1948 – 2025: Still living the Nakba

How were Palestinians displaced?

Displacement occurred in four main stages, carried out according to a Zionist plan based on geographical and demographic considerations.

The first stage began after the UN Partition Plan in November 1947 also known as 181 resolution and witnessed increased attacks by Zionist militias such as the Haganah and Irgun on Palestinian villages and cities, leading to early waves of displacement.
With the adoption of the Zionist ethnic cleansing plan in March 1948, the second stage began, characterized by organized military operations to control the land and displace the population. This was accompanied by massacres such as Deir Yassin and Tantura, which spread terror and led to mass displacement.

Then came the third stage, which was the declaration of the State of “Israel” in May 1948, during which ethnic cleansing operations accelerated to include entire cities and villages such as Lydd, Ramla, and Jaffa.

The fourth stage extended from October 1948 until early 1949, during which Israeli militias completed their occupation of southern Palestine, including Beir Assabe’, Asdood, and al-Majdal, and expelled those who remained, especially the Bedouins.

In the end, about 77% of historic Palestine was occupied, around 90% of its original inhabitants were displaced, and more than 400 villages were reduced to rubble.

And the Nakba continued…

While the term “ongoing Nakba” has long been used to refer to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 by Zionist militias, the Nakba was not a passing historical moment, but an ongoing colonial project.
Its continuity is most clearly manifested today in the Gaza Strip, which is one of the most visible signs of the Nakba’s persistence, where more than one million Palestinians—many of whom were displaced along with their families from their villages and towns 77 years ago—still live.

Gaza, which is the clearest example of the ongoing Nakba, continues to suffer killing, destruction, displacement, and starvation for more than a year and a half. It is as if they are telling the Palestinians that the Nakba has not ended, but deepens day by day, as long as the Zionist project exists.

As for the West Bank, which is fragmented and cut off, more than 40,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes and lands inside refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem in the year 2025 alone, and Palestinian lands, and water resources in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley were confiscated in favor of settlers or for the construction of infrastructure that reinforces the “annexation plan” and serves the expansionist Zionist goals in the rest of Palestine.

How are Palestinian being displaced in Jerusalem today?

In Jerusalem, the extensions of the Nakba appear through various displacement policies aimed at systematically erasing the Palestinian presence in the city, such as: building and demolition policies, the “Israelization” of education, settlements, expansion and annexation policies, the seizure of the properties of both present and refugee Palestinians in favor of settlers, home demolitions, the revocation of permanent residencies of Palestinians in Jerusalem, afforestation and “national parks” policies, the ongoing Judaization policies, and the expulsion of families from Jerusalem under flimsy legal pretexts, accompanied by random arrests and bans from the city and its holy sites.

In Jerusalem, the economy is also used as a tool of displacement. The occupation deepens its control over the Palestinian economy in Jerusalem, for example, through military checkpoints that cut the flow of products to Jerusalem, and by directing tourism and financial support toward “Israeli” businesses, which weakens the local Palestinian economy and limits its ability to stay steadfast in Jerusalem.

In addition, there are ongoing attempts to “Israelize” Jerusalem and impose religious control through repeated invasions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the facilitation of religious rituals for settlers in its courtyards under heavy protection, while Palestinians—both Muslims and Christians—are prevented from freely practicing their religious rites and face daily opression and abuse.

Oppressive, and repressive practices, and displacement policies were practiced against Palestinians in the past—and are still practiced today— while their intensity is increasing year after year.

Over 77 years, and still the Nakba didn’t end , even if the “Israeli” occupation forms have changed, they still reproduce themselves with new tools and methods.

How do Palestinians resist displacement?

Firstly, through steadfastness, which is the most prominent expression of refusal to be displaced, by remaining in homes and lands despite harassment and pressure, as is happening in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, and Masafer Yatta, where families refuse to leave their homes despite threats, demolitions, and assaults.

Palestinians also resort to the courts—whether local or international—to challenge eviction or demolition orders, or to file lawsuits against the occupation in the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court.

Moreover, the very important role of documentation and media, which is essential and central as a tool of resistance to displacement. Palestinian activists, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups document violations and publish them on social media or through reports by local and international human rights organizations, helping expose displacement policies and raise global awareness.

In addition, Palestinians and their allies work on building international alliances with civil society organizations, parliaments, universities, and activists abroad, to pressure governments to stop supporting displacement policies.
Preserving cultural identity is also a means of resistance. Palestinians work to affirm their connection to their land and identity through education, arts, music, traditional dress, and the revival of folk heritage—thus rejecting the Israeli narrative that denies their historical existence.