Prime Minister's message on the 75th Anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given a message on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the ‘Nakba’ (the ‘Catastrophe’) on 15 May 1948, marking the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people. In the message, on behalf of the people of Bangladesh, she expressed deepest sympathy and unwavering solidarity to the Palestinians who were displaced and dispossessed en masse from their own land on this day in 1948 and afterwards, which continues till today. She observed that Nakba was not only an act of violent expulsion of the Palestinians from their own land, but also it marked the beginning of what is known today as Israeli apartheid.

The Prime Minister thanked the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for observing this day for the first time at the Headquarters of the United Nations, noting that the observance is a timely reminder of the historical injustice caused to the Palestinians, and the duty of the UN and its members to end the sufferings that this shameful catastrophe inflicted upon them through generations. She added that the Palestinians deserve justice and remedy, which can only be done by holding the perpetrators of this tragic event accountable and by securing a just solution for the Palestine refugees and the Palestinian people living under continued occupation, including their inalienable rights to self-determination.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated Bangladesh’s call for the peaceful settlement of the crisis in all its aspects and on the basis of international law and UN resolutions, and for the achievement of an end to the Israeli occupation and establishment of an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders. She urged the international community to step up efforts to reverse the consequences of ‘Nakba’ and restore the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people to live in safety, stability, and dignity in a sovereign homeland.