Al-Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe - Episode 1 | Featured Documentary

first, the highest estimated deaths of ARABS ("palestinians" as we know them today were not called Palestinians until 1964, 18 years after the disestablishment of the colony of palestine) in the nakba is 5,000. 6 million jews died in the holocaust, 1 million roma. more palestinians died from disease and natural causes in 2020 alone than people died in the nakba. that's not a holocaust and you're terrifically biased for describing it as such.

secondly, israel is a successful indigenous landback movement, finally established by and for its indigenous people who returned to their land from diaspora in the years leading up to and including 1948. try not to be swayed by grandiose language that completely contradicts all documented history. it's a bad look.

👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/herstoryteller 📅︎︎ May 25 2022 🗫︎ replies

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1948 for palestinians that year is enactma or the catastrophe when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes for israelis that year marks the creation of the state of israel as a filmmaker and as a palestinian this documentary series was my way to understand the events of the past that are still shaping the present do our story starts here in 1799 outside the walls of acre in ottoman-controlled palestine an army under napoleon bonaparte besieged the city all part of a campaign to defeat the ottomans and establish a french presence in the region in search of allies napoleon issued a letter offering palestine as a homeland to the jews under french protection he called on the jews to rise up against what he called their oppressors napoleon's appeal was widely publicized but he was ultimately defeated in acre today the only memory of him is a statue atop a hill overlooking the city yet napoleon's project for a jewish homeland in the region under a colonial protectorate did not die forty years later the plan was revived by the british this time as a means of thwarting the rising power of egyptian governor muhammad ali in 1840 british foreign secretary lord palmerston wrote to his ambassador in constantinople urging him to convince the sultan and his entourage to open palestine for the immigration of jews at that time there were estimated to be no more than 3 000 jews in ottoman-controlled palestine over the years jewish immigration to palestine increased helped on by wealthy benefactors one of these was the french aristocrat baron edmund de rothschild he began visiting palestine in the 1880s and became one of the jewish community's leading sponsors he spent over 14 million french francs to establish 30 jewish settlements the most important was richard led zeon founded in 1882 today the remains of baron de child lie in a mausoleum in northern israel it's a popular site for israeli school children learning about the wealthy patron who bankrolled jewish settlement building in palestine over 100 years ago in 1885 the term zionism was first coined by austrian writer nathan birnbaum it's derived from the word zion one of the biblical names for jerusalem zionism came to mean the establishment of a jewish homeland in palestine but not all jews supported this money yeah in 1896 theodore herzl an austro-hungarian journalist wrote a book called the jewish state it is considered one of the most important texts of early zionism herzl envisioned the founding of a future independent jewish state during the 20th century his colleague max nordau sent two rabbis to palestine to investigate the prospects for a jewish state there their report concluded the bride is beautiful but she is married to another man the rabbis understood that palestine's spouse was the palestinian society rooted in its soil in 1897 herzl with birenbaum and nordau convened the first zionist congress in the swiss city of basel the congress adopted a programme for the establishment of a homeland for the jewish people in palestine within in 1907 the british government set up a committee to devise a strategy toward the muslim arab population of the ottoman empire the committee's report submitted to british prime minister henry campbell bannerman in 1907 recommended establishing a so-called buffer state in palestine the report proposed this state be hostile to its neighbors and friendly to europe the aim was to divide the region and so assure britain's continued imperial dominance home in 1907 heim weissmann a chemist who had emerged as a leader among british zionists visited palestine for the first time he set out to establish a company in jaffa to develop the land of palestine a practical means to pursue the zionist dream of building a jewish state his venture was supported by baron de rothschild within three years a major deal was struck the jewish national fund set up to buy land in palestine purchased some ten thousand dunhams in the maj bin amer region of northern palestine the sale to the jewish national fund had dire consequences for the thousands of palestinian farmers living on the land foreign a more uh drastic form of colonialism than the average classical european colonialism in the sense that their purpose was actually not so only to exploit the locals but to drive them out from the very early moment the zionist movement targeted palestine as the the place for jewish independence and statehood and it was clear that there were palestinians on the land uh zionists leaders