemorating the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland in 1947/8. Over 500 Palestinian cities and villages were destroyed in the process.
None of this is merely history: 76 years on, Israel’s violence and oppression against the Palestinian people has not stopped. A majority of Palestinians are still refugees, despite the repeated insistence of the UN General Assembly and Security Council that their right of return must be respected. Those who were themselves displaced, and the children and grandchildren of Palestinians driven from their homes in 1948, make up 70% of the population of the Gaza Strip who for more than seven months have endured Israel’s genocidal onslaught.
This year, the anniversary of the 1948 Nakba comes at a critical moment. Israel is threatening a full-scale military offensive against the 1.5 million Palestinian people who are currently trapped in Rafah. Many of those who are now in Rafah have already been uprooted several times since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and over seven months of persistent bombing has ensured that there is nowhere else safe for them to go. In response, across the world, the solidarity movement is gaining new strength and determination.
Humanitarian workers in Rafah are clear that any Israeli ground offensive would inflict further catastrophic consequences on those who have sought refuge there. The World Health Organisation has warned that a military assault ‘could lead to a bloodbath’ while according to UNICEF there are currently 600,000 children taking shelter in the city, many of whom are already ‘injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized, or living with disabilities’. Last week, Israel seized the Rafah crossing and cut off aid and fuel distributions to Gaza.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry announced that the health system is a few hours away from collapse due to lack of fuel. Even those Western governments that have fully backed Israel’s genocidal violence until now are forced to admit that such action would be a grotesque violation of international law.
The British government has a moral and legal responsibility to take urgent steps to ensure that catastrophe in Rafah is averted. That includes demanding an immediate ceasefire, but it is also clear that belated calls for restraint are nowhere near enough. By refusing to put a complete stop to arms exports, western politicians – in Britain, Europe, and above all the United States – are directly complicit in Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.
In response to Israel’s unfolding genocide, and also to this western complicity, we must continue to escalate our solidarity. The past two weeks have seen the inspiring student encampments that started in the USA spread to British universities. Alongside demands for boycott, divestment, and sanctions, we must continue to take to the streets in our hundreds of thousands and increase the pressure on the government.
The anniversary of the Nakba provides a moment for us to raise awareness of the true context to Israel’s current genocidal actions, to reaffirm our demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and to take inspiration from the decades of Palestinian resistance to exile, occupation and apartheid. In the face of incredible hardships, Palestinians continue to demand their freedom and self-determination. The struggle of the Palestinian people continues to inspire millions who believe in the universal principles of freedom and justice around the world.
The national demonstration this Saturday – 18 May – will be the fourteenth march for Palestine in London since October and part of a Global Day of Action involving hundreds of cities and spanning all six continents. It will be led by a cohort of British Palestinians carrying symbolic keys to signify the enduring Palestinian right to return to their homeland.
With Israel threatening further horrific violence in Rafah, the call for solidarity is growing louder and more urgent. Join the national demonstration in London this Saturday to commemorate the ongoing Nakba, to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to all arms sales to Israel, and to add your voice to the growing global movement for freedom and justice for all of the Palestinian people.
- The Nakba 76: National Demonstration for Palestine takes place this Saturday (May 18th), assembling at 12PM at the BBC Portland Place, W1A.
- Peter Leary is currently the Deputy Director of Campaigns for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
- You can follow Peter on Twitter/X here; and follow PSC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
