Nakba: Images of Palestine before and after 1948

There are many ways in which the Nakba in 1948 transformed Palestine. Neighborhoods that once stood are now gone, new settlements built and the families that occupied the buildings for generations replaced.

The following images capture the dramatic changes that took place before and after that fateful day. 

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Damascus Gate: The gate is one of the main entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus and from there to the capital of Syria, Damascus.

 

Ma'alul: The Catholic Church of Ma'alul - and together with a Greek Orthodox Church and a mosque - is what remains of the ancient Arab village of Ma'alul, just a few kilometers west of Nazareth. It was formed mainly by Christian Palestinians until 1948 when it was destroyed during the 1947–1949 Palestine war.

 

Al-Jamal House: This picture, believed to be taken in the late 1920s, shows Palestinian Shukri Al-Jamal and his wife, sisters and daughters in front of their home in the Talbiya neighborhood of Jerusalem. Today, Israelis live in the same property. Talbiya, officially called Komemiyut under the Israeli government, was built in the 1920s on land purchased from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Most of the early residents were affluent Middle Eastern Christians who built elegant homes.

 

Ain Karem village: The village was an Arab Palestinian town until 1948 when it was attacked during the Nakba, and the population was forced to flee.