Never forget the Palestinian Nakba

77th anniversary of the Zionist ethnic cleansing 

May 10 — Hundreds of people marched today in the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Bay Ridge to commemorate the 1948 slaughter of Palestinians that established the Zionist regime. These atrocities are called the Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic.

The founding of apartheid “Israel” resulted in 531 Palestinian villages being wiped off the map. Among the thousands of Palestinians killed were the 140 murdered in the village of Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948.

Many of their bodies were thrown down wells. Among the killers was the future Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, who led the terrorist Irgun gang, a Zionist Ku Klux Klan.

Today’s action was called by PAL Awda, the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation, and was endorsed by 40 other organizations and individuals. People gathered on Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue, in the heart of the Palestinian Community in Bay Ridge.

Speakers denounced the continuing mass murder in Gaza, which continues with the U.S. bombs supplied first by Biden and then by Trump. The genocide in Gaza and the West Bank is an attempt to complete the Nakba, targeting the families of those driven from their homes in 1948. 

People marched through the neighborhood, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” They were greeted by families on their stoops and flying Palestinian flags from windows.

Demonstrators blocked the entrance of a Citibank branch, forcing it to shut down for the day. Citi, a financial octopus with assets of $1.7 trillion, helps finance the genocide in Gaza. 

Between October 2023 and January 2025, Citibank underwrote $2.9 billion in bonds to the Zionist regime. Citi, which has more branches in occupied Palestine than any other outside bank, also financed the Zionist state’s $2.5 billion purchase of 25 U.S.-made F-35 jet fighters. These supposedly “most advanced fighters in the world” now rain U.S.-made missiles on families sleeping in tents.

Omowale Clay, chairperson of the December 12th Movement, reminded marchers of how Citibank also helped finance the old apartheid regime in South Africa. Africans overthrew apartheid, and so will the Palestinians.

A speaker from Planet over Profits pointed out that Citibank also lends billions to Big Oil and other fossil fuel capitalists who are cooking the earth. The demonstration, more than a block long, marched back to Fifth Avenue, which is lined with Arabic stores and restaurants.

All over the world, people are commemorating the Nakba and condemning the genocide in Gaza. Palestine will win!