This week marks 77 years since the Nakba — the catastrophe — when Zionist militias tore through Palestinian towns and villages, displacing over 700,000 people, emptying homes, erasing names from maps, and scattering families across borders they had no say in.
A people made stateless overnight.
And yet the Nakba is not just a date, not just the ghosts of May 1948.
It is the thrum of memory passed down in crowded kitchens, in the hush of bedtime stories, in keys clutched tightly by grandmothers who still believe they’ll return. It is exile woven into language. It is the weight of absence that never dulls.
As Palestinians face yet another chapter of displacement and devastation — this time in Gaza, 18 months into a genocide Israel has been comitting with impunity — we turn back to the yellowed pages of Al-Ahram, Egypt’s oldest daily.
These headlines, written in real time as events unfolded, are not analysis.
They are testimony.
The voices of correspondents and editors who watched a country be dismantled and understood that what was being lost was not just land, but the future.
They capture a moment when Arab capitals, many themselves still emerging from colonial rule, responded with urgency, solidarity, and unfiltered clarity. The vocabulary is of resistance, of sovereignty, of struggle.
To read these headlines today is to be reminded that the Nakba is not a closed wound.
It is ongoing — renewed, intensified, televised. And history, when unacknowledged and unhealed, does not remain in the past.
It finds its way back.
Sunday, 16 May 1948
Egyptian forces enter Gaza and advance. Air Force bombs Tel Aviv airport – Jewish colony cleared.
Arish, 15 May 1948 – Special to Al-Ahram
Egyptian forces, fully equipped, massed at the border to “liberate dear Palestine from Zionism and cleanse the holy land.” At 9:30am, troops entered the Angour Jewish settlement; others passed through Khan Younis en route to Gaza.
Foreign envoys receive Egypt’s formal declaration (Photos)
Ahmed Khashaba Pasha, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, delivered official notes to the Soviet Commissariat, US Ambassador Pinkey Tuck, French Ambassador Gilbert Arvengas, and the Netherlands’ chargé d’affaires.
Official statements from the Egyptian Prime Minister
Three consecutive communiqués outlined the military’s mission: to restore order and end the Zionist militias's massacres against Arabs and humanity.
King Abdullah fires symbolic shot to launch Palestinian campaign
Jordan, 15 May – Special to Al-Ahram
King Abdullah crossed into Palestine, fired a symbolic shot, and wished his troops victory. Roads were closed to civilians to allow Jordanian and Iraqi forces passage. He also held extended meetings with political and military leaders, including Fawzi Al-Qawuqji, discussing the formation of volunteer units.
Monday, 17 June 1948
Egyptian planes bomb Tel Aviv port – troops 65km away. Arab forces destroy industrial sites and overrun resisting colonies.
- Lebanese army enters Al-Naqoura, a failed Zionist attempt to breach its lines.
- Iraqi troops captured a power station, destroyed the Khishar colony, and bombed Bissan.
- Syrian forces seized Smekh and opened fire on the Dan colony.
- Jordanian army gains ground in Jerusalem amid ongoing clashes.
- Flyers dropped on Tel Aviv and Jewish settlements, in Arabic and Hebrew, called for surrender within one hour, urging residents to raise white flags and surrender arms.
Tuesday, 18 May 1948
Egyptian Air Force bombs Zionist targets – Jews in Jerusalem surrender, hand over weapons.
- Arab forces take Safad, Ramallah, Lod airport, and other Jewish settlements.
- A world without peace, searching for Europe (editorial headline).
Wednesday, 19 May 1948
Jordanian forces take Jerusalem – Egyptian patrols push deeper into Palestine – 13 raids on Tel Aviv.
- Nothing but war. Go ahead.
- Desire abandoned; he awoke from dreams; the East stirred after a long slumber.
- Arab states challenge the US at the UN Security Council for recognizing the “alleged state,” calling for the issue to be referred to the International Court of Justice.
Thursday, 20 May 1948
Jordanian forces chase Jewish fighters in West Jerusalem, occupy Abu Ghosh and Bab Al-Wad, clearing the road to Ramla and Jaffa.
- Egyptian army storms Beit Hanoun fortress and intensifies air raids on Zionist positions.
- Arab troops press through Jerusalem, demolishing resistance and destroying strongholds.
- Britain continues to supply arms to Arab states.
- Syrian army attacks Safad, inflicting heavy casualties.
- Iraqi army advances after securing key areas.
- A look at the battlefield: preparing for the decisive fight.
Friday, 21 May 1948
Egyptian forces seize Beersheba – Jordanian army pushes beyond Jerusalem toward Tel Aviv and Jaffa.
- Egyptian Air Force strikes multiple military targets.
- A world without peace – Rome/Amsterdam (editorial headline).
Sunday, 23 May 1948
Egyptian troops enter Bethlehem and Magdal – Jerusalem isolated, resistance pockets cleared – potash factory occupied.
- Egyptian army on the battlefield.
- A look at the terrain: the nature of fighting in Palestine – “a land of hideouts, obstacles, and surprises,” said Adam Smith.
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