A momentous but also a deeply person event, four Palestinians living in Australia told Michael Brull for New Matilda what al-Nakba, their nation’s ‘catastrophe’, means to them.
Australia Day marks the date of the colonial invasion by the First Fleet. Thus, while many Australians celebrate the day, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples mourn it as Invasion Day or Survival Day. The creation of Australia meant their dispossession, and the devastation of their peoples and cultures.
Likewise, Israel’s founding is celebrated on Yom Ha’atzmaut. This is held on the Jewish calendar’s equivalent of 14 May, the anniversary of the day in 1948 when Israel declared independence. On 15 May, Palestinians mourn Nakba Day. Like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the creation of Israel meant the dispossession of Palestinians from their homeland. To commemorate the Nakba this year, I asked four Palestinians to reflect on what Nakba Day means to them.
Read the full article by Michael Brull at New Matilda