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Nakba Day (Arabic: يوم النكبة Yawm an-Nakba, meaning "Day of the Catastrophe") is generally commemorated on May 15, the day after the Gregorian calendar date for Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut). For the Palestinians it is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement that followed the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.^[1]

Defining Nakba

During the 1948 Palestine War, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled, and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated and destroyed.^[2]^[3] The vast majority of Palestinian refugees, both those outside the 1949 armistice lines at the war's conclusion and those internally displaced, were barred by the newly declared state of Israel from returning to their homes or reclaiming their property.^[2]^[3]

These refugees and their descendants number several million people today, divided between Jordan (2 million), Lebanon (427,057), Syria (477,700), the West Bank (788,108) and the Gaza Strip (1.1 million), with at least another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel.^[4] The displacement, dispossession and dispersal of the Palestinian people is known to them as an-Nakba, meaning "the catastrophe," or "the disaster."^[5]^[6]^[7]

Prior to its adoption by the Palestinian nationalist movement, the "Year of the Catastrophe" among Arabs referred to 1920, when European colonial powers partitioned the Ottoman Empire into a series of separate states along lines of their own choosing.^[8] The term was first used to reference the events of 1948 in the summer of that same year by the Syrian writer Constantine Zureiq in his work Ma^cnā an-Nakba ("The Meaning of the Nakba"; published in English in 1956).^[9]

Initially, the use of the term Nakba among Palestinians was not universal. For example, many years after 1948, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon avoided and even actively resisted using the term, because it lent permanency to a situation they viewed as temporary, and they often insisted on being called "returnees."^[10] In the 1950s and 1960s, terms they used to describe the events of 1948 were more eupheumistic and included al-'ightiṣāb ("the rape"), al-'aḥdāth ("the events"), al-hijra ("the exodus"), and lammā sharnā wa-tla'nā ("when we blackened our faces and left").^[10] Nakba narratives were avoided by the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon in the 1970s, in favor of a narrative of revolution and renewal.^[10] Interest in the Nakba by organizations representing refugees in Lebanon surged in the 1990s due to the perception that the refugees' right of return might be negotiated away in exchange for Palestinian statehood, and the desire was to send a clear message to the international community that this right was non-negotiable.^[10]

Though the Nakba refers to the events of 1948, their continued salience due to the irresolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has prompted Palestinians like Mahmoud Darwish to describe the Nakba as "an extended present that promises to continue in the future."^[7]

Timing

Nakba Day is generally commemorated on May 15, the day after the Gregorian calendar date for Israel's Independence.

In Israel, Nakba Day events have been held by some Arab citizens on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel's Independence Day), which is celebrated in Israel on the Hebrew calendar date (5 Iyar or shortly before or after). Because of the differences between the Hebrew and the Gregorian calendars, Independence Day and the official May 15 date for Nakba Day usually only coincide every 19 years.^[11]

Commemoration

Commemoration of the Nakba by Arab citizens of Israel who are internally displaced persons as a result of the 1948 war has been practiced for decades, but until the early 1990s was relatively weak. Initially, the memory of the catastrophe of 1948 was personal and communal in character and families or members of a given village would use the day to gather at the site of their former villages.^[12] Small scale commemorations of the tenth anniversary in the form of silent vigils were held by Arab students at a few schools in Israel in 1958, despite attempts by the Israeli authorities to thwart them.^[13] Visits to the sites of former villages became increasingly visible after the events of Land Day in 1976.^[12] In the wake up of the failure of the 1991 Madrid Conference to broach the subject of refugees, the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel was founded to organize a March of Return to the site of a different village every year on May 15, so as to place the issue on the Israeli public agenda.^[14] By the early 1990s, annual commemorations of the day by Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel held a prominent place in the community's public discourse.^[12]^[15]

Meron Benvenisti writes that it was "…Israeli Arabs who taught the residents of the territories to commemorate Nakba Day."^[16] Palestinians in the occupied territories were called upon to commemorate May 15 as day of national mourning by the Palestine Liberation Organization's United National Command of the Uprising during the First Intifada in 1988.^[17] The day was inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1998.^[18]

The event is often marked by speeches and rallies by Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, in Palestinian refugee camps in Arab states, and in other places around the world.^[19]^[20] Protests at times develop into clashes between Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.^[21]^[22]^[23] In 2003 and 2004, there were demonstrations in London^[24] and New York City.^[25]

