On the 76th commemoration of Nakba, Hamas says resistance a 'right'
6 Min Read
The movement called on the nations and all free people in the world to pressure "Israel" to end its aggression against Palestinians.
-
Students and activists hold Palestinian flags as they chant slogans during a march from the American University of Beirut to the United Kingdom Embassy, to mark the 76th anniversary of the displacement of Palestinians in 1948, often called the "Nakba," or Arabic for catastrophe, in Beirut, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
On the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, the Palestinian resistance, Hamas, has affirmed that the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood is a "natural extension of the Palestinian people’s right and resistance,” and called on the masses of the Palestinian people wherever they are, at home and in the diaspora, to continue their steadfastness and confront the occupation and its plans.
The operation on October and the ongoing battle have consolidated cohesion, interconnectedness, and solidarity in all Palestinians at home and abroad and have proven to the world that they are a people who do not know defeat, surrender, or compromise and abandonment of their land.
They will hold to their rights, the movement confirmed, despite the strength of their enemy and its supporters and irrespective of the time it takes.
In a press statement on the seventy-sixth anniversary of the Nakba, the movement added that al-Aqsa Flood reaffirmed “the legitimacy of the struggle of the Palestinian people and the justice of its cause, and restored its global presence, as a just cause of national liberation, for the sake of achieving freedom, independence, self-determination, and the establishment of a complete Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital.
It commended those in Gaza, calling them people of loyalty, generous and joyous souls, giving all they have for the sake of Palestine, al-Quds, and al-Aqsa.
The statement saluted them for their sacrifice, patience, and redemption, despite the pain of displacement, daily bombing, starvation, and killing committed by the "Nazi occupation," who will have its dreams and illusions shattered on the battleground in Gaza.
Hamas expressed that the Israeli aggression, which has been going on for 76 years, and the genocide that people in the Gaza Strip have been subjected to for more than seven months constitute a disgrace for all those who are silent and "reluctant to expose it, criminalize it, and work to stop it.”
The movement called on the nations and all free people in the world to pressure "Israel" to end its aggression against Palestinians and to support the steadfastness and struggle of the Palestinian people aspiring to freedom and independence.
US and Western nations complicit in genocide
The statement stressed that the US support and bias towards these crimes and the policy of double standards practiced by Western powers in dealing with Palestine is considered a "major sin against humanity," making them " partners in responsibility for the genocide."
The movement added that "Israel" has no legitimacy or sovereignty over an inch of al-Quds or al-Aqsa mosque and the people "will not allow their landmarks to be obliterated and the facts to be changed.”
In this context, the movement praised the sacrifices of Palestinian prisoners, stressing that it would remain loyal to them until their liberation, warning the occupation against escalating its violations and crimes against them, and holding it fully responsible for the lives and safety of the prisoners in its prisons since the beginning of this aggression, calling on the United Nations and human rights and humanitarian institutions to intervene by all means necessary to criminalize and end the occupation's systemic violence against them.
"Israel" is responsible for the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees as well, the statement read, adding that "their legitimate right to return to their homes from which they were displaced cannot be waived or neglected."
The movement called on the Palestinian masses at home and in the diaspora to continue their steadfastness in the face of the occupation adding that it calls on the heroes in al-Quds and the entire occupied West Bank to further engage in confronting the IOF and Israeli settlers in defense of their land for a total victory for Gaza, al-Quds, and Al-Aqsa.
In regards to the massive pro-Palestine demonstrations around the world, Hamas called on the masses to continue this movement in all capitals, cities, and corners of the world to pressure countries and governments to end their support for "Israel."
76 years after the Nakba
The Palestinians annually commemorate the Nakba, which translates to catastrophe, on the fifteenth of May, the date on which David Ben-Gurion announced in 1948 the establishment of an occupying entity over an area of ​​85% of Palestine after Zionist gangs occupied areas inside Palestine and carried out more than 70 genocidal massacres. Ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in more than 530 villages and towns took place, and those who remained alive experienced mass displacement.
Following the Nakba, about 800,000 Palestinians, out of about 1,400,000, were displaced to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the neighboring Arab countries, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, where camps were established.
The Palestinian Nakba was fully supported by the West, especially Britain, which pledged in 1917 to “establish a national homeland for the Jews in the land of Palestine,” known then as the Balfour Declaration.
The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics reported, on Sunday, that the number of Palestinians in Palestine and abroad has increased nearly tenfold since the Nakba of 1948.
The Bureau added in a statement that "despite the displacement of about one million Palestinians in 1948 and more than 200,000 Palestinians after the June 1967 war, the total number of Palestinians worldwide reached 14.63 million by the end of 2023."
Moreover, the statement underscored that "5.55 million of them [Palestinians] reside in the State of Palestine and about 1.75 million Palestinians in the 1948 territories, while the number of Palestinians in Arab countries reached about 6.56 million and those in foreign countries stand at about 772,000."
“Our children and grandchildren will never forget #Palestine.”
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 18, 2023
Maryam Nemer Mahmoud's family bore witness to the heart-wrenching events of the #Nakba in Palestine, here’s her story. pic.twitter.com/DL30lh22qD
