When
Where
Why
Nakba Rally + Commemoration
May 15th marks the Nakba, or ‘Catastrophe’, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society in 1948. The Palestinian experience of dispossession and loss of a homeland is 77 years old this year.
The creation of the state of Israel on that day was a violent process that entailed the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland to establish a Jewish ethnostate, as per the aspirations of the Zionist movement.
Between 1947-1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians were made refugees beyond the borders of their state. Zionist forces had taken more than 78% of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed around 530 villages and cities, and killed around15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres. Israel is continuously escalating this oppression and dispossession of Palestinians via their active genocide today.
On this day we also acknowledge and reflect on the parallels with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and their history and experiences of colonisation. Join us in commemorating this historic event and stand with us to protest Australia’s complicity in Israel’s active genocide of the Palestinian People.