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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.
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Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced “extreme cautious” about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.
US President Donald Trump has signaled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical… there are still differences, both on major issues and on details,” Araqchi told Iranian state TV.
“There is seriousness and determination on both sides… However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious.”
A senior US administration official described the talks as positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon.”
“There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the official added.
Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another “high-level meeting” provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.
Ahead of the lead negotiators’ meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
“The presence of experts was beneficial … we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” Araqchi said.
An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”
The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was “to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact’s nuclear curbs including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalizing the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.
Tehran insists its defense capabilities like its missile program are not negotiable.
An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile program as a bigger obstacle in the talks.
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.
Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main PLO faction which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Abbas. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist with very close ties to Israel.
He was named PLO vice president after the organization’s executive committee approved his nomination by Abbas, the PLO said in a statement.
Reform of the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank, has been a priority for the United States and Gulf monarchies hoping the body can play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pressure to reform has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza, where the PLO’s main Palestinian rival Hamas has battled Israel for more than 18 months, leaving the tiny, crowded territory in ruins.
The United States has promoted the idea of a reformed PA governing in Gaza after the war. Gulf monarchies, which are seen as the most likely source of funding for reconstruction in Gaza after the war, also want major reforms of the body.
CALL FOR HAMAS TO DISARM
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the destruction of Hamas but it has also ruled out giving the PA any role in government there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas, which follows a militant Islamist ideology, has controlled Gaza since 2007 when it defeated the PA in a brief civil war after winning an election the previous year. It also has a large presence in the West Bank.
At a meeting of the PLO’s Central Council on Wednesday and Thursday that approved the position of vice president without naming an appointee, Abbas made his clearest ever call for Hamas to completely disarm and hand its weapons – and responsibility for governing in Gaza – to the PA.
Widespread corruption, lack of progress towards an independent state and increasing Israeli military incursions in the West Bank have undermined the PA’s popularity among many Palestinians.
The body has been controlled by Fatah since it was formed in the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993 and it last held parliamentary elections in 2005.
Sheikh, who was imprisoned by Israel for his activities opposing the occupation during the period 1978-89, has worked as the PA’s main contact liaising with the Israeli government under Abbas and been his envoy on visits to world powers.
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3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman

Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – The third round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has concluded on Saturday, US media reported.
The two sides are understood to have discussed the US lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.
On April 12, the US and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.
All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.
According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether Washington will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran’s right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.
The US, Israel and other Western actors including the United Nation’s nuclear agency reject Iranian claims that its uranium enrichment is strictly civilian in its goals.
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