Honoring Palestinian Lives Lost in the 1948 Nakba and the Ongoing Nakba

Hello to our beloved friends, chosen family, and supporters.

Today, May 15th, we want to bring attention to the commemoration of the 1948 Nakba Day (also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe). On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, after the British terminated the British Mandate over Palestine.

Nakba Day is commemorated on May 15th because it marks the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. On this day, we remember the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians including the many Taishya met during her delegation trip to Nablus, Palestine in 2025.

We understand that this initial Catastrophe that created the state of Israel was the beginning of many Nakbas faced by Palestinians as illegal displacement, dispossession, and disenfranchisement continues to this day.

We also honor the global, intergenerational solidarity for Palestinian liberation across culture, country, identifies. The Uprooting Qahr! Power, Privilege and Paperwork project aims to recognize the patterns of oppression and liberation; remember the pathways to resilience and accelerate collective action towards liberty and justice for all.

A man outside of a Palestinian refugee camp, post-Nakba

The Nakba is day when majority of Palestinians were displaced from their homelands in 1948 for the creation of Israel which was authorized by the British Government.

In the 1930s, Jewish people were fleeing from persecution in other countries like Russia and migrating to Palestine. A core goal of the Zionist movement was to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. In 1947, the UN passed a resolution to partition Palestinian into 2 states and the Palestinians rejected the plan, noting it was unjust. Jewish militias started attacking Palestinian villages and it developed into a war… By the end of the war, half of the Palestinian population was displaced and in 1948, the State of Israel was declared. Learn more here: https://www.un.org/unispal/about-the-nakba/

And… it’s also National Defense Transportation Day?

May 14th, the 3rd Thursday of May, is recognized as National Defense Transportation Day, “a day to celebrate transportation.” Transportation that we know is used for warfare. Roads are typically the first infrastructure developed after a catastrophe.

It is heartbreaking to see these issues – human rights and transportation – be separated when we know that war includes transportation, construction, and all industrialized industries. Global solidarity weaves across oppressive systems typically led by the same group of stakeholders. We can start/continue this struggle by being inspired by and learning from our Black Panther and Zapatista peers and ancestors!

Global Solidarity w/ Palestine

Black Panthers x Palestine

The Black Panthers also had a relationship with the Palestinian people and their fight for liberation. One of the Black Panther newspaper pages from 1969 was titled: ” Zionism (Kosher Nationalism), Imperialism = Fascism”.

A screenshot from the Black Panther Party Newspaper Article: “” Zionism (Kosher Nationalism), Imperialism = Fascism”.

The article shares educational information about the Balfour Declaration (The British declaration for a Jewish state) and much more. You can read more of the article here (page 17). You can learn more about Black x Palestinian solidary in this recent post.

The Zapatistas x Palestine

The Zapatistas are the group of people participating in the anti-globalization struggle for democracy and land reform in Chiapas, Mexico, organized around the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Front) and the group has very publicly and regularly expressed their solidarity with Palestinians.

Mural “Land and Freedom for Palestine and Chiapas”, seen in Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo X @ZapatistaOrg

Both Palestinians and Zapatistas, have experienced dispossession from their lands and are both fighting for their sovereignty and rights. Zapatista Commander Tacho of the Zapatista National Liberation Army shared in 2014:

“We know, as indigenous people that we are, that the people of Palestine will resist and will rise again and walk again and will know then that, although far away on the maps, the Zapatista peoples embrace them today as we did before, as we will always do, In other words, we embrace them with our collective heart.”

Palestinians then shared with the Zapatistas in 2014 how their struggles against colonialism are connected:

“The world that began to be built on October 12th, 1492 is the one that made May 15th, 1948 possible, and it has been a catastrophe for humanity…”

Join Us as We Grow Towards the Sun of Collective Liberation!

This weekend there will be several educational, communal and celebratory Palestine-focused events happening in Boulder at Theatre O! (Starting today) May 15-16. Echoes of Home: A Festival of Palestinian Film and Culture is a two-day community event honoring Palestinian history, culture, and resilience through film, art, education, and collective remembrance.

Held in recognition of World Nakba Day, the festival brings together award-winning films, historians, artists, and community members to reflect on the historical timeline of Palestinian displacement and to celebrate the enduring strength of Palestinian culture.

Over the course of the weekend, audiences will experience three acclaimed films presented in chronological sequence, offering a deeper understanding of the region’s history and the human stories behind it. Each screening will be followed by moderated conversations designed to foster dialogue, reflection, and community connection.

In addition to film screenings, the festival features cultural workshops, educational panels, poetry, traditional dance, a pop-up cultural museum, and a community marketplace offering Palestinian art, food, and handmade goods.

And Lastly… Join us next week!!

May 19th 6:30 – 8:30 pm– Film Sneak Peak & Talk Back

We will screen a work sample of the short film and facilitate a talk back with filmmakers – Dewi, Jason, and Taishya.  We will also hear from Linda Badwan, Palestinian community leader and human rights activist. Note that tickets are donation based.

About Uprooting Qahr! Power, Privilege, and Paperwork 

This multimedia experience that follows Taishya Adams – educator, artist, and policy maker – as she confronts colonial cancers spread from Europe to Africa to the Americas and West Asia. Weaving across personal and political  histories, we face the uneven promise of democracy and the possibilities of liberty and justice for all. Qahr (n): an Arabic word for the combined feelings of Sadness, frustration, anger caused by intergenerational displacement, dispossession and discrimination.  Uprooting as Qahr! is a Mukuyu Collective Production in partnership with eight16creative.  The Climate Justice Hive, a 501(c)3 organization, serves as our fiscal sponsor.