By Dr. Sabir Abu Maryam
Secretary General, Palestine Foundation Pakistan
(Palestine Foundation Information Center), Every year, as the month of May arrives, an old wound is reopened in the hearts of justice-loving people across the world. This wound is the wound of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe) the day in 1948 when an illegitimate Zionist state was established on the land of Palestine. Millions of Palestinians were expelled from their homes, farms, towns, and cities; hundreds of villages were erased from existence; and an entire nation was forced into migration, exile, and statelessness. The Palestinian people do not view this tragedy merely as a historical event, but as an ongoing injustice, because the Nakba has never truly ended.
Historically, it is said that in a single day, the usurping Zionists killed 25,000 Palestinians. Reports state that poisonous substances were mixed into water pipelines. No mercy was shown, not even to livestock. Around 1.5 million Palestinians were expelled from their own homeland in a single day.
The establishment of the illegitimate Zionist state on Palestinian land was not merely a regional occupation; rather, it was part of a broader Western imperial project. The process began under British sponsorship with the Balfour Declaration, progressed to the United Nations Partition Resolution 181, and then through military force seized Palestinian land to establish a state that received extraordinary support from the Western world from its very inception. This is why Israel holds an exceptional position within the Western political order.
It is precisely this status that compels Western countries to conceal Israel’s crimes. If the Israeli state was truly so beneficial, then why did Western governments not establish it in Europe or elsewhere in the West? Researchers argue that Western and European governments knew well that if a state called Israel had been created in the Western world for Jews, it would have destabilized peace there. Instead, they chose to destroy peace in other regions of the world by facilitating the creation of this illegitimate Zionist state in Palestine, and then granting it exceptional status.
There are many states in the world, but Israel is the only state that is not only usurping and illegitimate, but one for which international laws have repeatedly been ignored, United Nations resolutions suspended, and principles of human rights set aside. Even though, under international law, UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, Western governments hastily used the Balfour Declaration and a UN General Assembly partition resolution 181 to establish the Zionist state on Palestinian land. Had any other country pursued occupation, settlement expansion, racial discrimination, and collective punishment for more than half a century, severe sanctions would likely have been imposed. But for Israel, Western governments apply a different standard.
The clearest example of Israel’s exceptional status is its relationship with the United States. Israel is not merely an ally of Washington; it occupies a special place in the centers of American policymaking. Pro-Israel resolutions pass rapidly through the U.S. Congress, billions of dollars in military aid continue uninterrupted, and American presidents regardless of party declare Israel’s security to be a U.S. national interest.
The preservation of Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME) is mandated by U.S. law, and the American president is obligated to maintain it. No other country enjoys such binding protective legislation in the United States. Israel receives fixed, long-term, guaranteed, and unconditional military assistance from Washington. This model exists for no other country. Israel was also the first non-NATO country granted access to sensitive joint defense projects. No other country enjoys such privileges, not even Britain has access to certain highly sensitive technologies with the same freedom granted to Israel, such as aspects of F-35 fighter jet technology.
Israel is also a partner in highly classified cyber and intelligence operations with the United States. In some sectors, particularly cyber warfare and artificial intelligence, the U.S. has treated Israel as an equal partner. In effect, Israel has been integrated into the operational command structure of the U.S. military (CENTCOM). No other country has been granted such integration into America’s military structure. U.S. military stockpiles are stored on Israeli soil under a special protocol (WRSA-I). Furthermore, U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS), National Defense Strategy (NDS), and Pentagon documents define Israel’s security as part of America’s own national security. No other country enjoys such a status.
In summary, there is hardly any other country in the U.S. Congress that enjoys the extraordinary political support Israel receives. Special military aid, supply of advanced weapons, diplomatic protection, and the repeated use of the veto in the UN Security Council all demonstrate the nature of this relationship. Israel has become more than a state, it has become a military and political outpost of Western power in West Asia.
But the question is: who pays the price for this special status? The answer is clear: the Palestinian people.
The besieged children of Gaza, the surrounded cities of the West Bank, the desecrated sanctity of Jerusalem, families living generation after generation in refugee camps, and millions of Palestinian refugees scattered across the world continue to pay this price. Their homes were seized, their lands stolen, and their identity targeted for erasure yet their determination could not be broken.
That is why the most fundamental principle of the Palestinian struggle is the Right of Return. According to UN Resolution 194, Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homes. This is not merely a political slogan; it is a human right recognized under international law. Yet Israel refuses to acknowledge this right, because if Palestinians were to return, the entire story of occupation would be exposed.
Today, Palestinians around the world observe 15 May, Nakba Day, also as the Day of Return to Palestine, emphasizing the Palestinian people’s right of return. The issue of Palestine is not simply a border dispute, it is the cry of an entire nation against forced expulsion from its homeland. This cry is called the Right of Return. It is the story of an oppressed people who, despite genocide, siege, repression, and exile, have not abandoned their homeland, their rights, or their history. Even today, Palestinians across the globe seek the right to return to Palestine so they may resettle in their homeland.
Today, the world is changing. Younger generations are challenging the Western narrative. Voices in support of Palestine are rising in universities, streets, and international forums. The bombing and genocide in Gaza and Lebanon have shown the world that behind Israel’s shining democratic image lies the bitter reality of occupation, power, and bloodshed. It has also exposed the hypocrisy of the Western world and its hollow slogans about human rights.
Nakba Day is not only a day of sorrow and grief, it is also a day of commitment. A commitment that the Palestinian people’s Right of Return will not be forgotten, that the status of Jerusalem will not be forgotten, and that no matter how powerful oppression may seem, history always proves it temporary.
Therefore, today the slogan of those who stand with Palestine across the world is clear: Return is near, and Palestine will be free.
