Al Nakba Day was the beginning of decades of Palestinian suffering. And the Palestinian Cause is a pressing, emotional political issue to most Arabs and Muslims. But this year, the 65th anniversary of Al-Nakba passed without being commemorated by any major events in the Arab American community in Metro Detroit.

In the years leading to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, an estimate of 700,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes or left Palestine out of fear, making space for the Zionist state. Palestinians’ exodus is known as Al-Nakba, Arabic for “the catastrophe.” It is commemorated on May 15, the day following Israel’s deceleration of independence. Millions of Palestinian refugees, who are mostly the descendants of those who left Palestine in 1948, still live in refugee camps today in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. 

Palestine Cultural Office (PCO) has been holding a community dinner, featuring prominent guest speakers, in remembrance of Al-Nakba in mid- May for 20 years. But last week, no such event took place in the community.

“No comment,” replied Hasan Newash, director of PCO when asked why the Al-Nakba commemoration was not held this year.

However, Palestinian activist Dr. Daad Katato revealed to the Arab American News that Newash, like many people who are involved in Palestinian activism, was disheartened by lack of financial and political support for Al-Nakba Day commemorations in the previous years. She said the event could not sustain itself financially. 

“Barely 400 people showed up at the dinner last year, while other organizations’ events attract more people,” she added. “We were disappointed.”

She suspected that many people do not show up to Al-Nakba commemoration events out of fear, as discussing Palestinian displacement might lead to questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel, which is perceived as a  controversial subject in the United States. 

Katato said the same week of Al-Nakba Day, there were several community events and dinners, and banquet halls were busy, which made it harder for PCO to commemorate the occasion, like it did over the past two decades.

The cancellation of this year’s Al-Nakba ceremony was not totally unexpected, though. Newash warned that the PCO was going through a tough financial time and voiced concerns about the fate of the event last year.

“It’s terrible to always have us concentrating on filling the hall rather than concentrating on the program. The Palestine Cultural Office is in trouble, and I am getting old and tired,” he said at last year’s commemoration. 

“This will probably be the last event we will hold in May like this. It has just been very difficult.”

Katato said Newash told her last year that he feels like a man who is carrying a huge boulder up a steep hill; he cannot let go of it, but he needs more support to make it to the top.

Despite the setback of not holding a Al-Nakba Day ceremony, Katato sounded hopeful about the future of Palestinian activism in Michigan because of Palestinian solidarity student organizations on college campuses.

“Giving up is not in the Palestinian diccionary,” said Katato. “My kids are born here, but they still long for Palestine.”

She said she was impressed with the work of students at Wayne State University on the Palestine Awareness Week in April, during which Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized a series of educational events to shed light on the suffering of Palestinians under the occupation.

Community activist Mirna Haidar, who is a member of SJP, said the goal of these events was to educate students about apartheid in Palestine and Al-Nakba, on its 65th anniversary. 

“The problem with Al-Nakba is nobody wants to talk about it,” said Haidar. “And if you do talk about it, nobody picks it up from the media or community organizers, even political and religious figures in the Arab community.” 

She said the first step to educate people about the displacement of Palestinians from what is today internationally recognized as Israeli territories is to cross the barrier of unjustified fear, as we are in the United States, and we should be able to say what we want to say. 

“And once you overcome this fear, it’s like a domino’s effect because this teacher will educate his class and this student will tell his friend, et cetera,” she added. 

This year’s Al-Nakba Day was not widely remembered across the Middle East, either. The largest event was a protest attended by tens of thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while no major commemorations where reported across the Arab World, including countries that host large numbers of Palestinian refugees. Arab media gave little attention to the occasion, as well. Arabic News outlets, much like everybody else, seemed  to be too busy with the raging battles in Syria’s civil war.

With the absence of events on the ground, Katato took to social media to pay tribute to Al-Nakba. 

“In 1948, 65 years ago, our people left Palestine forcibly, no bag to carry their things and no pictures to carry their days, terrified of immigration to places they are not used to and a future whose identity is unknown. Our hope to return is great. Oh God, grant us return to our home before our sun sets,” she posted on Facebook.