and common people alike were got used to the idea that the only way of making palestine a jewish state is by causing the palestinians leave a jewish militia known as hashemer was established to protect the growing number of jewish settlements jews held demonstrations to demand the recognition of hebrew as an official language under ottoman rule surya a palestinian pharmacist began publishing a newspaper called al carmel in it he warned of zionism as a movement aimed at displacing the palestinians he wrote the jewish state would be a poisonous dagger in the heart of the arabs the outbreak of world war 1 in 1914 created new opportunities to um in 1915 a secret memorandum was presented to the british cabinet under the title the future of palestine it was drafted by herbert samuel a british politician and zionist committed to palestine becoming a home for the jewish people in the document samuel advised that the time was not right for the establishment of an autonomous jewish state in palestine he recommended instead that palestine be annexed to the british empire describing this as the most welcome solution to the supporters of the zionist movement he expressed the hope that under british rule and over time more jews would settle in the land and grow into a majority among what he called the muhammadans of arab race samuel's recommendations were taken into account in the secret british french agreement formulated by british politician sir mark sykes and french diplomat francois georges pico the sykes pico agreement opened the way for the establishment of a jewish state in 1917 the british cabinet headed by prime minister david lloyd george pledged to establish a homeland for the jews in palestine the pledge came in the form of a letter from the british foreign secretary arthur balfour to the influential british zionist lord walter rothschild britain had no moral or political or legal right to promise the land that belonged to the arabs to another people so the balfour declaration was both immoral and illegal a month after balfour's pledge a meeting took place in london to celebrate the declaration speakers included lord rothschild herbert samuel mark sykes and haim weissmann just several days later on december the 11th 1917 the british army commanded by general edmund allenby captured jerusalem entering the holy city alongside allenby was a jewish military unit established under british auspices one member of this unit was david ben-gurion who would later be israel's first prime minister the unit also included zev japotinsky a future zionist leader as well as nehemiah rabin soon to be father of young boy yitzhak rabin within a month general allenby welcomed heim weissmann in jerusalem there were approximately 50 000 jews in palestine at this time 10 percent of the population among half a million arabs the great war ended in 1918 and preparations were made for a peace conference in paris president of the united states woodrow wilson commissioned an investigation into the non-turkish areas of the former ottoman empire the commission was headed by the academic dr henry king and the politician charles crane when it was eventually published the crane king report proved to be political dynamite the report stated that the non-jewish population of palestine nearly nine tenths of the whole was emphatically against the zionist program the report went on to warn that anti-zionist feeling in palestine and syria was intense and not likely to be flouted it divulged conversations with british officers who suggested a force of not less than 50 000 soldiers would be required to initiate the zionist program the authors judged all this as evidence of what they described as a strong sense of the injustice of the zionist program the report concluded jewish immigration should be definitely limited and the project for making palestine distinctly a jewish commonwealth should be given up the crane king report fell on death ears at the paris peace conference in 1919 britain was represented by prime minister david lloyd george and arthur balfour a delegation from the zionist organization attended headed by haim weissman they presented a map seen here proposing the area to be allocated for a jewish homeland the map included both palestine and the east bank of the jordan river as well as parts of what are today southern lebanon and syria parallel to the conference the leader of the arab delegation prince faisal bin hussein signed with the zionist delegation's leader what became known as the faisal weissmann agreement it outlined faisal's approval for a jewish homeland in palestine and an arab nation in the larger middle east the agreement was mediated by lieutenant colonel thomas edward lawrence known as lawrence of arabia faisal signed adding in his own handwriting that the agreement be dependent on the arabs gaining their independence is habilihood in 1920 the first british high commissioner for palestine was appointed controversially london selected herbert samuel for the post samuel was a committed zionist many suspected he would set out to implement what he had proposed five years earlier by favouring jewish immigration to transform palestine into a jewish homeland in 1922 the league of nations formalized british rule in palestine the second clause of the british mandate document approved by the league of nations stipulated the british mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under political administrative and economic conditions that will