In 2002, Zochrot was established to organize events raising the awareness of the Nakba in Hebrew so as to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer to a true reconciliation. The name is the Hebrew feminine plural form of "remember."^[12]

On Nakba Day 2011, Palestinians and other Arabs from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria marched towards their respective borders, or ceasefire lines and checkpoints in Israeli-occupied territories, to mark the event.^[26] At least 12 Palestinians and their supporters were killed and hundreds wounded as a result of shootings by the Israeli Army.^[27] According to the BBC, the 2011 Nakba Day demonstrations were given impetus by the revolutions and uprisings taking place throughout the Arab world.^[28]

During the 2012 commemoration, thousands of Palestinian demonstrators protested in cities and towns across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Protesters threw stones at Israeli soldiers guarding checkpoints in East Jerusalem who then fired rubber bullets and tear gas in response.^[29]

Objections to commemoration of Nakba Day

Criticism of the observance of Nakba Day in the Israeli media involves claims that it is marked by Palestinians to celebrate their wishes for the dismantling of the Israeli state^{[citation needed]} and the Jewish majority population^{[citation needed]}, and that the more important issue is the failure to solidify a stronger national movement for Palestinian citizens as a foundation for nation-building.^[30] Arab citizens of Israel have also been admonished for observing Nakba Day in light of their higher standards of living when compared to that of Palestinians who reside outside of Israel.^[31]

On 23 March 2011, the Knesset approved, by a vote of 37 in favor to 25 against,^[32] a change to the Government budget, giving the Israeli Finance Minister the discretion to reduce government funding to any non-governmental organization (NGO) that organizes Nakba commemoration events.^[33]^[34]

References

^ David W. Lesch, Benjamin Frankel (2004). History in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945 (Illustrated ed.). St. James Press. p. 102. ISBN 1-55862-472-4, 9781558624726. The Palestinian recalled their "Nakba Day", "catastrophe" — the displacement that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel — in 1948. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ ^a ^b Morris, Benny (2003). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00967-7, p. 604.
^ ^a ^b Khalidi, Walid (Ed.) (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
^ ^a ^b Figures given here for the number of Palestinian refugees includes only those registered with UNRWA as June 2010. Internally displaced Palestinians were not registered, among others. Factbox: Palestinian refugee statistics
^ Mehran Kamrava (2005). The modern Middle East: a political history since the First World War (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-520-24150-9, 9780520241503. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Samih K. Farsoun (2004). Culture and customs of the Palestinians (Illustrated ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 14. ISBN 0-313-32051-9, 9780313320514. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ ^a ^b Derek Gregory (2004). The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq (Illustrated, reprint ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 86. ISBN 1-57718-090-9, 9781577180906. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Antonius, George (1979) [1946], The Arab awakening: the story of the Arab national movement, Putnam, p. 312, The year 1920 has an evil name in Arab annals: it is referred to as the Year of the Catastrophe (^cĀm al-Nakba). It saw the first armed risings that occurred in protest against the post-War settlement imposed by the Allies on the Arab countries. In that year, serious outbreaks took place in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq
^ Rochelle Davis (2010). Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced (Ilustrated ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8047-7313-0, 9780804773133. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ahmad H. Sa'di, Lila Abu-Lughod (2007). Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory (Illustrated ed.). Columbia University Press. pp. 253–254. ISBN 0-231-13579-3, 9780231135795. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Hertz-Larowitz, Rachel (2003). Arab and Jewish Youth in Israel: Voicing National Injustice on Campus. Journal of Social Issues, 59(1), 51-66.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Nur Masalha (2005). Catastrophe remembered: Palestine, Israel and the internal refugees: essays in memory of Edward W. Said (1935–2003). Zed Books. p. 221. ISBN 1-84277-623-1, 9781842776230. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Hillel Cohen (2010). Good Arabs: the Israeli security agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967 (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-520-25767-7, 9780520257672. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Masalha, 2005, p. 216.
^ In 2006, for example, Azmi Bishara, an Arab member of the Knesset told the Israeli newspaper Maariv: "Independence Day is your holiday, not ours. We mark this as the day of our Nakba, the tragedy that befell the Palestinian nation in 1948." (Maariv article (in Hebrew))
^ Mêrôn Benveniśtî (2007). Son of the cypresses: memories, reflections, and regrets from a political life. University of California Press. p. 164. ISBN 0-520-23825-7, 9780520238251. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
^ Speaking stones: communiqués from the Intifada underground. Syracuse University Press. 1994. p. 96. ISBN 0-8156-2607-X, 9780815626077. May 15, which denotes the nakba, will be a day of national mourning and a general strike; public and private transportation will cease, and all will remain in their houses. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
^ Rubin, Barry and Rubin, Judith Colp (2003). Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516689-2, p. 187.
^ "Anger over Palestinian Nakba ban proposal". BBC News. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
^ Bowker, Robert (2003). Palestinian Refugees: Mythology, Identity, and the Search for Peace. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-202-2, p. 96.
^ Analysis: Why Palestinians are angry, BBC News Online, 15 May 2000.
^ Violence erupts in West Bank, BBC News Online, 15 May 2000.
^ Israel - Palestinian Violence, National Public Radio, 15 May 2000.
^ Pro-Palestine rally in London, BBC News Online, 15 May 2003.
^ Al-Nakba Day Rally in Times Square, 2004.
^ Gideon Biger (18 May 2011). "Israel was infiltrated, but no real borders were crossed". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
^ Bloodshed along Israel borders kills 12 on Nakba Day AFP. 15 May 2011.
^ Israeli forces open fire at Palestinian protesters. BBC News. 2011-05-15.
^ Thousands of Palestinians mark 'Nakba Day'. BBC News. 2012-05-15.
^ The real Nakba, By Shlomo Avineri, 09/05/2008
^ Time to stop mourning, By Meron Benvenisti
^ Knesset Approves Nakba Law, by Elad Benari, 23 March 2011
^ Elia Zureik (2011). Elia Zureik, David Lyon, Yasmeen Abu-Laban (ed.). Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory and Power (Illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 17. ISBN 0-415-58861-8, 9780415588614. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
^ MK Zahalka: Racist laws target Arab sector, by Roni Sofer, 22 March 2011

