UN General Assembly Votes to Commemorate 75th Anniversary of Palestinian Nakba

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Nakba – an Arabic term, meaning “catastrophe,” that refers to the displacement of around 700,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1949 war that saw the establishment of the State of Israel. It is one of five resolutions passed dealing with the Palestinians. The Nakba resolution was sponsored by Egypt, Jordan, Senegal, Tunisia, Yemen, and Palestine, and passed by a vote of 90-30 and 47 abstentions. The votes were taken during the General Assembly’s annual meeting on the “Question of Palestine.” The other resolutions include a call for a halt to settlement activities and other actions that violate international law, a demand that Israel rescind its unilateral annexation of the Golan Heights, and a condemnation of the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The votes came a day after Israel’s embassy launched an exhibit on the Jews’ expulsion from Arab states and Iran, “The Story of the Jewish Nakba,” in the main corridor of the UN.