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A fact from Nakba appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 23 May 2021 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that the Nakba – the destruction of Palestinian society, their homeland, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people – has been described as an ongoing catastrophe?
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Hi Levivich, happy to add here - could you explain the objective? There are many more relevant books in the article bibliography, and in google books. Not to mention the various sources in Arabic (e.g. Ma'na an-Nakba). Onceinawhile (talk) 17:01, 22 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The objective is to identify the major books about Nakba -- the "best" sources. I had missed two books already in the article, which I just added to this list, but I think at this point all the books in the article are on this list. Did I miss any others? In addition to those, there are, listed above, books that should be cited in the article, but aren't. Are there any others? The article relies too much on not-the-best sources: newspaper articles, kind-of-obscure journal papers, etc., which can and ought to be replaced with better sources, like the major books by major scholars in the field. No doubt there are foreign-language books about Nakba as well, but I've only looked at English books. Levivich (talk) 18:14, 22 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In that case, your list - prioritizing Pappe and Morris - is incorrectly weighted. They are absolutely core to the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, which is the story of what the Israelis did to the Palestinians. But the Nakba is a wider topic, about the overall Palestinian collective trauma.
I can bring more sources, but we should iron this difference out first.
I didn't really intend this list to be weighted, except that the "classics" have like 10x or 100x the citations of other books on the list, so I separated them, and then I looked for any more-recent books by the same authors about Palestine, so we can see what if anything they changed or added in their writing about Nakba since they wrote their "classics." The classics, like all classics, are widely-cited, but relatively old. That's why I think it's important to look at newer sources and not just the classics.
I don't necessarily think classics should be given more weight than newer sources. In instances where newer sources say something different than the classics, we need to pay attention to that. We need to determine if the mainstream scholarly views have changed, or if new significant minority views have emerged, or what. One example: did Nakba start and end in 1948, or did it begin before 48, and/or continue after 48? My sense that scholarship has moved on those questions since Pappe 2006 and Masalha 2012, and I'd be keen on looking at how more recent sources describe the timeline of Nakba (and also what Pappe and Masalha have said in more recent writings on the topic, including papers and not just books).
I'm not entirely sure how to handle Morris. My gut instinct is that Morris represents a significant minority view on Nakba (or maybe more specifically, the causes of the Nakba). I see that other scholars discuss Morris's views, particularly in relation to Pappe's, and both Morris and Pappe discuss each other's views, and the Wikipedia article mentions them already. I was going to see how the most recent scholarship handled Morris. It may be one of those cases where Morris is talked about in the article more than used as a source for the article (and maybe same with Pappe).
For now, though, I'm just looking to collect the most in-depth, widely-cited, reputable works about Nakba... i.e., books by scholars reviewed in some academic journal, the more citations the better. That could obviously be expanded to book chapters and journal articles, but I think books is a good place to start because they will have the most depth. Levivich (talk) 21:03, 22 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
You could retitle the "classics" as "highly cited" instead, if people object? It's not a huge issue, and I realise I'm about a year late, but wanted to offer a solution if needed. Lewisguile (talk) 18:48, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm adding to the outline links to other articles, and sub-topics (where I'm not aware of an article to link), that I think are WP:DUE per the sources listed in each outline section. Please speak up if you think anything should be added or removed. Also, as the outline will be changing, just note that folks' approval/disapproval at any given point in time may no longer apply to a later, changed version of the outline. Levivich (talk) 01:14, 28 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I think this outline is missing coverage of notable opposing narratives, namely the Israeli national narrative which is currently covered in the section 'Opposition to the notion of Nakba'. Marokwitz (talk) 10:46, 28 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I expect that'll be covered in historiography and memory section; I haven't gotten to expanding those parts of the outline yet (and probably won't for a while, still on the history section right now). Levivich (talk) 22:45, 1 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I've added article links to the history section in the outline above. If anyone thinks there are other articles that should be linked in the history section of the Nakba article, or that we shouldn't be linking to something that is listed in the outline, please let me know. Levivich (talk) 20:53, 9 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I've added a very small bare-bones start to the History section of the article, and struck through the links on the outline that are now in the article. My plan is to expand the history section until all the links in the outline are in the article, then move on to the other sections. I may move some links to other parts of the outline and reorganize the outline a bit as I go. Levivich (talk) 05:59, 23 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Although the translation is given, this page would benefit from a recounting of the term's usage: who coined it for this use, when/how it was popularized, etc.
This is what I came to the page to find out, and was surprised it wasn't here. Le dragon (talk) 16:59, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
You should try: Webman, Esther (2009). "The Evolution of a Founding Myth: The Nakba and Its Fluctuating Meaning". In Litvak, M. (ed.). Palestinian Collective Memory and National Identity. WPLibrary link and not be surprised at all that you did not find what you are looking for here. fiveby(zero) 18:14, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I've synthesized the two sections and brought up the terminology section, which is usually at the beginning of an article. إيان (talk) 22:17, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 16 March 2026
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Request for NPOV Adjustments regarding Indigenous Presence and Arab Aggression
I would like to suggest the following edits to ensure a more neutral and historically comprehensive perspective:
1. **Regarding Jewish Indigeneity:** Change "The Jewish community grew through immigration" to "The conflict involved the **indigenous Jewish population**, which had maintained a **continuous, 3,000-year presence** in the land, alongside returning refugees."
Reasoning: Omitting the continuous presence of the "Old Yishuv" (Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed) frames the population as entirely external, which is historically inaccurate.
2. **Regarding Pre-1948 Persecution:** Add context about the **1929 Hebron Massacre** and **Dhimmi status**.
Reasoning: Jewish defense in 1948 was a response to a long history of second-class status and local ethnic violence, not an unprovoked movement.
3. **Regarding the 1948 Invasion Intent:** Note that the Arab League's goal was publicly stated as **extermination**.
Source: Secretary-General Azzam Pasha's 1948 declaration: "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre."
4. **Regarding the "Population Swap":** Add that the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians occurred alongside the **expulsion of 850,000 Jews** from Arab lands.
Reasoning: This provides the full demographic context of the 1948 war as a regional population displacement rather than a localized one.
Not done. These are controversial and complex changes without any sources cited. A few of them are also absurd such as the first request that we remove mention of Jewish/Zionist immigration. IOHANNVSVERVS (talk) 08:11, 16 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]
"I appreciate your feedback on the complexity of these topics. To address the lack of citations, I am proposing specific, high-quality academic sources (WP:RS) to bring the article into NPOV balance:
Indigenous Presence: According to Sachar (2007, ISBN: 978-0375711329), the Jewish population included an indigenous 'Old Yishuv' that pre-dated modern immigration. I suggest adding this for demographic accuracy.
Context of Conflict: To understand the motivations of 1948, we should include the history of inter-communal violence (e.g., the 1929 Hebron Massacre) and the existential rhetoric of the Arab League (Azzam Pasha, 1948), as documented in Morris (2008, ISBN: 978-0300151121, p. 187).
Regional Displacement: Per WP:BALANCE, the displacement of Palestinians should be contextualized alongside the displacement of 850,000 Jews from Arab lands (Shulewitz, 1999, ISBN: 978-0304700783).
These edits do not remove the history of immigration but provide the necessary regional and indigenous context required for a neutral encyclopedic entry." ~2026-16644-41 (talk) 17:20, 16 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