External links

In pictures: 'Catastrophe Day' protests, BBC News
Al Nakba, full filmdescription of documentary & background
Nakba, Current news from Palestine
The Sons of Eilaboun a documentary about the Nakba in Eilaboun (1948)
Israeli Jew Speaks for Thousands Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Sakharov Human Rights Prize laureate
Expressions of Nakba Competition 2008, Call for Entries by March 30, 2008 with awards and public exhibitions planned throughout the year

[Lesch-1] David W. Lesch, Benjamin Frankel (2004). History in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945 (Illustrated ed.). St. James Press. p. 102. ISBN 1-55862-472-4, 9781558624726. The Palestinian recalled their "Nakba Day", "catastrophe" — the displacement that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel — in 1948. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[r3-2] Morris, Benny (2003). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00967-7, p. 604.

[r4-3] Khalidi, Walid (Ed.) (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.

[reuters-4] Figures given here for the number of Palestinian refugees includes only those registered with UNRWA as June 2010. Internally displaced Palestinians were not registered, among others. Factbox: Palestinian refugee statistics

[Kamrava-5] Mehran Kamrava (2005). The modern Middle East: a political history since the First World War (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-520-24150-9, 9780520241503. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Farsoun-6] Samih K. Farsoun (2004). Culture and customs of the Palestinians (Illustrated ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 14. ISBN 0-313-32051-9, 9780313320514. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Gregory-7] Derek Gregory (2004). The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq (Illustrated, reprint ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 86. ISBN 1-57718-090-9, 9781577180906. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Antonius_312-8] Antonius, George (1979) [1946], The Arab awakening: the story of the Arab national movement, Putnam, p. 312, The year 1920 has an evil name in Arab annals: it is referred to as the Year of the Catastrophe (^cĀm al-Nakba). It saw the first armed risings that occurred in protest against the post-War settlement imposed by the Allies on the Arab countries. In that year, serious outbreaks took place in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq

[Davis-9] Rochelle Davis (2010). Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced (Ilustrated ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8047-7313-0, 9780804773133. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Sadi-10] Ahmad H. Sa'di, Lila Abu-Lughod (2007). Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory (Illustrated ed.). Columbia University Press. pp. 253–254. ISBN 0-231-13579-3, 9780231135795. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[11] Hertz-Larowitz, Rachel (2003). Arab and Jewish Youth in Israel: Voicing National Injustice on Campus. Journal of Social Issues, 59(1), 51-66.

