Palestine Solidarity Group Marks 78th Nakba Day, Honors Palestinian Struggle For Return And Liberation

The Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association joins the Palestinian people in commemorating Nakba Day, marking 78 years since the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians from their homeland. On May 15, 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly driven from their homes as over 400 villages were destroyed in what Palestinians remember as the Nakba, or “catastrophe” — the beginning of a continuing struggle for return, justice, and national liberation.

The Nakba continues today.

“We see it in Gaza, where entire neighborhoods are flattened under continuous airstrikes, where even so-called “ceasefires” fail to halt bombardment or restore basic safety, and where survival itself is reduced to a daily struggle under siege and blockade. We see it in the occupied West Bank through raids, checkpoints, mass arrests, and forced displacement. It continues in refugee camps where generations of Palestinians remain denied their right to return home. And it continues through the full backing of the United States and its allies, who fund, arm, and protect Israel from accountability.” described Dr. Delen de la Paz, President of PPFA.

For more than seven decades since the 1948 Nakba, millions of Palestinians have continued to live in displacement, exile, and statelessness, many confined to refugee camps across Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria with limited access to basic rights and services. Documented data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees show that millions remain forcibly displaced, while countless others continue to go uncounted, missing, or repeatedly uprooted without formal recognition or protection.

The crimes against the Palestinian people are crimes against humanity.

Human rights advocates and international legal experts have described the U.S.–Israeli war in Gaza as a form of “metacide” or the systematic destruction of all means of life. In November 2025, the International People’s Tribunal for Palestine convened in Barcelona found Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France responsible for genocide, ecocide, and the deliberate use of starvation against Palestinians. The tribunal said these acts constitute crimes against humanity under international law.

We condemn the sham “reconstruction” initiatives in Gaza led by the U.S. President Donald Trump as a direct violation of Palestinian rights. The socalled “Board of Peace,” to which President Marcos Jr. was invited, is composed of political cronies, billionaires, and war criminal Netanyahu himself—without a single Palestinian voice at the table.

“Trump, Netanyahu and allied complicit states continue to sell us the lie that reconstruction can happen without justice. That peace can exist without liberation. That war criminals and imperialist powers can dictate the future of Palestine while Palestinians themselves remain under siege.” said Dr. de la Paz.

Palestinian and Filipino people resist US-Zionist Israel aggression.

In the Philippines, the Marcos regime stands complicit in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The Philippine government ranks among the top importers of Israeli weapons, deploying against Filipino communities the very systems used in the massacre of Palestinians.

The Philippines remains a staging ground for U.S. military intervention and Israeli diplomatic offensives. The recently concluded Balikatan war exercises saw a U.S. Tomahawk missile fired from a civilian airport in Leyte, detonating in Nueva Vizcaya near farming communities. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) mercilessly massacred over 9 civilians and 10 combatants in Toboso, Negros Occidental. In Siargao, Israeli tourists, including reported reserve occupation forces from Gaza, have harassed locals, violated environmental and cultural norms, and tightened control over businesses and community spaces.

Just recently, the Philippine government moved to deepen technology and investment ties with Israel for the planned AI hub in New Clark City, Tarlac, with talks focused on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical minerals, and supply chain cooperation under the Pax Silica framework. Israel joined the U.S.-led Pax Silica in December 2025 and now the Philippines risks being reduced to a source of cheap labor, raw minerals, and strategic land for the U.S.-Israel-controlled supply chains tied to surveillance systems, weapons technologies, and war industries.

“The Palestinian struggle is not distant from us. As Filipinos, our solidarity with Palestine comes from our own history and continuing realities of foreign domination, militarization, displacement, and resistance. We recognize the same struggles in Marawi and across Moro communities, and in all peoples fighting for land, dignity, and liberation.” asserted Dr. de la Paz.

PPFA affirms the inalienable right to resist of both the Filipino and Palestinian people. We amplify the call to uphold Palestinian right to return and to self-determination. We reaffirm that solidarity must move beyond remembrance into collective action for justice and liberation.

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