The Nakba Didn't End

You can't commemorate something that is ongoing

People have asked me how I and other Palestinians in the diaspora commemorate Nakba day.

It’s a tough question and kind of loaded. I know people have good intentions when they ask me this question but it is tough for me.

I have mixed feelings about the day. A part of me feels like relegating the century of oppression to a single day suggests that the Nakba happened, as opposed to the idea that the Nakba is happening right now, and has been occurring for over 78 years.

Nakba day is commemorated on the same day as the declaration of Israel as a state. I think that creates the impression that our history only matters in the context of the UN’s approval of the state of Israel. It’s like we are just a shadow of their creation or something - the ugly unwanted byproduct.

I think about my grandfather, one of the 20% of Gaza residents who is not a refugee, who worked in Bir Saba in 1948. He was never able to return there.

I think of my family olive trees, many over a century old then, that have been destroyed. I think of how so man family members and loved ones had to take what they could carry and leave their homes for safety in other cities. For so many, the Iron Key is the sole piece of evidence of their history.

I am one of over 6 million refugees. I had to leave my home during the second intifada and have not been able to return home since.

Today is both the commemoration of the Nakba and the continuation of the Nakba. In the West Bank the forced displacement continues and has increased tremendously over the past two years with the quiet approval of the west.

I feel conflicted, on the one hand there are the continued lies and denials of crimes by Israel and the west. Canada refuses to acknowledge its complicity in the crimes of ethnic cleansing and continued support of genocide as does the rest of the west.

But on the other hand I am heartened by how many people are seeing the truth for the first time. I never imagined even a few years ago that most people would even know the word Nakba, much less share the story of what happened to us.

US supreme court justice Louis Brandeis once said “the light of day is the best disinfectant.” If there is any consolation to the horrors we have seen over the past few years it is that we have finally been able to shine light on the dark crimes that Israel has committed. This is a necessary step, long denied to us, that makes me more and more hopeful each day that there will be some accountability and justice for these crimes once and for all.

Until that time we remain staunchly committed to doing what we can to help provide the people of Gaza the resources we can offer them to continue to win each day by surviving. Thank you all for your generosity in helping the people of Palestine continue to be victorious every single day.

Until Palestine is free,

Hammam Farah - Founder and Executive Director

Selim Tlili - Writer and Board Member

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The Elham Fund is a Palestinian-led Canadian non-for-profit.

To date the Elham Fund has raised and distributed over CAD $165,000 in direct cash transfers, delivered needed supplies inaccessible through other means, and provided lifesaving chronic medications.

If you would like to make a gift today to support families existing and resisting genocide, please visit elhamfund.ca.