The Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Before the Nakba, Palestine was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. The Nakba resulted in the loss of the Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian Arabs. It was a deliberate and systematic act intended to establish a Jewish majority state in Palestine. The Nakba had a profound impact on the Palestinian people, who lost their homes, their land, and their way of life. It remains a deeply traumatic event in their collective memory and continues to shape their struggle for justice and for their right to return to their homes.

The term Nakba was first applied to the events of 1948 by Constantin Zureiq, a professor of history at the American University of Beirut, in his 1948 book Macnā an-Nakba (The Meaning of the Disaster) . The use of the term has evolved over time. The Palestinian national narrative views the Nakba as a collective trauma that defines their national identity and political aspirations, which the Israeli national narrative rejects and views it as a war of independence that established Jewish aspirations for statehood and sovereignty. Israeli officials have repeatedly stigmatized the term as embodying an Arab lie or as a justification for terrorism.

Palestinians mark 15 May as Nakba Day, the day after Israeli independence day, to commemorate the Nakba. The Nakba anniversary is a reminder not only of those tragic events of 1948 but of the ongoing injustice suffered by the Palestinians. The Palestinian refugee crisis has persisted for nearly 75 years because Israel refuses to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties in violation of international law.