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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/blog/nakba-78--exposing-the--invincibility--of-the--zionist-state">english.almayadeen.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Nakba 78: Exposing the 'invincibility' of the 'Zionist State'</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Marion Kawas</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">April 30, 2026</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Decades
of dispossession have not broken Palestinian resolve, but deepened a
struggle that continues across Gaza, al-Quds, and the diaspora.</p><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
<a href="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/4/30/0a3d8312-1742-48c5-9aa2-d1798bf51ae3.png?width=1000" tabindex="0"><img src="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/4/30/0a3d8312-1742-48c5-9aa2-d1798bf51ae3.png?width=1000&preset=w750" alt="Nakba 78: Exposing the 'invincibility' of the 'Zionist State'" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></a>
Nakba 78: A people still standing, still demanding return,
dignity, and justice (Illustrated by Batoul Chamas; Al Mayadeen English)
</li></div></ul>
<p>As we approach Nakba 78, the Palestinian nation and people stand
before you undefeated, unbowed, and with a new generation ready to
demand their birthright. Yes, the price they have paid has been high,
but it has also fully exposed the lie of Zionist and US invincibility.
>From Gaza to al-Quds, to diaspora communities all over the globe,
Palestinians are proud of their Resistance and existence. And so they
should be.</p>
<p>They have gone through hell the last 78 years (particularly during
the original Nakba and the last 30 months), but despite all predictions
and attempts at eradication, they cling to their dignity and principles.
They have been betrayed by so many - from the reactionary Arab regimes
to some of their own leaders to Western governments. But it has not
stopped them from demanding what is rightfully theirs.</p>
<p>My father and mother-in-law were both typical of the generation that
was catapulted into a reality of violent dispossession and occupation
that changed their lives forever. Living and working in Yafa in 1948
(allegedly under \u201cBritish Mandate\u201d protection), they were forced to flee
for their lives when the Zionist militias attacked. My mother-in-law
was pregnant and only remembers the bullets that were whizzing over
their heads.</p>
<p>For Palestinians, October 7, 2023, marks what may be regarded as this
century\u2019s equivalent of the Battle of Karameh (Battle of Dignity); both
challenged the fallacy of Israeli \u201cinvincibility\u201d. Karameh (Jordan) was
a pivotal battle in March 1968 after the demoralizing 1967 war. It was
the first major Israeli aggression following that war, and the Israeli
military was out to destroy the growing Palestinian Fedayeen units.
Zionist aggressors counted on their air superiority, clearly a
time-honoured tactic, and although they demolished much of the town,
they suffered unexpected heavy losses in the process and <span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1968/03/23/archives/guerrillas-back-at-jordan-camp-attack-by-israelis-failed-to-destroy.html">withdrew</a></span>
after one day without achieving their goals. The news of Karameh spread
quickly, and the image of lightly armed Fedayeen standing and fighting
instead of retreating inspired Palestinians and Arabs across the region.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the Hamas Resistance in Gaza the last two years, the
images of Sinwar throwing his stick at the enemy drone, of fighters in
sandals taking on the technologically advanced Israeli army, and you can
grasp the comparison.</p>
<p>And don\u2019t pretend to be surprised that Palestinians are not keen on
renewing any kind of \u201creconciliation\u201d efforts, despite what the
Palestinian Authority might claim. After more than a quarter of a
century of the failed Oslo Accords and the constant violations of
agreed-upon ceasefires in Gaza and elsewhere over the last year,
co-existence with the Zionist genociders is not (and cannot be) an
option.</p>
<p>As the late Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote back in September 1988 in \u201c<strong>Those Who Pass Between Fleeting Words\u201d:</strong></p>
<p>\u201cWe have the past here<br>We have the first cry of life <br>We have the present, the present and the future <br>We have this world here, and the hereafter <br>So leave our country <br>Our land, our sea <br>Our wheat, our salt, our wounds <br>From Everything, and leave\u201d</p>
<p>We should study the lessons learnt over the past few years to guide
us through the new realities of the declining US-Israeli hegemony in
West Asia. The prophecy of the late Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been
proven correct: "Israel" is indeed \u201cfrailer than a spider\u2019s web."</p>
<p>Here in the imperial core, our job is to help the support movement
understand that Palestinians are not just a charity case, that we defend
the armed resistance, and that the cause of Palestine is not something
that can be championed and then discarded based on crass opportunism.
How many times have we seen a celebrity or allegedly progressive
politician claim to advocate for Palestinians only to later throw them
under the bus when politically convenient?</p>
<p>The hypocrisy and double standards regarding Palestinian (and all)
Resistance to the US-Israeli dreams of regional dominance are deeply
embedded in Western narratives. We are tired of documenting all the
government, media, and other institutional acts of minimizing and
downplaying Zionist brutality and war crimes. We are done with the
constant distrust and smearing of Palestinian aspirations for a life
free of settler colonial interference while celebrating Zionist false
claims and motivations.</p>
<p>Nakba 78 must mean a reaffirmation of Palestinian rights \u2013 the right
to their land, the right to resist, and the right to return!</p></div></div></div>
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