Chaz Rolfer retuiteado
Today Israel celebrates its 78th Independence Day. For Palestinians, this day marks 78 years since they were expelled from their homeland and 78 years of being killed for trying to go back. They continue to do the same thing today in Gaza and Lebanon.
1) In 1948, over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes. Dozens of massacres were carried out and over 400 villages were destroyed. Many bulldozed specifically so that refugees could never come back.
2) Ben-Gurion authorized the army to establish free-fire zones along the ceasefire lines. In 1949 alone, over 1,000 returning refugees were killed, the majority civilians. They weren't fighters. They were families walking home.
3) Israeli historian Benny Morris documented that this so-called "infiltration" was a direct consequence of the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Refugees sought to reunite with family, tend crops, recover lost possessions and see their homes one last time.
4) A 1951 Israeli military trial revealed what happened when young Palestinians crossed into the town of Majdal (now Ashkelon) just to visit their parents. The court found that soldiers felt they were free to treat Arabs "as they pleased" and that killing them was considered acceptable.
5) In that same trial, a father testified that his son had come back from Gaza to see him. The boy was captured by soldiers and executed. The father described finding his son's body with bullet wounds to the chest, head, and back.
6) Written orders to soldiers after the ceasefire stated: shoot every Arab in the area up to the armistice line. The verdict in one case confirmed that the orders made no distinction between men or women, armed or unarmed, fleeing or surrendering.
7) By 1956, this free-fire policy is estimated to have killed between 2,700 and 5,000 Palestinian refugees. No Israeli soldier, policeman, or civilian was ever tried for killing an unarmed Palestinian refugee.
8) Jaber Shaban, born in the village of Simsim in 1938, testified: "My father owned around 400 dunams of land. Our life used to be peaceful and tranquil, and the produce of our land was our source of sustenance." His family was expelled in 1948. He has lived as a refugee in Gaza ever since.
9) In 2018, when Palestinians in Gaza marched peacefully for the right of return, Israeli snipers shot over 6,100 demonstrators, killing 183. Jaber Shaban, then 80, joined the march. He said: "I participated in the hope of returning to my village with my siblings, children and grandchildren."
10) Since October 2023, Israel has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and displaced over 90% of the population. Israeli officials have declared the ethnic cleansing of Gaza as a central objective, with Finance Minister Smotrich saying Gaza will be "completely destroyed."
11) In southern Lebanon, Israel has paved roads over demolished homes, ensuring displaced people can never return. Israel's Defense Minister announced the acceleration of home demolitions "in accordance with the Beit Hanoun and Rafah models in Gaza."
In 1949, a Palestinian father found his son's body riddled with bullets because the boy tried to visit his parents. In 2018, an 80-year-old man who was expelled as a child marched to the fence hoping to see his village one last time, and watched as snipers shot the people around him. In 2025, Israel destroyed every home in northern Gaza so no one could return. That is Israel. That is what they are celebrating. A nation built on the destruction of Palestine.
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