In Pictures

Gallery|Israel-Palestine conflict

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux

Palestinians recall the Nakba in 1948 and warn that Israel’s war in Gaza today amounts to a second Nakba.

Palestinians recall the Nakba in 1948 and warn that Israel’s war in Gaza today amounts to a second Nakba

By Danylo Hawaleshka

History Illustrated is a weekly series of insightful perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — Generations of Palestinians who grew up hearing the horror stories of the 1948 ethnic cleansing, known as the Nakba, today consider Israel's war on Gaza a second Nakba.

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Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — Nakba means catastrophe in Arabic and refers to how Zionist militias, shortly after World War II, displaced about 750,000 Palestinians from their homes to establish the state of Israel.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — In late 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — Arabs rejected the UN’s partition plan as a theft of Palestinian land by Zionists, in collusion with the UK — the region’s colonial power — and warned of the coming devastation. (It didn’t take long for the killing to start.)

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — On March 10, 1948, the Zionist Haganah paramilitary group adopted Plan Dalet, which laid out a strategy to ethnically cleanse Palestine.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — A month later, in the village of Deir Yassin, Zionist militias killed more than 100 men, women and children — one of several massacres that served to terrorise Palestinians.

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Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — Today, some members of the Israeli parliament, like Ariel Kallner of the Likud party, have called for more ethnic cleansing. “Right now, one goal: Nakba, a Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of ’48,” Kallner said.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — The numbers suggest Kallner is getting his wish. The UN says the Israeli military has damaged or destroyed more than 70 percent of all housing in Gaza, displacing more than 1.5 million people.

Ethnic cleansing in Palestine redux — Back in October, Ahmed al-Saadi and his family took refuge in a UN school that the Israeli military subsequently bombed. “Where can an entire population seek safety,” asked the resident of Gaza. Seven months later, with the Israeli army threatening to lay waste to Rafah, people’s lives are now much worse ... with the Nakba of 1948 looking like it was just the beginning.