TESTIMONIALS. "They repeat the crimes of 1948" : 76 years after the Nakba, Palestinians feel like history is starting again
May 15 is a date that marks a “disaster” for the Palestinians. Every year they commemorate the Nakba of 1948 when 750,000 people were forced to leave their homes after the creation of Israel. A forced exile and a tear with the feeling today for the Palestinians that history is repeating itself with the war in the Gaza Strip.
A key is all Adnan has left. Everything he was able to take before fleeing his home in Gaza. He closed the door and then left, moving in time with the attacks. First in the North, then in Khan Younes, then in Rafah to live in a tent. But ten days ago, he was able to leave hell just before the terminal closed. Now in Cairo, with his mother and one of his brothers, Adnan feels empty, lost, in exile: “I feel like my grandfather during the Nakba, when they left their home. I feel sad because leaving our home was so hard. We loved it so much. We wanted to stay there. I kept the keys. We all want to go home.”
The Gazans still trapped in the enclave have the feeling of experiencing an “Nakba from within”. A wandering that has lasted for months thanks to Israeli strikes and offensives as for Youssef and his family. “After Gaza, I went to Deir al Balahsays Youssef. I spent almost three months there, then I went to Rafah and now I returned to Deir al Balah where I was the first time. Now I have to look for a tent for my children. I’m going to start work again. Even the cats can’t find anything to eat. Even the cats scream.”
The Nakba of 1948 is not only exile, but also destruction and massacres. For Ibrahim Matar, Palestinian historian, history repeats itself: “In Gaza they are destroying houses, most of those killed are women and children. It is a big crime. They are repeating the crimes they did in 1948.” According to the UN, nearly 450,000 Gazans have been displaced since May 6.
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