Meaning of nakba | Babel Free

Definitions

1. In Arab contexts: a catastrophe; a grave setback.
2. Alternative letter-case form of Nakba.
   alt-of
3. The dispossession of land and other property, destruction of society, and suppression of culture and political rights experienced by Palestinian Arabs occuring since the 1948 Palestine war and establishment of the State of Israel.

Equivalents

Examples

“Our President is admitting that the war has been a nakba, a setback. 'I take full personal responsibility.' 'But not for long,' murmurs Mahmoud, in whose company I am watching this ultra-dramatic moment.”

“A second nakba happened after the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel captured Arab land that belonged to Jordan and Egypt; another 325,000 Palestinians left their homes.”

“But for now, there is no prophet amongst the politicians, and the only prophecies to be heard are of nakbas and holocausts.”

“That al-Husayni [Amin al-Husseini]'s political career has not received balanced and impartial treatment is, of course, not remarkable in view of the passion his name has always inspired. Some Arab biographers have lauded him and his cause, seeking to absolve him of any responsibility for the 1948 nakba, while Jewish nationalists vilify him and discredit his movement.”

“Indeed, violence broke out in the occupied territories in mid-May 2000 as Palestinians observed the anniversary of the 1948 nakba—these disturbances paled in comparison to the second intifada, which erupted in the autumn.”

“Ever since the 1948 nakba, Arab thinkers and intellectuals have been studying the causes of their condition and recommending ways for changing or improving it.”

“That al-Husayni [Amin al-Husseini]'s political career has not received balanced and impartial treatment is, of course, not remarkable in view of the passion his name has always inspired. Some Arab biographers have lauded him and his cause, seeking to absolve him of any responsibility for the 1948 nakba, while Jewish nationalists vilify him and discredit his movement.”

“The ongoing Nakba (the Catastrophe) perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians since 1948 is characterized by a new form of Apartheid, including elements of the crime of Apartheid as defined in the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention), colonialism and other forms of extreme racism practiced by Israel in the OPTs [Occupied Palestinian Territories].”

“Indeed, violence broke out in the occupied territories in mid-May 2000 as Palestinians observed the anniversary of the 1948 nakba—these disturbances paled in comparison to the second intifada, which erupted in the autumn.”

“Ever since the 1948 nakba, Arab thinkers and intellectuals have been studying the causes of their condition and recommending ways for changing or improving it.”

“Dr. Erakat reiterated that the Palestinian Nakba continues to this day, as Israeli practices and policies of evictions, home demolitions, deportations, settlement activities, wall building, as well as closure and siege in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip generate new waves of displaced persons.”

“FNJ [Friday Night Jews at Brown University] began as an informal Shabbat dinner gathering in 2016, as a space for Jewish students who were feeling fed up with Hillel [International]'s limitations regarding Israel/Palestine discourse, after the Brown/RISD Hillel rescinded sponsorship of a film screening by the Israeli nonprofit Zochrot, an organization that educates Jewish Israelis about the Nakba.”

“Speaking as he met US secretary of state Anthony Blinken in Jordan, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said a "forced displacement" would amount to a "second Nakba", or catastrophe.”

CEFR level