Commemorating the Naksa
June 5, 2020
The 5th of June is marked as ‘Naksa Day’. In 1967, after the conclusion of the Third Israeli-Arab War, Israel began its miliary occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank and expelled over 300,000 Palestinians.
Although Gaza has been under siege since 2007, prior to that Gaza was directly occupied by the Israeli army and settlers. The Israeli disengagement in 2006 saw 8,000 Jewish settlers relocated from Gaza to the West Bank. The people of Gaza endured decades of military and settler violence, and now must live in the ‘world’s largest open air prison’.
The legacy of the Nakba and the Naksa has left the people of Gaza traumatised and denied them their human rights. Gaza is often viewed as a dangerous strip of land and its people seen as the aggressors, when in reality every generation since 1967 has lived under the threat of constant military violence.
On this day, we recognise the tragic impact of the Naksa, the ongoing displacement of Palestinian refugees and the ongoing denial of human rights. It has been over five decades since events of the Naksa and it is truly a shame that the people of Gaza have been made to suffer and are continuing to be collectively punised and endangered.
