On May 18, a photo of two Israeli soldiers circulated on social media. They were standing in front of a bullet-riddled house in what appeared to be Gaza. Its wall was spray-painted with the words "Nakba 2023."
This apparent mocking acknowledgment of the term's importance put those two soldiers in a peculiar kind of agreement with millions of Palestinians who mourn the event known as the Nakba — Arabic for "catastrophe" — not only as a historical moment that shattered their nation and drove 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, but also as a state of anguished existence that continues to define their lived experience.
