ONGOING EXPULSION - THE NAKBA 1947–1949 AND GAZA 2023–2024

Series by Visualizing Palestine

ONGOING EXPULSION

First Interim Report of the United Nations Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-210462/

In 1947, there were approximately 1,305,260 Palestinians in Mandate Palestine, meaning that around 57% of the total Palestinian population of Mandate Palestine was displaced during the Nakba, or 75-90% of those who lived in the areas of Mandate Palestine that came under the control of the new settler colonial state of Israel in 1948.

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

The Nakba: Stages of a Forced Displacement

https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/160/nakba

"The new state of Israel now controlled about 77 percent of the land area of Mandate Palestine, which had been depopulated of about 90 percent of its indigenous Arab population." Various estimates place the % displaced from this territory between 75%–90% - see PASSIA estimate below.

https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/294/demography-and-palestine-question-i

The Nakba: 70 Years On

http://passia.org/media/filer_public/53/97/5397ccce-6288-49ca-8a37-19be95fcac52/nakba-25_final.pdf

1,900,000 Palestinians, or 85% of Gaza residents, were expelled from their homes and are at risk of being ethnically cleansed from Gaza.

"A staggering 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza — 1.9 million civilians — have been forcibly displaced amid Israel’s military operations"

As Israel’s Aerial Bombardments Intensify, ‘There Is No Safe Place in Gaza’, Humanitarian Affairs Chief Warns Security Council

https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm#:~:text=A%20staggering%2085%20per%20cent,proposing%20that%20Palestinians%20should%20be

1947–1949 (Photo)

Palestinian refugees in Syria, 1948, public domain/fair use

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Man_see_school_nakba.jpg

2023–2024 (Photo)

Displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, 2023, used with permission

Active Stills, Mohammad Zaanoun

https://www.activestills.org/image/53013/

ONGOING DESTRUCTION

50% of Palestinian villages/urban neighborhoods depopulated. Many were destroyed to prevent refugees from returning.

50% is an estimate based on the village statistics of 1945. Visualizing Palestine consulted with Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, who shared his summary of the village statistics from his work on the Atlas of Palestine, 1917–1966. Based on these records (on file with VP) there were approximately 1,088 Palestinian villages recorded in the 1945 village statistics. 560 of them (530 + 30 hamlets) were depopulated during the Nakba, or approximately 51%.

Palestine Land Society

Palestine Land Society

https://www.plands.org/en/articles-speeches/articles/1997/the-feasibility-of-the-right-of-return

As of March 2024: "more than 70 per cent of all housing stock in Gaza, and more than 80 per cent in parts of northern region have been damaged or destroyed"

UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147272

1947–1949 (Photo)

Institute for Palestine Studies photograph collection

Ruins of Manshiyya neighborhood, Yafa, 1948, public domain/fair use

Institute for Palestine Studies photograph collection

https://www.palquest.org/en/media/9487/al-manshiyya-quarter#&gid=1&pid=1

2023–2024 (Photo)

Ruins of Al-Rimal neighborhood, Gaza, 2023, Creative Commons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Damage_in_Gaza_Strip_during_the_October_2023_-_32.jpg

ONGOING MASSACRES

15,000+ Palestinians killed in 70 massacres from 1947-49.

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

Dr. Ola Awad, reviews the conditions of the Palestinian people via statistical figures and findings, on the 72nd Annual Commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba.

https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=3734

41,488+ Palestinians killed or missing as of Apr 29, 2024.

34,488 killed and more than 7,000 reported missing as of April 29 = 41,488

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported impact | Day 206

https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-206

1947–1949 (Photo)

Palmach, a Zionist paramilitary unit, with M4 Sherman tank, 1948, public domain

The Palmach Archive

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War#/media/File:PikiWiki_Israel_21221_The_Palmach.JPG

2023–2024 (Photo)

Israeli forces with Merkava tank, 2023, Creative Commons

IDF Spokesperson's Unit photographer

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merkava-Mk-4-Barak-0018.jpg

ONGOING COLONIZATION

Ten Myths About Israel

https://www.versobooks.com/products/370-ten-myths-about-israel

Israel in talks with Congo and other countries on Gaza ‘voluntary migration’ plan

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-in-talks-with-congo-and-other-countries-on-gaza-voluntary-migration-plan/

1947–1949 (Photo)

Israel Press and Photo Agency

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Ben_Gurion_lecturing_in_Tel_Aviv_003994294.jpg

2023–2024 (Photo)

Government Press Office of Israel, Creative Commons

Government Press Office of Israel

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netanyahu_official_portrait_(cropped).jpg

LYDDA MASSACRE, 1948 AND GAZA 2023–2024

“The corpses of men, women, and children piled up in the city's streets and remained under the sun.” –Sana Hammoudi, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Lydda, 9-13 July 1948: A City-Wide Massacre Culminating in the Death March

https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/24073/lydda-9-13-july-1948

“Salah al-Din Street is littered with dozens of bodies — men, women, and children — in different states of decomposition.” –Tareq S. Hajjaj, Mondoweiss

Tareq S. Hajjaj, Mondoweiss

‘They shot her son in her arms and forced her to throw his body’: testimonies from the death march on Salah al-Din Street

https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/they-shot-her-son-in-her-arms-and-forced-her-to-throw-his-body-testimonies-from-the-death-march-on-salah-al-din-street/#:~:text=Not%20everyone%20survived%20the%20journey,road%E2%80%9D%20but%20a%20death%20march.

“Israeli planes had strafed the two towns and dropped fliers demanding the Palestinians take flight to the east.” –Sandy Tolan, Mother Jones

Sandy Tolan, Mother Jones

The Palestinian Catastrophe, Then and Now

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/07/palestinian-catastrophe-then-and-now/

“Israel dropped leaflets from the skies over Gaza City, telling residents to ‘evacuate immediately!’ and head south.” –NBC News

WATCH: Israel drops leaflets telling Gaza City residents to flee south

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/israel-drops-leaflets-telling-gaza-city-residents-to-flee-195136581697

“Those who had taken shelter in the Dahmash Mosque were shot by the Israelis; between 80 and 176 people were killed.” –Sana Hammoudi, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Lydda, 9-13 July 1948: A City-Wide Massacre Culminating in the Death March

https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/24073/lydda-9-13-july-1948

“Israeli air attacks on a mosque and homes deemed ‘safe’ in Deir el-Balah have killed dozens of people sheltering there.” –Al Jazeera

Deadly Israeli strikes on Gaza ‘safe zone’ flatten mosque and homes

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/2/5/deadly-israeli-strikes-on-gaza-safe-zone-flatten-mosque-and-homes

“Women walked burdened with packages and sacks on their head. Mothers dragged children after them…warning shots were heard…” –Shamaria Gottman, Israeli intelligence officer in 1948, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question

Lydda, 9-13 July 1948: A City-Wide Massacre Culminating in the Death March

https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/24073/lydda-9-13-july-1948

“They walked for hours, raising their hands when they encountered Israeli troops with guns trained on them…All around them was the sound of gunfire.” –Yara Bayoumy, Samar Abu Elouf and Iyad Abuheweila, the New York Times

Yara Bayoumy, Samar Abu Elouf and Iyad Abuheweila, New York Times

Fearful, Humiliated and Desperate: Gazans Heading South Face Horrors

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/28/world/middleeast/gaza-evacuation-israel.html