[Masalha-12] Nur Masalha (2005). Catastrophe remembered: Palestine, Israel and the internal refugees: essays in memory of Edward W. Said (1935–2003). Zed Books. p. 221. ISBN 1-84277-623-1, 9781842776230. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Cohen-13] Hillel Cohen (2010). Good Arabs: the Israeli security agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967 (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-520-25767-7, 9780520257672. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Masalhap216-14] Masalha, 2005, p. 216.

[footnote1-15] In 2006, for example, Azmi Bishara, an Arab member of the Knesset told the Israeli newspaper Maariv: "Independence Day is your holiday, not ours. We mark this as the day of our Nakba, the tragedy that befell the Palestinian nation in 1948." (Maariv article (in Hebrew))

[Benvenisti-16] Mêrôn Benveniśtî (2007). Son of the cypresses: memories, reflections, and regrets from a political life. University of California Press. p. 164. ISBN 0-520-23825-7, 9780520238251. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

[Mishal-17] Speaking stones: communiqués from the Intifada underground. Syracuse University Press. 1994. p. 96. ISBN 0-8156-2607-X, 9780815626077. May 15, which denotes the nakba, will be a day of national mourning and a general strike; public and private transportation will cease, and all will remain in their houses. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)

[18] Rubin, Barry and Rubin, Judith Colp (2003). Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516689-2, p. 187.

[19] "Anger over Palestinian Nakba ban proposal". BBC News. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2010-05-19.

[20] Bowker, Robert (2003). Palestinian Refugees: Mythology, Identity, and the Search for Peace. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-202-2, p. 96.

[21] Analysis: Why Palestinians are angry, BBC News Online, 15 May 2000.

[22] Violence erupts in West Bank, BBC News Online, 15 May 2000.

[23] Israel - Palestinian Violence, National Public Radio, 15 May 2000.

[24] Pro-Palestine rally in London, BBC News Online, 15 May 2003.

[25] Al-Nakba Day Rally in Times Square, 2004.

[26] Gideon Biger (18 May 2011). "Israel was infiltrated, but no real borders were crossed". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 May 2011.

[27] Bloodshed along Israel borders kills 12 on Nakba Day AFP. 15 May 2011.

[BBC-28] Israeli forces open fire at Palestinian protesters. BBC News. 2011-05-15.

[29] Thousands of Palestinians mark 'Nakba Day'. BBC News. 2012-05-15.

[30] The real Nakba, By Shlomo Avineri, 09/05/2008

[31] Time to stop mourning, By Meron Benvenisti

[32] Knesset Approves Nakba Law, by Elad Benari, 23 March 2011

[Zureik-33] Elia Zureik (2011). Elia Zureik, David Lyon, Yasmeen Abu-Laban (ed.). Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory and Power (Illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 17. ISBN 0-415-58861-8, 9780415588614. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

