Photos: UCF students, organizers host 'Day of the Nakba' Palestinian solidarity event

A student-led organization Wednesday held an event in solidarity with Palestine for the 76th anniversary of the Nakba.

University of Central Florida Divest Coalition hosted the event, which included a picnic, stories told by Palestinian students, an educational workshop and a vigil.

Nakba, or the “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the violent mass displacement of Palestinians during the early formation of Israel in 1948. The term has historically been used to describe the ongoing displacement of Palestinian people by Israel. The day is commemorated the day after Israel observes its independence day.

This year marks the 76th anniversary of the Nakba.

The picnic began at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the corner of Alafaya Trail and University Boulevard. Coalition members, many wrapped in keffiyehs, posted signs and waved Palestinian flags through the sun and into the rain.

As stated on its Instagram, UCF Divest Coalition demands include calling on the university to divest from Israeli companies and companies or funds profiting from the war.

Lead member Tamara Yousef, a Palestinian UCF student, said a common misconception with the Nakba is that the occupation ended in 1948, but she said that is not true.

“The Nakba is still ongoing and the displacement of Palestinians is continuous,” Yousef said. “I think it’s important to acknowledge both the history of it, and the current-day displacement.”

Yousef played videos sent to the coalition displaying children and students in classrooms and in rubble, thanking UCF students for their endless solidarity. Some videos in Arabic were translated by Palestinian Valencia College student Eyad Saleh.

Saleh said when his great-grandfather was displaced from the West Bank, his family had to move to Jordan. Saleh lived there for 15 years. He said that although Jordan and Palestine felt like one country and one people, he still felt far from home.

“It’s very, very sad for any Palestinian to not be able to see Al-Quds, you can’t go there and pray, and live the life you deserve,” Saleh said. “But we will never give up, our voice is gonna be loud forever.”

The event happened more than seven months after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis. Since then, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza have surged in recent weeks, while several U.S. universities have seen encampments staged by students calling on the institutions to divest from Israeli companies and companies or funds profiting from the war.

University of Central Florida students May 6 launched an encampment in solidarity with a global student-led movement in protest of Israeli violence against Palestinians and in support of their university's divestment from Israel.