Arts & Culture: 13 insightful photos of early 1900s Palestine
Seventy two years ago, on May 14, 1948, the map of the Levant changed. A line was drawn in the sand – literally, figuratively and unilaterally – to create the state of Israel in the land of Palestine. For Palestinians, 700,000 of whom were expelled from the area, it was a day of extreme deprivation and inconsolable grief, and its consequences have yet to be rectified.
The day after the anniversary of Israel's formation, May 15, is commemorated as Nakba Day – nakba being the Arabic word for "catastrophe". It is a day to recognise the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people, and to reflect upon what can be done to alleviate it.
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epa08360794 Palestinians walk in empty street inside al-Tujjar caravanserai in the West Bank city of Nablus, 13 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
epa08362541 Palestinians deliver food for patients and health workers at three quarantine centres in the West Bank city of Nablus, 14 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
A member of Palestinian Civil Defence wears a face shield as he takes part in a drill for dealing with coronavirus cases, amid concerns about the spread of the disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
epa08362952 Palestinians fly a kite from their home roof over a neighborhood of the West Bank City of Nablus, 14 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem Bishop Theofilactos leaves the Church of the Nativity to receive the Holy Fire as the ceremony is celebrated without a crowd due to the coronavirus disease restrictions in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma -
A Palestinian girl looks out of her family apartment during a home-confinement order imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
A Palestinian groom, Rafeh Qassim, wears a mask as he sits in a car with his bride on their wedding day amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY -
A member of Palestinian Civil Defence on a truck sprays disinfectants during a drill for dealing with coronavirus cases, amid concerns about the spread of the disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
epa08380077 Medical staff of the Palestinian health ministry checks the temperature of workers crossing the checkpoint of Mitar, near the West Bank town of Hebron, 23 April 2020. The instructions of the National Authority Ministry of Health forbid gatherings and movement between cities to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN -
epa08380080 Medical staff of the Palestinian health ministry takes a swab sample from a worker crossing the checkpoint of Mitar, near the West Bank town of Hebron, 23 April 2020. The instructions of the National Authority Ministry of Health forbid gatherings and movement between cities to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN -
Dr Hani Abdin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Palestinian Al-Quds University, speaks during an interview at the campus in Abu Dis in the West Bank on April 23, 2020, as he showcases a respirator device built on campus and certified by Palestinian health authorities. Al-Quds University announced on April 23 that the Palestinian Ministry of Health had approved the computerised artificial respiration apparatus built by the university in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The university will launch its first devices for hospital use in the following week while working to register a patent. / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI -
Palestinians, wearing protective masks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, pay for their shopping at the checkout counter of a supermarket on the last day before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, beginning later in the night, at a supermarket in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on April 23, 2020. / AFP / HAZEM BADER -
Palestinian security officers look at an ostrich in a cage at the Qalqilya Zoo in the occupied West Bank, after the animal park was completely closed to visitors due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, on April 21, 2020. The zoo manager said the animals had started mating more due to the calm atmosphere, with the lack of visitors also improving their behaviour. The zoo is funded by the local municipality but faces a potential financial crisis with budget cuts. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH -
Palestinians, some wearing protective masks, shop at a fruit and vegetables market during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2020. / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI -
Palestinian Reem Abu Ayyash shows a spoon filled with rice during a video call with her husband Rami, a nurse who treats the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients and has avoided his family during Ramadan out of fear of contagion, as she prepares to have her Iftar (breaking fast) meal with her daughter at their home near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 28, 2020. Picture taken April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY -
A Palestinian preacher speaks before a camera while recording a sermon and broadcasting the audio onto loudspeakers inside an empty mosque, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the village of Salem east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on April 24, 2020. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH
As in 1948, this year’s Nakba Day also takes place the day after the formation of an Israeli government, albeit a new cabinet rather than a new state. And yet if this new administration has its way and annexes large parts of the Palestinian Territories, the map will change once again, to devastating effect.
After 18 months of political stalemate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his arch-rival-turned-ally Benny Gantz have formed a coalition built primarily on the platform of annexation. It was also formed out of a desperation to exclude Arab-Israeli political parties, whose constituents make up a fifth of Israel’s population, from any share in government.
Palestine and Israel are currently fighting a common enemy in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the Israeli government seems determined to ensure that they are not on the same side. Israel has consistently blocked Palestinian attempts to import or create the supplies needed to contain the virus, all the while pushing ahead with an annexation plan.
This was made even more apparent this week, when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel. Although Mr Pompeo sent signals on Washington’s behalf that a slowdown in annexation may be appropriate, given the pandemic situation and pressure from the region’s Arab states, he continued to advocate the merits of US President Donald Trump’s so-called peace plan, of which annexation forms an integral part.
There was no recognition whatsoever during the visit of the desperation among Palestinians in the face of the mounting threats – between the public health emergency and the loss of their land – to their own existence. Nor was there any mention of the interests of Arab citizens of Israel, whose immediate ancestors were also victims of the Nakba. Instead, the overall message remained that American leadership reserves its greatest compassion for the State of Israel alone.
That the state of Israel is here to stay is beyond dispute. But to allow that state to continue acting and relentlessly expanding in a way that causes perpetual suffering for others is unacceptable.
Arab citizens of Israel deserve not only full rights in the eyes of the law, but an end to the daily discrimination that disadvantages them in their own homeland. Palestinians deserve the complete restoration of their dignity and an end to the occupation. The longer that Israel operates as though none of these things matter, the heavier the moral burden will weigh upon the shoulders of Israelis. As for the Palestinians who are being kept under their thumb, the weight risks crushing their sense of justice for good.
