Jenin / PNN – By Yara Mansour
Seventy-seven years have passed since the Nakba — the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war — and yet for many, it is not a memory but an ongoing, lived experience. The grandfather was uprooted, and now the grandson is, too. In refugee camps, among the ruins of demolished homes, and across public squares, the Nakba remains etched into Palestinian life.
Palestinians who lived through the original catastrophe in 1948 insist that the Nakba is not merely an annual commemoration. Rather, it is a continuous reality that takes new forms with every generation. Between displacement, life in camps, and shifting political landscapes, the narrative continues to evolve. Yet, the dream of return persists, and the right of return, many say, remains inalienable.
Among those displaced twice is 90-year-old Subhiyya al-Masri. She was a teenager during the original Nakba and, in 2025, has found herself uprooted once again amid new waves of Israeli military escalation. “What is happening now brings back all the memories,” she told PNN, recounting her forced departure from her village of Sha’ab in 1948, when Jewish militias attacked surrounding towns. Her family fled to Jenin, where they lived in refugee tents.
“I left my village without even being able to collect my ID card,” she said. “We left under fire, and we’ve been refugees ever since.”
Al-Masri recalls the presence of Iraqi troops stationed in the Palestinian village of Rummana at the time, describing them as brave fighters who died defending the area. She added that the local population had supported the Iraqi army and continued resisting ever since — a legacy that, she said, lives on in the younger generations who are still fighting today.
Her more recent displacement came after the Israeli army threatened to destroy homes in Jenin camp, where she lived. Fearing for their children and loved ones, families fled with nothing. “Just like in ’48,” she said, “they stole everything again — even the jerry cans of olive oil. They filled them up and took them to sell.”
Analysts and historians see this year’s 77th Nakba anniversary as more than symbolic. It comes as Palestinians in Gaza endure what many describe as one of the most catastrophic Israeli assaults in history, now ongoing for over 580 days. More than 50,000 people have been killed and 100,000 injured, while tens of thousands of homes have been reduced to rubble. Gaza, observers say, has been pushed beyond the limits of human survival.
In the West Bank, the situation is similarly grave. According to political analyst and American University professor Dr Ayman Yousef, over 50,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from northern areas such as Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams. “The Nakba is being renewed in every sense,” Yousef told PNN. “What happened in 1948 — the displacement of 800,000 Palestinians and the destruction of 534 villages — is happening again, but on an even larger, more brutal scale.”
He noted that while Israeli settlement expansion continues under the far-right government led by figures like Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu and Smotrich, international efforts to halt the violence or negotiate peace have faltered. “The international community has failed to impose any vision on the Israeli government,” he said.
Despite the devastation, Yousef argued that there has been a notable shift in global awareness of the Palestinian cause. “We are witnessing a victory of the Palestinian narrative and identity on the world stage,” he said, adding that Palestinian resilience in Gaza and the West Bank has strengthened their national consciousness and global visibility.
In the streets of Jenin, the Nakba is no longer just an echo from the past — it is a reality unfolding in real time. For Palestinians, the fight for return, justice and freedom continues, seventy-seven years on.
