The Nakba: Before And After - For
Palestinians, May 15 Represents 64 Years Of Nakba
Suffering
15 May 2012
By Stephen Lendman
May 15 marks Israel's 64th independence day. This
year's Jewish calendar commemorated it on April 25.
For Palestinians, May 15 represents 64 years of Nakba
suffering. Survivor testimonies bare witness. No words
adequately explain their catastrophe. An unnamed Jew
said:
"I am writing through tears. I wept when I saw the
photo of the ruined village of al-Sanbariyya because
it was my former brother-in-law who helped destroy the
village and the lives of those who lived there."
"My now deceased brother-in-law was born in Los
Angeles and after World War II decided he wanted to
live in Palestine. He met his wife-to-be at a training
camp somewhere in the midwest."
"While at the camp many of the people decided they
wanted to build a kibbutz in then Palestine. I am not
sure that they gave a thought to the fact that they
would be taking the lands of others. But then, I don't
know. I wasn't there."
"As a Jew who was raised to believe in justice for all
peoples, I believe that it is my obligation to speak
out about Israel and to try in whatever way possible
to bring about a better life in Palestine for the
people who belong there... The people who were so
cruelly evicted from their lands."
A Palestinian also shared memories, saying:
"I cannot forget three horror-filled days in July of
1948. The pain sears my memory, and I cannot rid
myself of it no matter how hard I try."
"First, Israeli soldiers forced thousands of
Palestinians from their homes near the Mediterranean
coast, even though some families had lived in the same
houses for centuries."
"My family had been in the town of Lydda in Palestine
at least 1,600 years. Then, without water, we stumbled
into the hills and continued for three deadly days."
"The Jewish soldiers followed, occasionally shooting
over our heads to scare us and keep us moving. Terror
filled my eleven-year-old mind as I wondered what
would happen."
"I remembered overhearing my father and his friends
express alarm about recent massacres by Jewish
terrorists. Would they kill us, too?"
"We did not know what to do, except to follow orders
and stumble blindly up the rocky hills. I walked hand
in hand with my grandfather, who carried our only
remaining possessions-a small tin of sugar and some
milk for my aunt's two-year-old son, sick with
typhoid."
Survivors remember Deir Yassin. On April 9, 1948,
Israeli soldiers entered the village violently. They
machine-gunned houses randomly. Many inside were
slaughtered.
Remaining villagers were assembled and murdered in
cold blood. Among them were children, infants, the
elderly and women who were first raped. Estimates
place the death toll up to 120.
An eyewitness said:
"I was (there) when the Jews attacked....(They) closed
on the village amid exchanges of fire with us. Once
they entered the village, fighting became very heavy
in the eastern side and later it spread to other
parts, to the quarry, to the village center until it
reached the western edge."
"The Jews used all sorts of automatic weapons, tanks,
missiles, cannons. They enter(ed) houses and kill(ed)
women and children indiscriminately. The (village)
youths....fought bravely."
The ensuing fighting killed dozens more. Many other
villages met the same fate. It was well planned,
systematic slaughter. It was about seizing as much
land as possible, leaving behind the fewest number of
Arabs.
In December 1947, Palestinians outnumbered Jews more
than two to one. David Ben-Gurion ordered them
removed, saying:
"Every attack has to end with occupation, destruction
and expulsion."
He meant slaughter, displace, and depopulate. Erase a
proud history. Replace it with a Jewish one.
Mass killing, dispossession, and destruction followed.
From Jerusalem, Lifta ruins are visible. Rubble piles
only were in Dayr Aban. Except for two houses, Barqa
was destroyed.
Jura became Ashqelon. In al-Faluja, only wall
fragments and the village mosque foundation remain.
Hundreds of other Arab villages met similar fates.
Jewish-only development replaced them.
Across Palestine, survivors recounted gruesome
horrors. Arabs were shot in cold blood. Women were
raped. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. One day
they hoped to return. Those alive still wait.
The Nakba's untold story reflects a cultural
catastrophe. More on it below.
On May 15, Haaretz called Nakba "part of Israel's
history," saying:
Netanyahu doesn't understand that Israel's national
anthem "addresses only one people, the Jewish one."
Few Israelis know or remember the Nakba catastrophe.
For Palestinians, it reflects "the tragedy of hundreds
of thousands of refugees and their millions of
relatives, for whom May 15 - the day the establishment
of the State of Israel was announced - symbolizes the
day they lost their land, property and status."
Israelis never accepted responsibility for Palestinian
suffering. "But washing our hands....should not mean
revoking the right to remember it. Nor is it supposed
to prevent us from empathizing with the suffering of
the other nation living in Israel."
The effort put into "wiping out the Nakba's memory is
astonishing and outrageous." It's suppressed in
textbooks. Israel's Nakba Law bans commemorations.
Enacted as the Budget Foundations Law, Israel's
finance minister may reduce or eliminate funding for
any institution or entity engaging in activities
contrary to Israel's definition as a "Jewish and
democratic" state.
