May 15th marks the commemoration by the Palestinians of the “Nakba” (catastrophe/disaster in Arabic), which resulted in the expulsion of about 720 000 Palestinians (half the Palestinian population from historic Palestine and 85% of the Palestinians living in what was to become the State of Israel) who were turned into refugees.
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 stated that "the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date". The estimated number of Palestinian refugees, including both first-generation refugees and their descendants, exceeds four million. Today, 65 years later, the palestinian refugees are still not allowed to return to their homes, and some are still refugees in their own homeland. Israel continues to deny the Palestinian right of return. Academic research has dealt with the political, social, and cultural aspects of the Nakba. You can access some of this research in the following links:
Michael R. Fischbach “The Impact of the 1948 Desaster: The Ways that the Nakba has Influenced Palestinian History” International Symposium “International Symposium “The Transformation of Palestine: Palestine and the Palestinians 60 Years after the ‘Nakba’”, Berlin, March, 2010.