secure the establishment of the jewish national home british high commissioner herbert samuel decreed hebrew as an official language of palestine alongside arabic and english the letters e and y were added to the word palestine in hebrew as an abbreviation of the words eretz israel meaning land of israel britain provided the muscle um under which they could simply emigrate i mean they couldn't have immigrated were it not for the british presence because the um the crucial battle in the early stages was simply getting jews into palestine and acquiring land they couldn't have done that without british government's sponsorship palestinians viewed the british mandatory authority and british troops on the ground as siding with the jews more and more palestinian farmers expelled from farmlands began to join newly formed revolutionary groups in 1921 palestinians organized large demonstrations against jewish immigration at that time the palestinian leadership was in effect hereditary within one family the grand mufti of jerusalem amin al-husseini inherited his position at the age of 25 following the death of his brother who had in turn succeeded their father the leadership sent successive delegations to london to discuss the palestinian question is the changes on the ground in palestine can be noted in the british government's report to the council of the league of nations in 1925. the document reported the immigration of more than 33 000 jews who were granted palestinian nationality this was three times the figure of the previous year thirteen new settlements were built according to the report a jewish labor union called the histadrut had been set up under the direction of david ben-gurion and the jewish town of tel aviv was accorded municipal autonomy in addition the hebrew university was officially opened in 1925 at a ceremony attended by british high commissioner herbert samuel the former british foreign secretary arthur balfour and the head of the zionist organization heim weissmann as weissmann's guest balfour visited a number of jewish settlements in jerusalem he met with samuel and alan b the two men who had helped implement the policy he himself had laid out eight years earlier in the famous balfour declaration the palestinians went on strike to protest against balfour's visit they raised black flags to signal their opposition to the policies balfour had set in train the palestinians were in somber mood not so the zionists say weissmann congratulated samuel for his work towards the establishment of a national jewish homeland the zionist movement was active in its propaganda this film in french showed the map of palestine with areas highlighted as land the zionists claimed to have acquired as of 1925. the film also shows the areas zionists planned to acquire within the next 25 years in the summer of 1929 ardent zionist groups organized a gathering at the wailing wall in jerusalem known to the palestinians as al-buraq the incident ignited violent demonstrations called the burak revolt led by a palestinian farmer named farhan al-sadi more than 100 arabs and jews were killed on both sides sir john chancellor the new british high commissioner in palestine issued a strongly worded memorandum calling for all those who took part in the revolt to be severely punished three palestinians were arrested and accused of participating in the revolt they were fuad hassan hijazi from safad atta ahmed al-zir from hebron and muhammad khalil jamjum whose picture could not be found the three men were jailed here at acre prison the british sentenced them to death arab delegations pleaded for their sentences to be commuted but on june the 17th 1930 the british authorities had the three men executed a cemetery in acre still contains the graves of the three men in a final statement before their execution they had written at the end of our lives we say to the arab leaders and muslims all over the world do not trust the foreigners we lived and died for the arab cause such sentiments of anti-colonialism and pan-arabism would become increasingly common in subsequent decades during the first 10 years of the british mandate the number of jews in palestine more than doubled to reach 175 000 zionists all over the world we're proud of their achievement i am here today to ask you my fellow zionists which attitude shall we take which of the possible attitudes that we face shall be our own i would say to england though i am only an american jew but an old time reverencing admirer of great britain i would say to england if i could an arab palestine is a threat to great britain and a menace to the world a jewish palestine is an asset to great written and a blessing for the world god with heim weissmann beside him former british prime minister david lloyd george reaffirmed his own zionist credentials it is as your german has reminded you it is nearly 16 years since he recruited me to the zionist movement palestine baron and malarial swamps have been converted into happy settlements science has been harnessed to water which had been running wild in waste since the early days of creation without vegetation and without life empty desertion that is palestine british news bulletins at the time described palestine as akin to a desert the reality was very different happy british politicians of the early 20th century had a distorted view of palestinian society frequently labeling it as [ __ ] despite the population including over 100 000 palestinian christians they did not regard