It also prohibits mourning Israel's Independence Day.
In other words, Arab history, culture, and right to
express, teach, or disseminate it freely is violated.
Discrimination faces anyone not Jewish.
Palestinians won't forget. Neither should Jews.
Something this important can't be swept aside or
forgotten. Nor can those with painful memories be
denied the right to remember and mourn.
Nakba remains embedded in Palestinian consciousness.
Israeli laws and ruthlessness won't erase it.
On May 15, AFP headlined "Palestinians Mark NAKBA with
protests, strike," saying:
Early Tuesday, clashes broke out between police and
demonstrators. Ramallah held a large rally. Others
followed throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
"The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee (representing
Israeli Arab communities) called for a general strike
and for Arab-Israelis to visit the sites of former
Palestinian villages."
Extra Israeli security forces confronted
demonstrators. In 2011, clashes caused deaths and
injuries.
Maan News followed events throughout the day. Regular
updates were posted. In Ramallah's Clock Square,
sirens commemorated the day. Thousands throughout the
Territories demonstrated and marched. Palestinian
flags were prominently displaced.
Israeli extremists clashed with Tel Aviv University
students. They held a Nakba day memorial service in
commemoration. On Sunday, efforts to stop it failed.
Hamas released a statement, saying:
"Countries which contributed to the Nakba of
Palestine, namely Britain, must do penance for their
sin by stopping Israeli aggressiveness."
Clashes erupted outside Ofer Prison. Security forces
fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Over 80 injuries
were reported.
Nakba's Untold Story
On May 15, the Palestine News Network published "Nakba
- the Untold Story of a Cultural Catastrophe." It
remains an unhealed wound. Palestinians lost more than
homes, land, and personal possessions. They lost their
homeland and way of life.
Collective memory recalls pre-1948 days. Palestine's
culture thrived. Its economy was one of the region's
most prosperous. Tourism flourished. In 1944 and 1945,
the Arab Bank paid shareholders a 24% dividend.
In 1919, Falastin became a daily newspaper. The same
year, Miraat Al-Sharq was established. It was
published until 1939 when British authorities shut it
for printing an "inciting poem." The Palestine
Broadcast Service was relied on. By the mid-1940s,
Jerusalem had 24 bookshops.
From 1911 to 1948, 161 newspapers, magazines, and
other publications covered news, literary topics, the
arts, humor, sports and medicine.
In 1914, Palestine had 379 private schools, including
95 elementary and three secondary ones. During the
1919-20 school year, 10,662 Palestinian students were
enrolled in public schools. In 1922-23, it was 19,331.
By 1942, Palestine had the second highest regional
elementary school enrollment. Lebanon ranked first. In
1947-48, 868 Palestinian schools, staffed by 4,600
teachers, taught 146,883 students.
Except for a law school and teacher's college,
Palestine had no universities. Instead, students went
abroad for higher education. Thousands took advantage.
In 1927, 23 printing establishments published dozens
of books. Topics included literature, history,
economics, politics, the sciences, and other fields.
Palestinian musicians and singers performed. So did
other regional ones and theater groups. In 1896, the
French Lumiere brothers produced a film in Palestine.
Other European filmmakers followed them.
In 1937, the Arab Cinema Company offered shares to the
public. In 1945, Ibrahim Sirhan founded the Palestine
studio. He and Mohamad Kayali established the Arab
Film Company.
In 1935, the first Palestinian film was produced. It
was a 20-minute documentary about the Saudi Arabian
king's visit to Palestine. Other productions followed.
From 1922 - 1948, at least 43 theater companies
performed dozens of plays. So did schools. Jerusalem
alone had around 30 theater groups.
Palestinian drama, literature, poetry, literary
criticism, other writing, and arts productions
flourished.
The Nakba catastrophe destroyed a vibrant, prosperous
way of life. Besides slaughter, displacement, and
destruction, soldiers, militias and civilian
volunteers collected books and other culturally
significant items.
The National Library of Israel documented them as AP
(Abandoned Property). Access to them requires special
permission. For Palestinians, it's not easily
obtained.
A project called "The Great Book Robbery" sought to
include them in a virtual library. A documentary
recounted the tragedy. It covered a 100 years from the
mid-19th to 20th century. Topics include history,
literature, poetry, language, religion, foreign books,
technology, medicine, and a government report on the
1947 school curriculum.
For Palestinians, the Nakba reflects an ongoing
journey of pain, loss and injustice. Collective memory
remains. Fundamental rights weren't restored. Daily
life replicates a tortured past.
Assaulting Palestinian culture continues. In March and
April 2002, Israeli forces destroyed at least 30
libraries and other information collections. Lost were
government archives, public and academic libraries,
and others belonging to NGOs and private institutions.
Palestinians once lived in peace with neighbors.
Britain and Zionist extremists changed what's so far
not restored. A collective dream never died. It won't
until fulfilled.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached
at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is
titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit
his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive
Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.
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