What is Nakba Day and what does it commemorate? | Explainer

What is Nakba Day and what does it commemorate? | Explainer

May 15, 2025  
The 15th of May is the anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba - the Arabic word for catastrophe.

The day after a British colonial mandate over Palestine ended in 1948, and Israel declared itself an independent state built on Palestinian land.
 
Over 77 years, Nakba has taken many forms, and it lies at the heart of Israel's campaign of ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank and its genocide in Gaza.

But the Zionist campaign to force Palestinians from their land began long before 1948.

Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker takes us through its history.