[34] MK Zahalka: Racist laws target Arab sector, by Roni Sofer, 22 March 2011

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Nakba}}
-'''Nakba Day''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic:]] يوم النكبة ''Yawm an-Nakba'', meaning "Day of the Catastrophe") is  generally commemorated on May 15, the day after the [[Gregorian calendar]] date for Israeli independence day ([[Yom Ha'atzmaut]]). For the Palestinians it is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement that followed the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]] in 1948.<ref name = Lesch>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=CDYsAQAAIAAJ&q=%22nakba+day%22&dq=%22nakba+day%22&hl=en&ei=9zzMTaPaC9HJswbnsMy3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCTgo| page= 102 | title = History in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945|author=David W. Lesch, Benjamin Frankel| edition= Illustrated| publisher= St. James Press| year= 2004 | ISBN = 1-55862-472-4, 9781558624726| quote= The Palestinian recalled their "Nakba Day", "catastrophe" — the displacement that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel — in 1948.}}</ref>
+'''Nakba Day''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic:]] يوم النكبة ''Yawm an-Nakba'', meaning "Day of the Catastrophe") is generally commemorated on May 15, the day after the [[Gregorian calendar]] date for Israeli Independence Day ([[Yom Ha'atzmaut]]). For the Palestinians it is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement that followed the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]] in 1948.<ref name = Lesch>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=CDYsAQAAIAAJ&q=%22nakba+day%22&dq=%22nakba+day%22&hl=en&ei=9zzMTaPaC9HJswbnsMy3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCTgo| page= 102 | title = History in Dispute: The Middle East since 1945|author=David W. Lesch, Benjamin Frankel| edition= Illustrated| publisher= St. James Press| year= 2004 | ISBN = 1-55862-472-4, 9781558624726| quote= The Palestinian recalled their "Nakba Day", "catastrophe" — the displacement that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel — in 1948.}}</ref>
 == Defining Nakba ==
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 [[File:Palestinian refugees.jpg|thumb|left|Palestinian refugees in 1948]]
-These refugees and their descendants number several million people today, divided between [[Jordan]] (2 million), [[Lebanon]] (427,057), [[Syria]] (477,700), the [[West Bank]] (788,108) and the [[Gaza Strip]] (1.1 million), with at least another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel.<ref name=reuters/> The displacement, dispossession and dispersal of the Palestinian people is known to them as ''an-Nakba'', meaning "the catastrophe," or "the disaster."<ref name=Kamrava>{{cite book|title=The modern Middle East: a political history since the First World War|author=Mehran Kamrava|page=125|edition=Illustrated|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|ISBN=0-520-24150-9, 9780520241503|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=SKSwpfLUYDEC&pg=PA125&dq=nakba+%22loss+of+palestine%22&hl=en&ei=x-DQTZjVEIX3sgbE5OjFCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nakba%20%22loss%20of%20palestine%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name = Farsoun>{{cite book| url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=3ntlybo9BEQC&pg=PA14&dq=nakba+refugees+return&hl=en&ei=7EzNTYKhOYvasgal_9WxCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=nakba%20refugees%20return&f=false|page=14|title=Culture and customs of the Palestinians|author=Samih K. Farsoun|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|ISBN=0-313-32051-9, 9780313320514}}</ref><ref name=Gregory>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=yo6VyhJKKb8C&pg=PA86&dq=nakba+past+present&hl=en&ei=OHbNTZ_dFcWKswaE9JS4Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=86|title=The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq|author=Derek Gregory|edition=Illustrated, reprint|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2004|ISBN=1-57718-090-9, 9781577180906}}</ref>
