An early pilot · A community project
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النكبة
Date qualified29 November 1947 – 1949
Palestine
From the partition vote of November 1947 to the beginning of 1949, three-quarters of a million Palestinians were driven from their cities, towns and villages. More than four hundred villages and towns were destroyed and emptied, some 13,000 people were killed, and Israel came to hold about 77 percent of Mandate Palestine.
Related
EventThe first armistice agreement is signed at Rhodes24 February 1949
Why this connection? ↗Containment does not imply causation.
Commanded the Army of the Holy War; killed at al-Qastal, 8 April 1948
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography)
Killed near al-Shajara on 13 July 1948, in the Hittin brigade’s attack
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography)
Linked context in the legacy record
In 1948 three-quarters of a million Palestinians were forced to leave their land and country. By some estimates about 280,000 went to the West Bank, 190,000 to the Gaza Strip, 100,000 to Lebanon, 75,000 to Syria, 70,000 to the East Bank of the Jordan, 7,000 to Egypt and 4,000 to Iraq, and the rest to other Arab countries. Where they went was largely decided by where they had lived: from Acre and Haifa north to Lebanon, from Safad, Tiberias and Baysan to Syria, from Lydda and Ramla east to the West Bank, from Isdud, al-Majdal and Bir al-Sabi’ to the Gaza Strip or Hebron.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Opening of the highlight text (Maher Charif)
Editorial paraphrase · enThree-quarters of a million forced to leave; estimates of where they went: 280,000 West Bank, 190,000 Gaza Strip, 100,000 Lebanon, 75,000 Syria, 70,000 East Bank, 7,000 Egypt, 4,000 Iraq.
Link to this citationThe encyclopedia describes the exodus in four stages. The first began with the partition vote of 29 November 1947, with attacks on villages and towns from December. The second began on 10 March 1948 with Plan Dalet, which turned sporadic attacks into organised operations to take as much territory as possible before the Mandate ended; in April and May the attacks turned on the towns, and Tiberias, Haifa, Safad and Jaffa were emptied of their Palestinian people, while Baysan and Acre were occupied. The third began on 15 May 1948, after Israel was proclaimed, as Arab armies entered Palestine; it brought the massacre at al-Tantura and the expulsion of Lydda and Ramla. The fourth, from October 1948 to the beginning of 1949, reached Bir al-Sabi’, al-Dawayima, Isdud, al-Majdal and the Negev.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: The four stages of the exodus
Editorial paraphrase · enFirst stage from 29 November 1947; second from 10 March 1948 with Plan Dalet; third from 15 May 1948; fourth from October 1948 to the beginning of 1949.
Link to this citationBy the end of the war more than four hundred villages and towns had been destroyed and depopulated, and 13,000 people killed. Israel controlled about 77 percent of the land of Mandate Palestine, which had lost about 90 percent of its Arab population. Palestinians call the events of 1947–48 the Nakba: the catastrophe.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Closing paragraph (Maher Charif)
Editorial paraphrase · enOver four hundred villages and towns destroyed and depopulated, 13,000 killed; Israel held about 77 percent of Mandate Palestine, depopulated of about 90 percent of its Arab population.
Link to this citationSources & evidence
Contextual sources are further reading. Precise supporting passages appear alongside the chapters.
article · United Nations
Supports the event summary and historical context. Consult the original record for detail and attribution.
Reference and original summary only. Original material remains with its publisher; no full-text reproduction permission is implied.
article · United Nations
Supports the event summary and historical context. Consult the original record for detail and attribution.
Reference and original summary only. Original material remains with its publisher; no full-text reproduction permission is implied.
photograph · Wikimedia Commons
The photograph shown with this event: Refugees leave the Gaza Strip by boat, 1948.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/): shown with its credit; adaptations carry the same licence.
article · PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies
Overview by Maher Charif, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Institute for Palestine Studies).
Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.
29 November 1947 – 1949 · duration
05-15 · commemoration
Nakba Day commemorates a process of displacement; 15 May is not an exact date for every event within it.
EVERY RECORD IS PART OF A LARGER STORY
PersonAbd al-Qadir al-Husseini participated in EventThe Nakba
Role: Commanded the Army of the Holy War; killed at al-Qastal, 8 April 1948
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography).
PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · supports · section: “When the Arab Higher Committee announced the jihad following the UN Partition Resolution, Husseini reformed the Army of the Holy War… and was chosen to command them.”
Evidence version:palquest-abd-al-qadir-al-husseini-biography:v1References show the basis of this connection; their count is not a measure of independent corroboration.
PersonAbd al-Rahim Mahmoud participated in EventThe Nakba
Role: Killed near al-Shajara on 13 July 1948, in the Hittin brigade’s attack
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, biography).
PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · supports · section: “On 13 July 1948, Abd al-Rahim Mahmoud was killed by a shell as the Hittin brigade was carrying out an attack on the Jewish colony of al-Sajara, close to the Arab village of al-Shajara”
Evidence version:palquest-abd-al-rahim-mahmoud-biography:v1References show the basis of this connection; their count is not a measure of independent corroboration.
EventThe first armistice agreement is signed at Rhodes is connected to EventThe Nakba
Role: The armistices ended the war’s bloodshed; no peace treaty followed
Attributed to Institute for Palestine Studies (Michael Fischbach).
IV. The Palestine War and the Nakba ↗
PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · supports · section: “Although the armistices ended the bloodshed, no peace treaties emerged from Rhodes.”
Evidence version:palquest-palestine-war-and-nakba:v1References show the basis of this connection; their count is not a measure of independent corroboration.