[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 82 (Thursday, May 14, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H3470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING 78TH ANNIVERSARY OF NAKBA
(Ms. TLAIB asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, May 15, 2026, marks the 78th anniversary of
Nakba.
The Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic, refers to the mass
expulsion and violent ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from
their homes and homeland during the creation of the State of Israel.
But we know the Nakba did not end in 1948. We all have witnessed it
live. It continues to this day as the Israeli Government commits
genocide in Gaza, forcibly displacing Palestinians and kicking them out
of their homeland.
As we mark the 78th anniversary of Nakba, we honor all those killed
since the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people began and all those
who have been forced from their homes and violently displaced from
their land.
The immense trauma, Mr. Speaker, including the loss of their loved
ones and connections to their communities they grew up in, needs to be
repaired. Seventy percent of the population of Gaza right now are
refugees from 1948, and they are being displaced again. Over 400
neighborhoods in 1948 were destroyed and erased.
True peace must be built on justice and the right of the return of
the Palestinian people.
____________________