The Price of Kings

Today is Nakba Day, an annual commemoration of the displacement of Palestinians that followed the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14th May, 1948.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which followed Israel’s declaration of independence, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled from their homes and villages as the conflict raged.

The displacement, dispossession and dispersal of the Palestinian people is known as al-Nakba, meaning "the catastrophe," or "the disaster."

In both films, our interviewees discuss the impact of Israel’s declaration of independence, the Arab-Israeli war, and the Nakba.

Shimon Peres stood alongside the ‘Founding-Father of Israel’, David Ben-Gurion, at celebrations in Tel Aviv on independence day in 1948, and he remembers: ‘The whole streets in Israel were full with dancers… and joy. There was just one sad man on that evening, and it was Ben-Gurion. I stood on his side … And he said, “today they are dancing and singing, tomorrow we shall have bloodshed”. And that’s what happened.’

There is debate over when the Nakba/ Arab-Israeli war actually began. The general argument by Israelis is that conflict began on 15th May, when five of the seven countries that made up the Arab League invaded the newly formed Israel. However, Palestinians argue that conflict had begun weeks, if not months before the official declaration of the state of Israel. Many argue that Arab residents of Jewish areas of Palestine, such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, had been forced to flee their homes because they were either forcibly removed, or because they feared so much for their safety that they had no other option but to leave.

Uri Avnery fought in the Irgun during the war, and during his interview he recollected that, ‘From the beginning it was clear that this was, this would be a war without mercy... Our orders were to attack villages, which automatically meant that the people would flee from the villages. But we also got orders, in the last stages of the war, not to allow any Arab to come back to the villages, and to shoot everybody who was found in the area, to shoot them on sight. And this is what actually happened.’

The war was brutal, leaving many casualties on both sides.

Only a few Palestinians were allowed to return to their homes after the war was over. Dr Husam Zomlot, born in Shaburah refugee camp- south of the Gaza Strip, expressed the sense of injustice felt by many Arab residents, who’s traditional homelands had become part of the new Israeli state:

'We are not refugees who came from Mars, we are refugees who were kicked out of our home by a project that did not tolerate even our presence and existence as a nation and we shall fight.'

On this day of remembrance of a national and cultural tragedy for the Palestinians, it is also important to focus on the future, and the positive steps that can be taken to achieve stability and peace between Israel and Palestine. Considering the vastly different narratives surrounding the Nakba and the Arab-Israeli war, it is clear that until some reconciliation can be made between the two sides, peace and security will remain out of reach.