‘Nakba’: You Keep Using That Word…

Exposing the Real Nakba — 850,000 Jews Expelled from Arab Lands

For decades, the word Nakba—Arabic for “catastrophe”—has been wielded as a moral cudgel against Israel, evoking images of Arab displacement following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. But as we’ve shown in previous pieces such as The Palestinian Identity Manifesto and Hijacked Ideas and Stolen Names: The Meme of “Palestine”, the dominant narrative surrounding “Palestine” has long been twisted into a propaganda tool, built on erasure, inversion, and appropriation.

So here’s a proposition: Let’s talk about a real Nakba.

From 1948 onward, over 850,000 Jews were expelled or forced to flee from Arab lands across the Middle East and North Africa. These Jews—indigenous to Baghdad, Cairo, Aleppo, Tripoli, and countless other cities for millennia—were stripped of their property, their citizenship, and their heritage. Entire communities were obliterated. That is Nakba. A catastrophe not only in scale, but in silence. And it’s time we give it the name it deserves.

From Expulsion to Erasure: The Language of Contempt

Ziophobes continue to insult Jews expelled from Arab lands—even to this day. One of their favorite weapons? The term “Arab Jews” (or “Jewish Arabs”)—a label they know is both offensive and misleading, and one that is firmly rejected by the very people it claims to describe.

Jews from Arab and Muslim lands—particularly Israelis of Mizrahi and Sephardic background—do not view themselves as a subset of Arab identity. They were Jews who lived in Arab lands, not Arabs who happened to be Jewish. Their culture, faith, and identity are ancient, indigenous, and distinct.

To call them “Arab Jews” is to erase their history again—this time with language. It’s a rhetorical assault meant to fracture Israeli society, undermine Jewish continuity, and deny the legitimacy of Jews from Islamic countries as full heirs to the Jewish homeland. Just as the physical Nakba uprooted these communities, this linguistic Nakba seeks to erase what remains of their cultural authenticity. And we see through it.

Hijacking Jewish and Israeli Symbols: A Pattern

The theft doesn’t stop at geography and identity. It now extends to slogans, poetry, even sacred memory. Take the phrase “Free Palestine.” This wasn’t coined by Hamas or campus mobs—it was first used by Jews in the 1930s protesting British colonial rule, and later in defiance of the invading Arab armies during Israel’s War of Independence.

And yet, today, this Jewish rallying cry has been hijacked by those who want to erase the very country it helped birth.

The phrase Ein Li Eretz Acheret (“I have no other country”) remains a heartfelt declaration of Jewish resilience and unbreakable connection to the land of Israel. And yet, it was recently cynically weaponized in an antisemitic propaganda film that misused the line while portraying Israel as the villain—and was, of course, showered with praise at the Oscars.

Even the slogan “Bring Them Home Now,” referring to Israeli hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, has been grotesquely appropriated to refer to Hamas-affiliated terrorists imprisoned in Israel.

And, of course, the most brazen hijacking of all: the Holocaust itself. We now have “genocide scholars” falling over themselves to redefine that sacred term—not to honor its victims, but to blur the line between aggressor and defender, butcher and hostage.

Thank you, Ziophobes. This was your idea. And we’re done playing defense.

Redefining Nakba

If Nakba is to mean “catastrophe,” then let’s use it properly:

• The mass expulsion of Jews from Arab lands.
• The destruction of Jewish communities from Casablanca to Baghdad.
• The loss of heritage, identity, and property of over 850,000 people who found refuge in Israel—not in refugee camps but as full citizens.

And let’s go further.

There has been an ongoing Nakba since 1948: a catastrophe inflicted upon Jews and Israelis through terrorism, delegitimization, and war. Every intifada. Every hijacking. Every stabbing, bombing, shooting, and lynching. Every missile launched by Hezbollah. Every drone from the Houthis. Every Iranian threat and attempt to wipe Israel off the map. Every death chant in the streets of London, Paris, and New York. Every international resolution that treats Jewish self-determination as the one sin among nations.

The ultimate manifestation of this ongoing Nakba? October 7, 2023 — when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, raped and mutilated civilians, burned families alive, and live-streamed their own genocidal rampage. All while cheering crowds around the world raised the same slogans they once stole from us.

This Game Goes Both Ways

Words matter. And when they’re stolen, twisted, and turned into weapons, it’s our duty to set the record straight. If you insist on using Nakba to erase Israel and Jewish history, expect it to be redefined to expose it.

So here it is, loud and clear:

You want to talk about Nakba? Then let’s talk about ours.

Am Yisraël Chai. The rest is commentary.