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Photos: Palestinians mark 74th Nakba Day

Each year Palestinians commemorate the Nakba on May 15 when 750,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homes.

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Palestinians wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
Palestinians wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the Nakba in the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah [Abbas Momani/AFP]
Published On 15 May 2022

Thousands of Palestinians rallied on Sunday during Nakba Day – what Palestinians call “the catastrophe” that befell them in the war that led to the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes during and after the war.

The Nakba refers to the systematic ethnic cleansing of one-third of the Palestinian population at the time by Zionist paramilitaries between 1947-1949 and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society.

About 750,000 Palestinians out of a population of 1.9 million were expelled from their towns and villages to make way for new Jewish immigrants.

The anniversary comes when many are angered by the killing of prominent Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
It has been 74 years since Palestinians lost their homeland when the state of Israel was created. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]
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Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
A Palestinian woman holds a poster of recently slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a rally to mark the 74th anniversary of the Nakba or 'catastrophe'. [Abbas Momani/AFP]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
Before the British Mandate began in Palestine one century ago, Jews made up only three percent of the population. [Abbas Momani/AFP]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
By 1947, Jewish immigration mostly from Europe grew to 33 percent. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
Zionist military forces expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land and captured 78 percent of historic Palestine. [Abbas Momani/AFP]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
The remaining 22 percent was divided into what are now the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]
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Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
Armed Zionist forces captured most of historic Palestine and expelled 750,000 Palestinians. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
Palestinians wave national flags and carry giant mock keys, a widely used symbol of the Nakba, as many Palestinians kept the keys to their homes when they were forced into exile in 1948. [Abbas Momani/AFP]
Palestinian wave national flags as they march in a rally marking the 74th anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe"
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel’s occupation of historic Palestine was complete. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]