Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, speaking at the event for the 75th anniversary of the Nakba at the United Nations headquarters on Monday Photo NY Times Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Palestine – The United Nations, for the first time in seventy years on Monday, officially commemorated Al-Nakba. It is a historic moment that recognises the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the war surrounding the creation of Israel.
The 75th anniversary of Al-Nakba or “catastrophe” is special because of the UN recognising this day, said Dr. Ramzi Odah, Director of the Research Unit at the Palestinian Institute for National Security Research. Odah believes this step gives them renewed hope that they may now be able to push the international community to hold Israel accountable for their actions.
“I think it will give us more hope. Yesterday President Mahmoud Abbas made a speech in the US General Assembly to talk about the importance of these events, especially this year. This means the UN and all of the international communities recognise what happens in Palestine and have called it Al-Nakba. It means there is ethnic cleansing. There are people who have fled from their homeland.”
Israel has urged other countries to boycott the event
While Palestinians recognise Al-Nakba as the day hundreds of thousands fled their homes and many more were killed, Israel recognises it as the day it was created. Thus, it does not come as a surprise that Israel’s UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called on UN member states to boycott the event.
In a letter sent to UN representatives, Erdan called the commemoration of Al-Nakba a “despicable event”. Those who attend it destroy “any chance of peace by adopting the Palestinian narrative” which calls the founding of “Israel a disaster”. Erdan has called the event a “new low for the UN”.
While Israel has called for UN states to boycott the event, Odah reiterated that it is time the world boycotted Israel.
“The first step for the international community is to boycott them. Israel is destroying the values of international law, the values of human beings. They have an Apartheid regime. The first step for the international community is to recognise the Palestinian state and transfer Israeli’s crimes to the international court.”
The United States, United Kingdom and Ukraine are amongst those who voted against officially commemorating the event and have chosen to not participate in it.
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The UN’s view on Al-Nakba
Although the UN has commemorated Al-Nakba officially, it does not mean they are on the side of Palestine fully. Odah pointed out that while 15 May is recognised as Al-Nakba day, the Nakba still carries on till this day with no resolutions being implemented.
“The Nakba carries on till today. It is a crime. A continuous crime. Till now there are no international steps or implementation taken against Israel. Still the international system gives a home to us. We cannot change the situation. We need international law to help us.”
Slowly but surely things have been changing around the world. Odah has noticed the Democratic party in the US has started to support Palestine as well as other parties across Europe. Odah is hopeful that as more countries recognise Palestine, the higher the chance that Israel will finally be held accountable for their actions.
Dr. Ramzi Odah discussed the double standards shown to Ukraine and Palestine with Julie Alli. To hear that discussion, listen to the podcast here:
