Today is Nakba Day, marking 78 years of ethnic cleansing visited upon Palestinians since the establishment of the State of Israel.

It began in 1948 with the destruction of villages, massacres, forced displacement, and the theft of their homes and land. At that time, more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee, and hundreds of Palestinian villages were destroyed.

The Nakba of 1948 was followed by Naksa, the 1956 war, the First Intifada, Second Intifada, six wars between 2008 and 2023, and the current genocide being livestreamed for the entire world to see. Dr. Mohammed Khattab, born in 1945, was three during the initial Nakba and has experienced that entire list of atrocities. Rather than suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), it’s more apt to label the Palestinian experience Continuous Traumatic Stress (CTS) as their stress is generational and ongoing.

Per Abdallah Abo Shamla, a 29-year-old supervising psychologist, “Trauma is deep-seated, yet there is no time to live it fully or move on from it. So we are forced into resilience.”

Much of the above (including my post’s subtitle “the Palestinian soul has no weight in this colonial world”) came from “For Palestinians, the Nakba Isn’t Just History. It’s Also Our Present” by Hend Salama Abo Helow (published in Truthout). It isn’t an easy read, but it’s essential we acknowledge the ongoing trauma of the Palestinian experience. By doing so, we give weight to the Palestinian soul in this colonial world.

If you have the capacity to further lend your attention and voice to Palestinians, please contact your representative to ask them to co-sponsor Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s resolution recognizing the Nakba and calling for an end to U.S. complicity in Israel’s violence against the Palestinian people. A letter template is in place which you may send as-is or personalize.

On this Nakba Day and every other day, my heart and convictions remain with the people of Palestine.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.