Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
22 March
SUPPRESSING HISTORY OF ISRAELI CRIMES
On this day in 2011, the Israeli parliament passed the "Nakba Bill". The original intent was to imprison anyone who mourns Israeli Independence Day. Fines are now to be imposed on local authorities which hold events marking the annual Palestinian Nakba Day, a day to mourn the Palestinian “Nakba” or Catastrophe during which Zionist militias carried out mass killings to drive Palestinians from their homes, villages and towns. Those refugees and their families have never been allowed to return.
قمع تاريخ الجرائم الاسرائيلية
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في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2011 ، أقر النواب الإسرائيلي "قانون النكبة". كان هدف القانون الأساسي هو سجن كل من يبدي حزنا في يوم الاستقلال الإسرائيلي. سيتم الآن فرض غرامات على السلطات المحلية التي تقيم فعاليات إحياء لذكرى يوم النكبة الفلسطينية ، وهو يوم حداد على "النكبة" الفلسطينية أو الكارثة التي نفذت خلالها المليشيات الصهيونية عمليات قتل جماعي لطرد الفلسطينيين من منازلهم وقراهم وبلداتهم. لم يُسمح لهؤلاء اللاجئين وعائلاتهم بالعودة أبدًا.
Each year on May 15, Palestinians across the world commemorate the Nakba (Catastrophe), or the 1948 establishment of Israel that led to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians being displaced from their homeland.
The estimated 1.7 million Palestinians who carry Israeli citizenship and live in villages, towns and cities across the country are no exception. Each year, protests, marches, lectures and other events to mourn their ancestors' dispossession are held in Palestinian communities across Israel.
Yet, since 2011, Israeli legislation has made mourning the Nakba publicly difficult for Palestinians and others in Israel. The "Nakba Law" authorises Israel's finance minister to revoke funding from institutions that reject Israel's character as a "Jewish state" or mark the country's Independence Day as a day of mourning.
Israel's UK Ambassador Hotovely appeared at a UK Jewish Board of Deputies online event where she described the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war - known as the Nakba or "catastrophe" in Arabic - as a "very popular Arab lie".
Jewish organisation Na'amod said in a tweet that Hotovely was a racist and her invitation should be withdrawn. "We cannot allow Hotovely's views to be normalised in our community with invites to celebratory events. She is a racist who supports a single state where Palestinians don't have equal rights."
When approached, the Board of Deputies refused to comment on Hotovely's remarks. Asked if it condoned Nakba denial, there was no response.