What is the Palestinian Nakba and why does it matter? 

Why in News?The Arabic word Nakba means catastrophe or disaster. In reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the term Nakba or al-Nakba refers to the Palestinians having lost their homeland during and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

• It’s thought that around 700,000 people in what is now Israel either fled or were forced from their homes. Many Palestinian refugees abroad remain stateless even today.

What is the Palestinian right to return?

• According to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, as well as the UN Resolution 3236 in 1974, and the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, Palestinians who are considered Palestinian refugees have the “right of return.”
• Israel, however, has rejected the “right of return” for Palestinians, stating this would mean an end to Israel’s identity as a Jewish state. Israel has denied responsibility for the displacement of Palestinians, pointing out that between 1948 and 1972 around 800,000 Jews were expelled or had to flee from Arab countries like Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen.