Amena al-Ashkar avoided writing about the Sabra and Shatilla massacre even though she grew up a kilometer away. On the massacre’s 40th anniversary, she finally made the painful pilgrimage. “We have talked about this for so long now, but nobody cares that we were slaughtered like chickens…I am not going to do this right now, or ever again,” a Palestinian woman who survived the Sabra and Shatilla massacre tells her.

The longest refugee tragedy in the world is that of the Palestinians, who were forcibly uprooted from their homes in 1948. The right of return remains the essence of the Palestinian cause.

For nearly three decades, Palestinians were told, even by their leaders, that the Nakba is a thing of the past. However, with Palestinian reality worsening under the deepening system of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid, Palestinians now understand that they have no possible alternative but their unity, their resistance and the return to the fundamentals of their struggle.

Although 74 years have passed since the Nakba, many Palestinian refugees hold onto possessions from their original homes and villages where their families were expelled from in 1948. Old keys, handwoven dresses, musical instruments, antique pottery, and old farming equipment all serve as a reminder of life before Israel was established.

There are troubling signs that UNRWA’s mandate might be coming to an end. Any attempts at canceling or redefining UNRWA’s mission will pose a serious, if not an unprecedented challenge for Palestinians.

Nadya Hajj powerfully conveys how new technologies make, re-make, and occasionally unmake ties in the global Palestinian community.

In November 2021, Salman Abu Sitta returned to the Gaza Strip after five decades of forced absence. What he found surprised and inspired him.

Francesca Albanese and Dr. Lex Takkenberg discuss the origins of the Palestinian refugee crisis, its role within international law, and whether Israel’s actions constitute apartheid.

The U.N. must act to demand the end of the Gaza blockade and the collective punishment of 2 million, to insure the respect for holy sites in Jerusalem, and to push for a multilateral effort to grant equal rights to all members of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

The Biden administration has announced its plans to reinstate millions of dollars in aid to UNRWA, nearly three years after the Trump administration halted US funding for the agency. While Biden’s moves so far have been praised by the Palestinian leadership, the administration has made clear that it will not reverse some of the most controversial of Trump’s policies, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, or oppose normalization agreements between Israel and other Arab nations in the region.