The Diplomat
To mark Nakba Day (“Catastrophe” in Arabic), commemorated annually on May 15, Casa Árabe is organizing a special program of activities, including a book presentation and a film screening.
Location: Casa Árabe Headquarters (Calle Alcalá, 62)
See dates and times for each activity.
Program:
- Wednesday, May 13, 7:00 p.m.
Presentation of “The Black Book of Gaza.”
Coordinated by Gonzalo Delgado and published by Ediciones del Oriente y del Mediterráneo.
- Thursday, May 14, 7:00 p.m.
Film: Screening of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” followed by a discussion.
Organized by Casa Árabe and the Embassy of Palestine in Spain.
With the participation of Raúl Incertis, from Doctors Without Borders.
Nakba Day commemorates May 15, 1948, when the State of Israel declared its independence over nearly 80 percent of historic Palestine. In the process, more than 800,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and lands, while 531 Palestinian villages were wiped off the map. The resulting trauma is known as the Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic. But Palestinians also refer to al-nakba al-mustamirra, the “continuous Nakba,” as more than a historical event; it is a continuous process of dispossession and ethnic cleansing, as highlighted by the last two and a half years of military campaigns and bombings on Gaza, with more than 72,000 Palestinians killed and 171,000 wounded directly by the attacks, and 2.3 million displaced, in addition to new threats of expulsion to its population, with unprecedented levels of violence and impunity, which have led to talk of a new Nakba in the 21st century.