Naksa: A regional reminder

The Naksa, or the ‘setback,’ marked on June 5 as (an unnecessary) reminder to the Palestinians of the compounded expulsion they face to this day. The Naksa refers to what is known as the Six-Day War that unfolded in 1967 between Egypt-Syria and Israel. 

Not only did this further exacerbate the refugee problem, but also highlighted to Palestinians and their regional counterparts the sheer intensity and viciousness in which the occupation is conducted.

During this time in 1967, occupation forces, in a time span of six days, managed to occupy the Golan Heights in Syria, parts of the Sinai desert of Egypt as well as Jordanian land. The events forcibly displaced a further 250,000 to 400,000 Palestinians, to become more than one million, including those displaced in 1947-1948. 

At the time, tensions were rising amongst Arab states, as these states had a number of security agreements with each other. Initial Israeli aggression on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula escalated, drawing  Syria and Jordan into the conflict.

During this time the UN attempted to intervene with a number of resolutions that were disregarded.

Key areas in Palestine were evacuated, bombarded, subsequently occupied and later colonised by settlers. This includes places like Qalqilya where 12,000 were displaced, as well as the strategic occupation of the Moroccan Quarter of East Jerusalem, where 100 homes were demolished and a settlement/plaza was constructed in place. 

However, this pattern of occupation, while disproportionate, does not solely exist for the Palestinians alone. To this day, the Golan Heights, recognised internationally as sovereign Syrian territory, remains occupied by Israel. 

In 1967, it was home to some 150,000 Syrians, of whom at least 50,000 were forcibly displaced. Today the total population of the occupied Golan Heights falls at around 50,000 people, half of whom are Jewish settlers that have moved there since. 

 Egypt suffered casualties in the tens of thousands and lost control over the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, Jordan lost control of the West Bank as well as East Jerusalem. 

The forcible displacements, it would appear, particularly in light of recent forced displacement efforts in Jerusalem today, were intentional and expansionist, not merely repercussions of violence. 

Today, Israeli occupation of the region remains, and the Naksa serves as a reminder to the populations of Jordan, Syria, Egypt and even Lebanon, that the Zionist entity controls much of their freedoms as well.

What stands out the most is that these neighbouring and friendly countries do not have access to one another merely due to Israeli security concerns, this extends to land accessibility in addition to the occupation of the airspace.

Regional commercial flights are often obligated to bypass Israeli airspace and thus travel much longer than actually required, quite literally inflicting cost damage to every single flight. 

Arabs, even those with security deals, are not easily allowed entry into Palestine. Travelling by land within the region is essentially unheard of in the geopolitical climate. 

The south of Lebanon, only liberated from the Occupation since 2000, caused extreme divisions amongst the Lebanese and still plays a big role in contemporary sectarian politics. As Lebanon is still formally at war with Israel, residents are not allowed entry into the Palestinian Territories event though a large bulk of the population holds refugees from Palestine, from both the Nakba and the Naksa. 

UNIFIL officers have permanently moved into the southern Lebanese governorate of Sour, attempting, poorly, to keep the peace in border cities. 

Jordan's water resources are, today, exploited by Israel with numerous reports indicating the draining of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea through water diversion in addition to stalling on a water project desperately needed in Jordan. It essentially holds the Kingdom hostage in this aspect. 

Furthermore, security measures are imposed against citizens of Jordan in their own territory in northern areas such as Um Qais. 

Considering a large bulk of the neighbouring states hosts a large number of Palestinian refugees as well as nationalised Palestinians, in addition to the very apparent restrictions placed on the region as a whole that affects everything from commercial airlines to bilateral trade agreements, it remains that at this point in history, with the ongoing ethnic cleansing taking place in Palestine today, a rallying cry from all of the occupied must be heard.