right of return

The mosque in Dayr al-Shaykh, one of the last remaining structures in the destroyed Palestinian village, west of Jersualem, from "The Erasure of Palestine." (Ahmad Al-Bazz)

A Palestinian photographer’s ‘search for what remained’ from 1948

When Nablus-based journalist Ahmad Al-Bazz received an Israeli travel permit, he rushed to visit nearly 200 villages depopulated in the Nakba. Five years later, his new book offers a powerful visual archive of erasure.

By Yahel Gazit May 12, 2026

A protester waves the Palestinian flag toward Israeli soldiers standing on the other side of the fence encaging Gaza, during the "Great March of Return," east of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, October 18, 2019. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills)

What a real ‘day after’ for Gaza could look like

Many of those displaced by the genocide are already Nakba refugees. Activists are mapping out how they could return to their original homes from pre-1948.

By Yahav Erez April 22, 2026

A mural in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, October 10, 2006. (Anne Paq/Activestills)

Dispelling the myths about Palestinian refugees — in Jenin and beyond

With Israel's Jenin invasion sparking a new round of misinformation, here are the truths behind five hasbara tropes on Palestinian refugees.

By Anne Irfan July 9, 2023

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Rachel Beitarie, Executive Director of the left-wing Israeli NGO Zochrot, sits in front of the Jaffa Clock Tower. Around 95% of Jaffa's Palestinian population fled or were expelled during the Nakba. (Oren Ziv)

The Israeli left has broken the Nakba taboo. Will the right of return be next?

The past year has seen many left-wing Israeli groups looking beyond the occupation to confront the legacies of 1948, but they remain divided over redressing the exile of Palestinian refugees through return.

By Ben Reiff June 23, 2022

An Israeli soldier drinks water as Palestinians look on after Israeli forces conquer Be'er Sheva during the 1948 war, October 22, 1948. (Hugo Mendelson/GPO)

Carpets, books, and jewelry: Why looting was central to the Nakba

A recent book documents the rampant looting of Palestinian belongings in 1948, but fails to recognize it as part of Israel's wider goal of dispossession.

By Avi-ram Tzoreff March 24, 2022

Neta Golan being arrested by Israeli forces during a protest in Turmus Ayya, occupied West Bank, December 19, 2014. (Courtesy of Neta Golan)

Israel arrested me for protesting the Gaza siege. Here’s why I refuse to stand trial

As an Israeli, it took me years to unlearn Zionism. Now, my solidarity with Palestinian prisoners compels me to reject a court summons.

By Neta Golan March 8, 2022

UNRWA staff members protest against budget cuts outside the UNRWA offices in Gaza City, April 14, 2019. (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)

International law sides with Palestinian refugees. But can it solve their plight?

A new book dives into the myriad laws that protect Palestinian refugees and their right of return. Its proposed solution, though, may be hard to swallow.

By Sam Bahour May 2, 2021

Illustrative photo of kibbutz ceremony, July 1951. (פוטו ארדה)

For a new political imagination, Israeli Jews must unlearn Zionism

As Israelis, our task is not only to recognize the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 — it is to train our imagination to build a shared place to live in freedom and equality.

By Norma Musih May 24, 2020

Palestinian refugee Laila Abdel Meguid Tafesh, 78, holds up a key allegedly from her house in Jaffa, on May 15, 2009 in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza. (Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90)

PODCAST: How can the return of Palestinian refugees become feasible?

Lubnah Shomali from BADIL, a Palestinian group that advocates for the rights of refugees, pieces together the practicalities of return.

By Henriette Chacar May 22, 2020

Dozens of Israeli and Palestinian activists protested on the Israeli side of the Gaza fence in solidarity with the Great Return March. Palestinian demonstrators responded with cheers of joy at the sight of the Palestinian flags. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Seven decades on, internally displaced Palestinians wait to return home

Muhammad Kayal is one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel who remain internally displaced 72 years after the Nakba, and whom Israel will not allow to return to their former — and often empty — land.

By Orly Noy May 15, 2020

A railroad in Haifa, February 25, 1945. (GPO)

Catching a train to Beirut after the return of Palestinian refugees

We wondered why, so many years after the return, people were still asking us to talk about the crazy, seemingly impossible idea we put out to the world all those years ago.

By Umar Al-Ghubari May 15, 2020

Palestinian fishermen prepare their nets near the sea in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 10, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

What do Palestinians in Gaza really think about the Israeli elections?

On the eve of the elections, four young Palestinians in Gaza open up about their thoughts on Israeli political parties, whether they think there's hope for change, and what life is like under siege.

By Yuval Abraham September 12, 2019

On Easter Monday in the displaced Palestinian village of Iqrit, residents dance around the town's church, April 21, 2014. (Activestills.org)

Palestinians are holding weddings, baptisms, burials in villages destroyed by Israel

Third-generation survivors of the Nakba are returning to the churches in the villages Israel destroyed in 1948 to hold religious ceremonies. By Suha Arraf Just over two weeks ago, Khaled Bisharat, son of famed journalist and author Odeh Bisharat, was married in a church in the village of Ma’alul. It was a wedding like any other, apart…

By +972 Magazine July 30, 2019