Nakba Day

Posted on May 14, 2026

On May 11, 2022, acclaimed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli military. Shireen was fatally shot by an Israeli military sniper while she was reporting for Al Jazeera on Israel’s “military raids” on the Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank.

The “military raids” near Jenin happened just before Nakba Day, marked every year on May 15. Nakba refers to the catastrophe of the destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages and the forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 as Israel became a state.

Scholars agree that the Nakba began before 1948 and has never ended. It is an ongoing reality today for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Commemorate the Nakba with us this Friday, and come to other events this month supporting Palestinians, promoting peace, and confronting militarization.

Join us this Friday at our weekly peace vigil, 4th & Water Street, as we remember Shireen Ablu Akleh and commemorate the 78th anniversary of Nakba Day, or find a Nakba Day event near you.

Nakba Day 76 – Panel and film

Posted on May 14, 2024

Join students, faculty, and community members for a panel discussion and film at The Evergreen State College today today. Presenters will facilitate a discussion on the history of the Nakba, and the colonial process of ethnic cleansing and displacement inflicted on the Palestinian people in their native homeland.

This free event open to the public includes a showing of the moving historical drama film, Farha, about how the Nakba affected the dreams of a teenage Palestinian girl.

Remembering the Nakba

Posted on May 13, 2024

Palestinians mark the Nakba each year on May 15. The Nakba (Catastrophe) refers to the loss of hundreds of Palestinian villages, and the forced expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes between 1947-1949. Today, scholars and many others note that the Nakba has never ended and continues in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice will mark the Nakba this Monday, May 13, at the north end of Heritage Park (across from Traditions Fair Trade) in downtown Olympia, 9:00 AM- 6:00 PM. We’ll have a Nakba display representing many of the towns and villages destroyed from 1947-1949, and will have volunteers with tabling materials to support conversations about how the Nakba continues and what we can do about it.

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