Alwaght- Palestinians are marking the 69th anniversary of the Nakba Day when their land was confiscated leading to the establishment of the illegal Israeli entity.

The term "Nakba" ("catastrophe" in Arabic) is a reminder of two fundamental events in Palestinian history: the establishment of Israeli entity in 1948 and the subsequent expulsion of over 800,000 Palestinians from their ancestral homeland.

Nakba symbolizes the tragedy that befell Palestinians in 1948, and the ensuing suffering Palestinians have had to endure under the apartheid regime’s decades-long occupation.

Historical Background of Nakba

Nakba dates back to 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte's ambitious colonialist plans included notions of establishing a Jewish entity in Palestine. In 1897, the World Zionist Organization held its first conference in Basel, Switzerland, at which Theodor Herzl – billed as the "founder of modern Zionism" – laid out the principles on which a Jewish state would be built.

The idea was echoed by Britain in 1840 and was later facilitated by the British Mandate of Palestine (1922-1948), which gave the Jewish Agency a free hand to seize Palestinian land and begin massive Jewish immigration into the region.

The Nakba came just thirty years after the 1917 Balfour Declaration, when British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour wrote to the Zionist movement pledging London's support for a Jewish state in Palestine.

In 1945, Zionist leaders began establishing armed Jewish groups in anticipation of the coming confrontation with the area's Palestinian inhabitants.

The "May 1946" plan, for example, was drawn up by the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization that later became the nucleus of the nascent Israeli army.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the division of Palestine into a Jewish state and a Palestinian one.

The resolution was welcomed by the Zionists, but was met with staunch rejection by the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular.

With the termination of the British Mandate on May 14, 1948, armed Zionist organizations – led by David Ben-Gurion (who would later become Israeli regime's first prime minister) – declared the establishment of the state of Israel.

Unending suffering of Palestinians

Palestinians continue to immensely suffer from Israeli regime's atrocities, crimes, apartheid policies and every other possible inhuman act. In days approaching Nakba Israeli regime forces have increased their brutal crackdown including killing innocent Palestinians.  Renewed Israeli atrocities also come ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump to Tel Aviv and this points to the belligerence of the usurper regime which is assured of unflinching support by Washington.

Resistance, Referendum solution for Palestine

Palestinians are determined to continue with their armed resistance to liberate their territories occupied by the Israeli regime since 1948. Alternatively, a referendum is the only political solution to the issue of Palestine that is in total agreement with democracy and can form a common logical basis. Such a referendum should involve all those who have a legitimate stake in the territory of Palestine, including Muslims, Christians and Jews. They should be able allowed to choose their own system of government in a general referendum.

A major condition for such a referendum is that Millions of Palestinians who have borne for years the ordeals of exile since Nakba should also have the right to participate and decide the destiny of Palestine.

A rejection of such a solution by Western countries implies their non-commitment to a peaceful democratic solution to the issue of Palestine and this further expose its double standards.