Is There Any Hope and Future for Palestine After Nakba?

By: Dr Shereeza Mohamed Saniff

15^th May 2023 marked the 75^th year of Nakba. It is a term that may be rather alien to us here in Malaysia especially, for those who are not well tuned to the Palestinian struggles to reclaim their land. However, this term abhorred and rejected by the Israelis is a term gaining recognition of late internationally. So, what is Nakba? How is the term associated with Palestine and finally the imposing question of this article – is there the possibility for Palestine to go back to normal after Nakba?

Understanding Nakba

Nakba is an Arabic term means “disaster” or ‘catastrophe”. It is a term that narrates vividly the violent atrocities of human rights violations that Palestinians had to face 75 years ago while the world at large stood as mere spectators. It is a term that is meant to describe the inhumanity that existed when an estimated 726,000 (or 75% of the Palestinians) were brutally forced to flee or were expelled and had to abandon EVERYTHING. More than 500 Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed in the culmination to “Nakba Day”.

“Nakba Day” is the day after Israel proclaimed its independence in 1948. It was declared to be commemorated on the 15^th of May annually by Yasser Arafat in 1988. Nakba provides the vivid contrast to the establishment of the state of Israel. Nakba however was not a one-time occurrence. It signified part of a larger plan for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Palestine which is still ongoing till today. Nakba also signified the denial of basic rights to the Palestinians. Palestinians were and are still denied their homes, their lands, their rights to live in their homeland peacefully. Our Palestinians brothers and sisters are stripped of their freedom of movement, their ability to sustain a functioning economy, their access to water and electricity. Entire generations of Palestinians have been born scattered around the world and lived without justice and freedom.

Nakba and the Effect on Socio-Economics-Politics of Palestine

Palestinians lost their lives while those who successfully fled lived in constant exile, displacement and injustice. Entire generations of Palestinians have been born scattered around the world and lived without justice and freedom. The conflict lingers and present-day Palestinian’s life is constantly shaped by these events of the past which permeates around the upholding of the refugee problem, disintegrating an entire society, thwarting economic development, and keeping a nation broadly dependent upon international aid for survival. Such a situation has created unending crises to our Palestinians’ lives be it socially, economically and politically.

Nakba is not just about the loss of lives and the loss of properties to the Palestinians. Nakba spells disaster too at the economic front of Palestine. Palestine’s economy is said to have “stagnated” causing the per capita income to decrease with unemployment increased, poverty widespread and still rising, there is labour underutilization and the toll on the environment (contributed by “Slow Violence”) has risen in parts of what is left of Palestine.

Palestinian people have been and are isolated from international markets. They are dependable on Israel. The micro and small enterprises (SMEs) make up the bulk of the Palestinian economy. SMEs are operating only at 50% of their production capacity. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), 90.5% of companies are micro (with fewer than four employees) and 8.38% are small (with fewer than 20 employees). The Palestinian manufacturing SMEs are struggling with various difficulties that impede their potential to prosper and reach a higher degree of desired sustainable performance. Significant issues associated with external political turbulence, limitations of the growth to create enabling business environment and managerial issues permeating within the SMEs in Palestine are the notable difficulties that is hurting the economy to flourish. The economy has been experiencing excessively high unemployment rates too.

Healthwise, the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territory has resulted in stunted development, weak and underfunded health and social services for the Palestinians. There is lack of long-term development which exacerbates the current situation. Women, children, and daily-paid employees were significantly found to be more disadvantaged than other groups in the community in terms of experiencing violence and anxieties.

In terms of the accessibility to clean water and electricity, the Palestinians face a lack of financial resources and had to largely rely on international donors to develop their water infrastructure. But donations are often times dependent on political ties of donor. Water tariffs barely cover operating costs whilst operational subsidies are hard to come by while the domestic revenue cannot be allocated to the water sector. In addition, Palestinians face the challenge of energy availability too. The power supply can only meet half of the need for electricity in Palestine.

The Crushing Question

It is injustice to write that the after effect of Nakba is to see entire generations of Palestinians born scattered around the world and lived without justice and freedom, stripped of any basic rights and through deliberate acts undergo numerous psychological programming aimed at despairing their hopes for Palestine to return to normal.

Whether there will be an end to a process that has not stopped, is akin to asking whether there can be the elimination of the Partition Plan and return to status quo prior to Nakba. That is the hope for all Palestinians and those around the world who support in the cause of Palestinians’ freedom.  Such efforts require persevered inner strengths, unified thoughts and actions of all Palestinians of the confidence and hopes that Palestine will return to her glorious days where edible wild plants are easily available with abundance of tracks leading to many plots of fertile agricultural lands outlying landscape of Palestine. It is their rights to return to normal again as accorded the rights to be a citizen of any country – to be given citizenship and rights to own land and properties, to have a thriving economy, to have fertile soil to have happy families and homes.

The Palestinians will never relinquish their historical and legal right of return to their homeland. The Palestinians will never relinquish their demand that Israel acknowledges its moral and political responsibilities for this ongoing tragedy and the gross injustice inflicted onto the Palestinian people.

In a nutshell, there is still hope for Palestine to go back normal after Nakba. Nakba has, deliberately and successfully explicate 75 years of steadfastness, self-respect and unrelenting struggle for freedom and justice of our Palestinian brother and sisters. Therefore, through this article Malaysian Research and Education Foundation (MyREF) and the Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs (ACCIN) through the initiative, Justice for Palestine Action Front (JPAF) firmly expressing their stance to stop any form of cruelty and oppression that interfere the peace in Palestine.