About Nakba '48


  Who are you?
We are a diverse UF student organization of Americans, Palestinians, Arabs, Christians, Muslims, and Jews who all agree on the universality of unconditional equal human rights. We strive to raise critical awareness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by engaging the community through dialogue, a student journal, charity, speakers, films, performances, and working with other groups in the Student Coalition against Injustice. Membership is open and encouraged for all who are interested in learning about Israel and Palestine and working towards a just peace for all people in one of the most important and unfortunate conflicts of our time.

  What does Nakba '48 mean?
Al-Nakba refers to the creation of the state of Israel, which has caused the plight and struggle of the Palestinian people against Zionist occupation and oppression. In 1948, there was a mass expulsion and exodus of around 1 million non-Jewish Palestinians following numerous massacres and demolitions of over 400 Palestinian communities in order to form the Zionist state of Israel. The Palestine Remembered Project has more details, testimony, and figures on the ethnic cleansing which was required to establish a Jewish demographic majority in the region of Israel.

  What exactly is Zionism?
Zionism is the ideology that the Jewish people are a "tribe" who must have a "homeland", in the form of a nation-state, because of the historical injustices they have suffered. Jews, as an ethnic group, must be the majority population in the given area of this nation-state. Through working with the European colonial powers, this ideology came to material fruition in 1948 when Palestine, "Jewish land by birthright", was established and renamed to the state of Israel.

  What is wrong with that? Don't the Jews deserve a homeland?
There are some inherent problems with Zionism that prevent not only a "homeland" for the Jews, but for anyone else in the Middle East region. Peace is one of the basic characteristics of a home, and that simply cannot take place by replacing co-existence in Palestine with a state that elevates Jewish rights over those of non-Jews. This logic of ethnic nationalism (constructing a "nation"-state with the idea of elevating the rights of a particular ethnic community) has actually been the guiding ideology oppressing Jewish peoples and other minorities across the world historically for centuries. In a nation-state, the rights of minorities are always secondary to the majority (whether by numbers or sheer power) population which constitutes the nation. Most notably apartheid South Africa, Nazi Germany, and even the Jim Crow-segregationist United States all attempted to use this logic of national ethnic superiority with extremely disastrous results.

Creating a Jewish nation-state is a replication, rather than a reversal, of the original problem that has haunted Jews across the world. Upholding the rights of all people equally, universally, and unconditionally is impossible in the framework of the state of Israel, where the explicit purpose of the state is to maintain a demographic majority of one particular ethnic group at all times.

  But isn't Israel a democracy? How does it not respect the universal rights of all people?
While the parliamentary system of Israel appears just like any other liberal representative government, there are a few major perceptible differences. In order to create a Jewish demographic majority, around one million non-Jewish Palestinians in 1948 had to be "transfered", i.e. forcefully expelled or coerced to leave. While any Jew regardless of their birthplace is granted automatic citizenship and allowed to settle in Israel under the "Law of Return", Palestinians are denied their right to return to their homes, which is a basic right enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Conventions and other international law treaties. Imagine if Native Americans forced your whole community one day to leave so they could construct their own "nation"-state, and never compensated or allowed you to come back (using checkpoints, missiles, tanks, and barbed-wire walls to drive home the message).

Additionally, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are denied citizenship, even though their lives are in the hands of the Israeli government. In fact, Israel is the only member of the UN to not submit a map of its borders since their true apartheid nature would be revealed. Palestinians living under military occupation face curfews, incursions, affluent Jewish-only settlements overlooking their pitiful refugee camps, Jewish-only freshly-paved highways, military checkpoints and institutional harassment like the requirement to obtain permits from Israel to travel anywhere outside their local town, village or city.

As has been proven by minorities all over the world, citizenship itself is not a guarantee of fair treatment. Exacerbated by Zionist policies to maintain an ethnic Jewish majority, Non-Jews inside the formal borders of Israel face widespread discrimination, harassment, and poverty even with their Israeli citizenship. For example, many indigenous communities are refused official recognition by the state of Israel, particularly in the Negev which has a low demographic concentration of Jews. These "unrecognized communities" are denied access to water, electricity, roads, schools, and other basic services in an attempt to encourage them to leave. For numerous other examples, see the Israeli Arab Association for Human Rights.