+These refugees and their descendants number several million people today, divided between [[Jordan]] (2 million), [[Lebanon]] (427,057), [[Syria]] (477,700), the [[West Bank]] (788,108) and the [[Gaza Strip]] (1.1 million), with at least another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel.<ref name=reuters/> The displacement, dispossession and dispersal of the Palestinian people is known to them as ''an-Nakba,'' meaning "the catastrophe," or "the disaster."<ref name=Kamrava>{{cite book|title=The modern Middle East: a political history since the First World War|author=Mehran Kamrava|page=125|edition=Illustrated|publisher=University of California Press|year=2005|ISBN=0-520-24150-9, 9780520241503|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=SKSwpfLUYDEC&pg=PA125&dq=nakba+%22loss+of+palestine%22&hl=en&ei=x-DQTZjVEIX3sgbE5OjFCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nakba%20%22loss%20of%20palestine%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name = Farsoun>{{cite book| url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=3ntlybo9BEQC&pg=PA14&dq=nakba+refugees+return&hl=en&ei=7EzNTYKhOYvasgal_9WxCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=nakba%20refugees%20return&f=false|page=14|title=Culture and customs of the Palestinians|author=Samih K. Farsoun|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|ISBN=0-313-32051-9, 9780313320514}}</ref><ref name=Gregory>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=yo6VyhJKKb8C&pg=PA86&dq=nakba+past+present&hl=en&ei=OHbNTZ_dFcWKswaE9JS4Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=86|title=The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq|author=Derek Gregory|edition=Illustrated, reprint|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2004|ISBN=1-57718-090-9, 9781577180906}}</ref>
 Prior to its adoption by the [[Palestinian nationalist]] movement, the "Year of the Catastrophe" among [[Arabs]] referred to 1920, when European colonial powers [[Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire|partitioned the Ottoman Empire]] into a series of separate states along lines of their own choosing.<ref name = "Antonius 312">{{citation | first = George | last = Antonius | author-link = George Antonius | title = The Arab awakening: the story of the Arab national movement | page = 312 | origyear = 1946 | url = http://books.google.com/books?ei=WiTQTbiYBJLpgQe8l-29DA&ct=result&hl=fr&id=GTsVAAAAMAAJ&dq=antonius+arab+awakening+nakba&q=nakba#search_anchor | year = 1979 | publisher = Putnam | quote = The year 1920 has an evil name in Arab annals: it is referred to as the Year of the Catastrophe (<sup>c</sup>Ām al-Nakba). It saw the first armed risings that occurred in protest against the post-War settlement imposed by the Allies on the Arab countries. In that year, serious outbreaks took place in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq}}</ref> The term was first used to reference the events of 1948 in the summer of that same year by the Syrian writer [[Constantine Zureiq]] in his work ''Ma<sup>c</sup>nā an-Nakba'' ("The Meaning of the ''Nakba''"; published in English in 1956).<ref name=Davis>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=wlKjZwMwz0wC&pg=PA236&dq=nakba+%22constantine+zurayk%22&hl=en&ei=TIrNTaqCCZHOswbGy4W5Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=nakba%20%22constantine%20zurayk%22&f=false|page=237|title=Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of the Displaced|author=Rochelle Davis|edition=Ilustrated|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2010|ISBN=0-8047-7313-0, 9780804773133}}</ref>
-Initially, use of the term Nakba among Palestinians was not universal. For example, many years after 1948, Palestinian refugees in [[Lebanon]] avoided and even actively resisted using the term, because it lent permanency to a situation they viewed as temporary, and they often insisted on being called "returnees."<ref name=Sadi>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=A4U9iw4R1TYC&pg=PA253&dq=nakba+term&hl=en&ei=qYXNTZybAczDswbosNm6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=nakba%20term&f=false|pages=253–254|title=Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory|author=Ahmad H. Sa'di, Lila Abu-Lughod|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|ISBN=0-231-13579-3, 9780231135795}}</ref> In the 1950s and 1960s, terms they used to describe the events of 1948 were more eupheumistic and included ''al-'ightiṣāb'' ("the rape"), ''al-'aḥdāth'' ("the events"), ''al-hijra'' ("the exodus"), and ''lammā sharnā wa-tla'nā'' ("when we blackened our faces and left").<ref name=Sadi/> Nakba narratives were avoided by the leadership of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) in Lebanon in the 1970s, in favor of a narrative of revolution and renewal.<ref name=Sadi/> Interest in the Nakba by organizations representing refugees in Lebanon surged in the 1990s due to the perception that the refugees' [[right of return]] might be negotiated away in exchange for Palestinian statehood, and the desire was to send a clear message to the international community that this right was non-negotiable.<ref name=Sadi/>