them as yet belonging to either an arab national group in general or to local national groups uh the only way they were able to view them was as a religious uh group of believers so i think they they missed the point for instance that christians and muslims actually founded a new identity and not a religious one but the national one is for by 1933 protests against jewish immigration were becoming ever more frequent in palestine women took part side by side with men the british authorities cracked down on demonstrations and arrested thousands many were killed and wounded the 80 year old former mayor of jerusalem was beaten by british soldiers during a demonstration in jaffa he later died of his injuries the british authorities became ever more heavy-handed this letter was written by a palestinian policeman condemning the behavior of his british senior officer john faraday a number of other complaints were filed against faraday the officer was never charged four years later faraday was awarded the king's police medal for his valuable services in palestine in only still images of the palestinian demonstrations are available in the archives movie cameras did capture jewish life in palestine as well as british pomp and ceremony this footage shows the star of david flagg over the tel aviv municipality building this is footage of work in the diamond factories of tel aviv and this footage shows the flow of new immigrants and the building of new settlements footage of palestinian life in the early 20th century proved more difficult to find a palestinian film archive had once existed but had since been lost or gone mysteriously missing we spent months searching for pictures of palestinian lives eventually in the vaults of the british library we found glimpses of this bygone era most of the palestinians intellectuals leaders journalists were still unaware how determined the zionist movement is of dispossessing them from palestine in the 1930s the number of jews immigrating to palestine began to increase significantly from 4 000 in 1931 the figure jumped to 9500 the following year in 1933 the number rose to 30 000 in 1934 42 000 and in 1935 a further jump to 62 thousand that same year palestinian poet abdul raheem mahmoud wrote a poem which he read aloud to prince saubin abdul aziz of saudi arabia who was visiting jerusalem he asked did you come to visit the holy axa mosque or to bid it farewell before it is lost foreign a revolutionary group to strike at zionist and british targets in 1935 in the hills near janine he and a small band of men were surrounded by british forces making a defiant stand al qasam and those with him were killed the palestinian political leadership came under pressure to halt negotiations with the british palestinian poet ibrahim tukan addressed a poem to the leadership in 1935 a poem dripping with iron oh you sincere patriots you who carry the heavy burden of the cause only a fragment of the country remains for us so please step down before the remaining parts fly away on april 19th 1936 palestinian anger boiled over protests erupted in the city of jaffa in coordination with a general strike the wave of anger spread throughout palestine the reasons for the protests were explained by a spokesman for the palestinian political leadership the main case of the arabs is against the british government's policy in palestine a policy which if continued will surely have as a result the replacement of the arabs by the jews against all principles the british government imposed the balfour declaration which is abhorred by all arabs in the near east and on favoring the establishment of a national home for jews for god intentionally to safeguard the civil rights of the non-jewish population the arabs who decided on a general and a complete strike until the total and immediate stoppage of jewish immigration is brought about and until the government introduces an essential change in its present qualities utility the 1936 revolt shocked the british mandatory authorities who carried out harsh punitive actions anyone suspected of links with the revolutionaries was arrested their homes destroyed in jaffa alone more than 200 houses were demolished as a collective punishment demolitions in other villages and cities followed the british insisted that destroying palestinian houses was justified as a means to end the revolt foreign foreign during the arab revolt david ben-gurion then a prominent leader of the zionist movement reportedly made a startling suggestion to the british high commissioner arthur warhol ben-gurion is said to have suggested all palestinians expelled from their land by jewish settlement building should be resettled in neighboring trans jordan the british high commissioner is reported to have replied that this was in his words a good idea

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Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 480,799

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Keywords: middle east, nakba documentary, al nakba documentary, Palestinian catastrophe, Palestinian, nakba day, nakba 1948, nakba day 2018, nakba day palestine, israel palestine, israel palestine conflict, Nakba day, Nakba anniversary, Palestine Ottomans, French Palestinian, al jazeera, al jazeera english, aljazeera, aljazeera english, aljazeera live, aljazeera news

Id: H7FML0wzJ6A

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Length: 47min 25sec (2845 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2013