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Media Can’t Contain Excitement as ‘Nakba Day’ Brings New Opportunity for Absurd Analogie
Members of Israel’s Arab minority take part in a rally marking the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe”, when Palestinians lament the loss of their homeland in the 1948-49 war, that caused the creation of Israel, near the abandoned village of Khubbayza, northern Israel May 9, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad.
Another 15th of May, and another Nakba Day has come and gone.
Naturally, this year, the media had a field day. How could they not? The headlines proclaiming a “second Nakba” as Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza practically wrote themselves.
And while historical revisionism isn’t a new phenomenon on Nakba Day, this year saw journalists take a sledgehammer to the facts, rewriting the entire history of the Palestinian people.
Spoiler alert: Palestinians did not and cannot do any wrong. Whether Hamas terrorists are massacring Jews or firing rockets at the nearest Israeli target, Palestinians are eternal victims for Western journalists.
“A Brand New Catastrophe”
There are numerous contenders for the worst Nakba Day article, but two in particular stand out: an “explainer” from Sky News, and a CBS news article that frankly belongs in the opinion section.
First, Sky News. Opening its live page of Israel-Hamas war updates, the outlet published a piece titled, “Explained: What is Nakba Day?”
.@SkyNews‘ attempt to explain “Nakba Day” is a shocking piece of historical revisionism.
For example, Arab states rejected a UN partition plan & invaded the nascent Jewish state. Yet, Sky News says “Jewish paramilitaries swept in.”
And there’s more. https://t.co/vspSxvUZDq pic.twitter.com/QRxRZAW1NU
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 15, 2024
Unfortunately, the only thing the piece explained or revealed is the disturbingly limited knowledge of history possessed by the journalists at Sky.
The writer of the piece was, for example, unaware that the fledgling Jewish state was attacked by surrounding Arab states immediately after it declared its independence in 1948. Instead, the journalist mistakenly thought that “Jewish paramilitary forces swept in” and started fighting for the next 10 months.
The journalist was also under the impression that some historians had described Israel’s creation as “ethnic cleansing.” But because legitimate historians with that view don’t exist, none are named. Otherwise, someone would have to track down the historians and ask them how the 160,000 Palestinian Arabs who remained within the newly-formed Israel and gained full citizenship qualify as “ethnic cleansing.”
The Nakba explainer quickly fast-forwards to the 1967 Six-Day War, which readers are told was the result of a “festering territorial conflict” and “saw some 20,000 Arab troops die compared to fewer than 1,000 Israelis, [and also] saw the Jewish State claim further land.”
Once again, there is no mention that it was a defensive war in which Israel fought for its survival against multiple armies that had declared their intention to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. Instead, it seems that an uneven death toll on the two sides is indicative of who is right and who is wrong.
Nor is there any explanation that it was Jordan who was occupying eastern Jerusalem when the war broke out. The Jordanian occupation included the historical “Jewish Quarter” of the Old City, and Jewish holy sites.
Now, onto CBS News. Critiquing their article would be a waste of time, considering the primary problem with the piece is its complete absence of facts. It’s a few hundred words, doesn’t say much about Nakba Day, and appears to just be an excuse to take a few potshots at Israel.
But the headline of the article is another prime example of how too many media have made an inappropriate analogy between the events of 1948 and today.
Sky and CBS weren’t alone on the Nakba bandwagon.
The Associated Press fretted over a “potentially even larger catastrophe” than Israel’s founding, while CNN boasted about how “from one generation to the next, Palestinians aim to keep the history of al-Nakba alive,” among others.
A more accurate summary would have been, “From one generation to the next, Palestinian rejectionism and terrorism prevent them from ever achieving statehood.”
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Media Can’t Contain Excitement as ‘Nakba Day’ Brings New Opportunity for Absurd Analogie first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.