+Initially, the use of the term Nakba among Palestinians was not universal. For example, many years after 1948, Palestinian refugees in [[Lebanon]] avoided and even actively resisted using the term, because it lent permanency to a situation they viewed as temporary, and they often insisted on being called "returnees."<ref name=Sadi>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=A4U9iw4R1TYC&pg=PA253&dq=nakba+term&hl=en&ei=qYXNTZybAczDswbosNm6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=nakba%20term&f=false|pages=253–254|title=Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory|author=Ahmad H. Sa'di, Lila Abu-Lughod|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|ISBN=0-231-13579-3, 9780231135795}}</ref> In the 1950s and 1960s, terms they used to describe the events of 1948 were more eupheumistic and included ''al-'ightiṣāb'' ("the rape"), ''al-'aḥdāth'' ("the events"), ''al-hijra'' ("the exodus"), and ''lammā sharnā wa-tla'nā'' ("when we blackened our faces and left").<ref name=Sadi/> Nakba narratives were avoided by the leadership of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) in Lebanon in the 1970s, in favor of a narrative of revolution and renewal.<ref name=Sadi/> Interest in the Nakba by organizations representing refugees in Lebanon surged in the 1990s due to the perception that the refugees' [[right of return]] might be negotiated away in exchange for Palestinian statehood, and the desire was to send a clear message to the international community that this right was non-negotiable.<ref name=Sadi/>
-Though the Nakba refers to the events of 1948, their continued salience due to the irresolution of the [[Israeli-Palestinian conflict]] has prompted Palestinians like [[Mahmoud Darwish]] to describe the Nakba as, "an extended present that promises to continue in the future."<ref name=Gregory/>
+Though the Nakba refers to the events of 1948, their continued salience due to the irresolution of the [[Israeli-Palestinian conflict]] has prompted Palestinians like [[Mahmoud Darwish]] to describe the Nakba as "an extended present that promises to continue in the future."<ref name=Gregory/>
 == Timing ==
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 The event is often marked by speeches and rallies by Palestinians in Israel, the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza]], in [[Palestinian refugee camps]] in [[Arab League|Arab states]], and in other places around the world.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8066892.stm | work=BBC News | title=Anger over Palestinian Nakba ban proposal | date=2009-05-25 | accessdate=2010-05-19}}</ref><ref>Bowker, Robert (2003). ''Palestinian Refugees: Mythology, Identity, and the Search for Peace''. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-202-2, p. 96.</ref> Protests at times develop into clashes between Palestinians and the [[Israel Defense Forces]] in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/749690.stm Analysis: Why Palestinians are angry], [[BBC News Online]], 15 May 2000.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/748844.stm Violence erupts in West Bank], [[BBC News Online]], 15 May 2000.</ref><ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1074174 Israel - Palestinian Violence], [[National Public Radio]], 15 May 2000.</ref> In 2003 and 2004, there were demonstrations in [[London]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3037117.stm Pro-Palestine rally in London], [[BBC News Online]], 15 May 2003.</ref> and [[New York City]].<ref>[http://www.nkusa.org/activities/demonstrations/Al-Nakba04.cfm Al-Nakba Day Rally in Times Square], 2004.</ref>
-In 2002, [[Zochrot]] was established to organize events raising the awareness of the Nakba in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] so as to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer to a true reconciliation. The name is the Hebrew feminine plural form of "remember".<ref name=Masalha/>
+In 2002, [[Zochrot]] was established to organize events raising the awareness of the Nakba in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] so as to bring Palestinians and Israelis closer to a true reconciliation. The name is the Hebrew feminine plural form of "remember."<ref name=Masalha/>
 {{anchor|2011 commemoration}}<!-- this is linked from the main page -->

