The United Nations on 15th May 2023 commemorated for the first time in its history, the mass displacement of Palestinians from land that was to become Israel, 75 years ago, that turned 700,000 Palestinians into refugees, almost overnight.
Key points
- The mass displacement in 1948, known as the Nakba (meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic), has an importance to Palestinians across the world.
- Currently, the Israeli and Palestinian road towards peace and the implementation of an agreed two-State solution follows decades pock-marked with war, flaring tensions, violence, and multiple negotiation processes.
- For Palestinians, the 1948 the massive displacement meant families took what they could carry or was shipped in trucks, from their homes to areas outside the new State of Israel.
- The UN agency created to serve the displaced population (UNRWA), reports that 5.9 million Palestinian are currently registered as refugees.