  Why are you singling out Israel? Why not focus on the rights of minorities in other "nation"-states, women, blacks, LGBT, or other groups facing persecution?
Our purpose is not to pick on anyone, but to bring attention to the inhumanity of Zionism, which is at the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a geopolitical nightmare that has cost tens of thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and exacerbated global anti-Semitism (directed at both Jews and Arabs alike, since both are Semitic peoples). The Zionist state of Israel currently receives widespread economic, military, and political support, especially from the US government (maintaining a sphere of influence in the resource-laden Middle East), to violate universal basic human rights in their project of ethnic-nationalism in Palestine. Many of us work with other groups, and we actively seek to form coalitions with student organizations committed to upholding universal human rights. To that end, we have co-founded the Student Coalition against Injustice and created a semesterly journal, Human Liberation, that focuses on struggles for social justice worldwide. To repeat, Nakba '48 supports the rights of all humanity; there is no inconsistency in our message of universal, equal human rights.

  How are Jews supposed to co-exist with Arabs who are anti-Semitic, do not respect Jews' right to life, and constantly resort to terrorism?
Firstly, there are many Arabs and Palestinians who are themselves Jews. They have peacefully co-existed in Palestine and the greater Middle East for thousands of years, sharing a common Semitic heritage with Arab Muslims and Christians in the region. While this co-existence was certainly not perfect, Palestine was often considered a haven for Jewish exiles who had suffered horrific injustices in Europe.

The context of the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is often framed, especially in the Western press, as two equally-equipped warring sides engaging in a "cycle of violence". Actually, the "conflict" is extremely asymmetrical with Palestinians struggling to survive under Israeli military occupation and suffering disproportionate collective punishment (see If Americans Knew for more details). Those who are simply defending their community against Israeli military incursions are killed as "terrorists" by the Israeli state and demonized posthumously as "militants" in the press.

However, we should not become nihilistic as there is a vibrant joint Palestinian-Israeli nonviolent civil disobedience movement, which often goes untold in the mainstream press. Israeli military officials have attacked these peaceful demonstrations (see Gush Shalom and the Independent Media Center-Israel) and even admitted to using undercover agents for provoking violence (see Ran HaCohen's report). The website of the International Solidarity Movement contains a wealth of information and updates on this movement.

  So, what is the solution?
For there to be authentic peace and security in the Middle East, there must first be justice. The ethnic nationalism that forms the basis of the state of Israel must end. The universal equal human rights of all people, including the right of return for Jews and non-Jews alike, must be guaranteed. We must recognize that this solution does not unduly privilege any group, but rather seeks an end to the inhuman, zero-sum logic used by Zionism, colonialism and other racist ideologies that believe someone can actually benefit from the oppression of another. Any "peace process" or "roadmap" should include these goals, rather than seeking to work around the original problem.

  Isn't this goal of working to end Zionism and the state of Israel pretty unrealistic?
Of course this goal is not easy, nor a simple or quick fix, but real lasting change hardly ever comes without hard work. The model of ending apartheid in South Africa definitely provides inspiration for the collective triumph of humanity over seemingly insurmountable odds. Grassroots awareness and divestment campaigns surfaced in places like Gainesville to demand that higher institutions--like universities, churches, city councils and eventually the US government--end their support for ethnic nationalism.

  What can I do?
You can increase your awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and the tragedy of Zionism by coming to the table of Nakba '48 at Turlington Plaza, signing our petition for the basic human right of return for the Palestinian people, supporting our divestment campaign against the Zionist state of Israel, joining our organization, subscribing to our announcement list, and most importantly speaking out against injustice in your daily life wherever you are or whatever the context.

Please contact us to ask a question or with your comments and concerns.

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