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When first proposed, it banned and criminalize commemorations as a way to "erase a seminal event in Palestinian history from Israeli consciousness." Its softened version deals only with funding.
Nakba means "massive catastrophe." Arab intellectual Constantin Zureiq coined the term in his 1948 book titled, "The Meaning of El-Nakba," saying:
"The defeat of the Arabs in Palestine should not be treated as a simple disaster or fleeting event. It was the worst catastrophe, in the deepest sense of the word, to have befallen the Arabs in their long and disaster-ridden history."
According to Palestinian historian Arif al-Arif in his book titled, "The Nakba of Palestine and Paradise Lost":
"How can I not call it a nakba? It was during this period that a disaster of a kind we had not encountered for generations befell us, the Arabs, and the Palestinians in particular. Our homeland was stolen. We were driven from our land. We lost a large number of our sons, and, above all, our dignity was deeply wounded."
It was the first time Palestinians lost their homeland and became diaspora and internally displaced refugees. Palestine as a political entity ceased to exist. For those affected, it was an unparalleled historic tragedy and collective nightmare. It remains so.
As a result, Palestinians mark Israel's independence as Nakba Day and commemorate it annually. For them, it's a national trauma. It also symbolizes Israeli lawlessness, repression, discrimination, and racism.
On January 5, Israel's High Court rejected an anti-Nakba Law petition. Court President Dorit Beinisch said it lacked concrete facts required for support. She, Eliezer Rivlin and Miriam Naor wrote in their ruling:
"The declarative level of the law does indeed raise difficult and complex questions. However, from the outset, the constitutionality of the law depends largely upon the interpretation given to the law's directives."
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