v t e Palestinian Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus by subdistrict
Acre	Amqa Arab al-Samniyya al-Bassa al-Birwa al-Damun Dayr al-Qassi al-Ghabisiyya Iqrit Iribbin Jiddin al-Kabri Kafr 'Inan Kuwaykat al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mi'ar al-Nabi Rubin al-Nahr al-Ruways Suhmata al-Sumayriyya Suruh al-Tall Tarbikha Umm al-Faraj az-Zeeb
Beisan	Arab al-'Arida Arab al-Bawati Arab al-Safa al-Ashrafiyya al-Bira Beisan Danna Farwana al-Fatur al-Ghazzawiyya al-Hamidiyya al-Hamra Jabbul Kafra Kawkab al-Hawa al-Khunayzir Masil al-Jizl al-Murassas Qumya al-Sakhina al-Samiriyya Sirin Tall al-Shawk al-Taqa al-Tira Umm 'Ajra Umm Sabuna Yubla Zab'a al-Zawiya
Beersheba	al-Imara al-Jammama al-Khalasa Auja al-Hafir
Gaza	Arab Suqrir Barbara Barqa al-Batani al-Gharbi al-Batani al-Sharqi Bayt 'Affa Bayt Daras Bayt Jirja Bayt Tima Bil'in Burayr Dayr Sunayd Dimra al-Faluja Hamama Hatta Hiribya Huj Hulayqat Ibdis Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq Suwaydan Isdud al-Jaladiyya al-Jiyya Julis al-Jura Jusayr Karatiyya Kawfakha Kawkaba al-Khisas al-Masmiyya al-Kabira al-Masmiyya al-Saghira al-Muharraqa Najd Ni'ilya Qastina al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya Simsim Summil Tall al-Turmus Yasur
Haifa	Abu Shusha Abu Zurayq Arab al-Fuqara Arab al-Nufay'at Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri 'Atlit Ayn Ghazal Ayn Hawd Balad al-Sheikh Barrat Qisarya Burayka al-Burj al-Butaymat Daliyat al-Rawha' al-Dumun al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa al-Ghubayya al-Tahta Hawsha Ijzim Jaba' al-Jalama Kabara al-Kafrayn Kafr Lam al-Kasayir Khubbayza Lid al-Manara al-Mansi al-Mansura al-Mazar Naghnaghiya Qannir Qira Qisarya Qumbaza al-Rihaniyya Sabbarin al-Sarafand al-Sarkas Sa'sa' al-Sawamir al-Shuna al-Sindiyana al-Tantura al-Tira Umm ash Shauf Umm az-Zinat Wa'arat al-Sarris Wadi Ara Yajur
Hebron	'Ajjur Barqusya Bayt Jibrin Bayt Nattif al-Dawayima Deir al-Dubban Dayr Nakhkhas Kudna Mughallis al-Qubayba Ra'na Tell es-Safi Umm Burj az-Zakariyya Zayta Zikrin
Jaffa	al-'Abbasiyya Abu Kabir Abu Kishk Bayt Dajan Biyar 'Adas Fajja al-Haram Ijlil al-Qibliyya Ijlil al-Shamaliyya al-Jammasin al-Gharbi al-Jammasin al-Sharqi Jarisha Kafr 'Ana al-Khayriyya al-Mas'udiyya al-Mirr al-Muwaylih Rantiya al-Safiriyya Salama Saqiya al-Sawalima al-Shaykh Muwannis Yazur
Jenin	al-Jawfa al-Mazar Ayn al-Mansi Lajjun Nuris Zir'in
Jerusalem	Allar Aqqur Artuf Bayt 'Itab Bayt Mahsir Bayt Naqquba Bayt Thul Bayt Umm al-Mays al-Burayj Dayr Aban Dayr 'Amr Dayr al-Hawa Dayr Rafat Dayr al-Shaykh Deir Yassin Ayn Karim Ishwa Islin Ism Allah Jarash al-Jura Kasla al-Lawz Lifta al-Maliha Nitaf al-Qabu Qalunya al-Qastal Ras Abu 'Ammar Sar'a Saris Sataf Sheikh Badr Suba Sufla al-Tannur al-'Umur al-Walaja
Nazareth	al-Mujaydil Indur Ma'alul Saffuriyya
Ramle	Abu al-Fadl Abu Shusha Ajanjul Aqir Barfiliya al-Barriyya Bashshit Bayt Far Bayt Jiz Bayt Nabala Bayt Shanna Bayt Susin Bir Ma'in Bir Salim al-Burj al-Buwayra Daniyal Dayr Abu Salama Dayr Ayyub Dayr Muhaysin Dayr Tarif al-Duhayriyya al-Haditha Idnibba Innaba Jilya Jimzu Kharruba al-Khayma Khulda al-Kunayyisa al-Latrun Lydda al-Maghar Majdal Yaba al-Mansura al-Mukhayzin al-Muzayri'a al-Na'ani al-Nabi Rubin Qatra Qazaza al-Qubab al-Qubayba Qula Ramla Sajad Salbit Sarafand al-Amar Sarafand al-Kharab Saydun Shahma Shilta al-Tina al-Tira Umm Kalkha Wadi Hunayn Yibna Zakariyya Zarnuqa
Safad	Abil al-Qamh al-'Abisiyya 'Akbara Alma Ammuqa Arab al-Shamalina Arab al-Zubayd Ayn al-Zaytun Baysamun Biriyya al-Butayha al-Buwayziyya Dallata al-Dawwara Dayshum al-Dirbashiyya al-Dirdara Fara al-Farradiyya Fir'im Ghabbatiyya Ghuraba al-Hamra' Harrawi Hunin al-Husayniyya Jahula al-Ja'una Jubb Yusuf Kafr Bir'im al-Khalisa Khan al-Duwayr Karraza al-Khisas Khiyam al-Walid Kirad al-Baqqara Kirad al-Ghannama Lazzaza Madahil Al-Malkiyya Mallaha al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mansurat al-Khayt Marus Meiron al-Muftakhira Mughr al-Khayt al-Muntar al-Nabi Yusha' al-Na'ima Qabba'a Qadas Qaddita Qaytiyya al-Qudayriyya al-Ras al-Ahmar Sabalan Safsaf Saliha al-Salihiyya al-Sammu'i al-Sanbariyya Sa'sa' al-Shawka al-Tahta al-Shuna Taytaba Tulayl al-'Ulmaniyya al-'Urayfiyya al-Wayziyya Yarda, Safad al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta al-Zanghariyya Zawiya al-Zuq al-Fawqani al-Zuq al-Tahtani
Tiberias	Awlam al-Dalhamiyya Ghuwayr Abu Shusha Hadatha al-Hamma Hittin Kafr Sabt Lubya Ma'dhar al-Majdal al-Manara al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Nasir al-Din Nimrin al-Nuqayb Samakh al-Samakiyya al-Samra al-Shajara al-Tabigha al-'Ubaydiyya Wadi Hamam al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' Yaquq
Tulkarm	Bayt Lid Bayyarat Hannun Fardisya Ghabat Kafr Sur al-Jalama Kafr Saba al-Majdal al-Manshiyya Miska Qaqun Raml Zayta Tabsur Umm Khalid Wadi al-Hawarith Wadi Qabbani al-Zabadida Zalafa