Between the Nakba and the ban on showing the documentary about Aliyah on television in our democratic country

By: Tamim Abu Khait

Communications Minister Shlomo Keri is threatening to deny the public broadcasting corporation a budget if it broadcasts the documentary "1948 - Remembering and Forgetting" by director Neta Shoshani, despite the lifting of the ban on screening the film.

The official Israeli establishment, which includes the government, the Knesset, and the judiciary - and I would add the presidency - has never recognized the State of Israel's responsibility for the Nakba of the Palestinian people. I wonder who did it? The Cypriot army? Turkey? Jordan? Or maybe the Palestinians themselves, who decided to leave their homes and settle in the streets, mountains, and deserts of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt?

Four years ago, President Herzog visited Kafr Qassem and participated in a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Kafr Qassem massacre that took place in 1656, in which 49 residents of the village were killed. He did say in Arabic: "I apologize in my name and in the name of the State of Israel," but he refused to acknowledge the state's responsibility for this "small" massacre compared to the Nakba, which was carried out within the official State of Israel, 8 years after its establishment. And for those who don't know, the commander responsible for the range, for the killing of 49 residents who were returning to their homes after working all day in the fields, Mr. Shadmi, was sentenced in the State of Israel's court, not 49 life sentences, not one life sentence, not one year or one day in prison, but that he will pay the State of Israel only one penny. One penny - not even a lira.

Today, no one has been ordered to pay even a single penny for the destruction in Gaza.

Mr. Kari, not only can't stand hearing the word "Nakba," but he also doesn't want others to hear it. Even a documentary, which documents what really happened, he doesn't want anyone else to see. Not only that, he also thinks that the public broadcasting corporation belongs to him, personally. He also thinks, like all his friends in power, and unfortunately also like a significant portion of the people in Israel, that not only Gaza belongs to him but "every piece of land" or "every sliver of land" between the Mediterranean Sea and the river belongs to them. A gift from God.

Who can argue with God?!

Some even say that it is not necessarily the Jordan River. After all, God forgot to specify which river is the boundary of the gift.

I'm just reminding you that we are currently in 2025, a little over 77 years after the Nakba. The word "Nakba" is heard by a small portion of the people in Israel once a year, close to Independence Day. The word "Nakba" is experienced, every day, by more than 7 million Palestinians. Every day.