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In the aftermath of October 7th, a second Nakba has been unfolding in Gaza, with over 34,000 Palestinians killed. Of the 2.2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced and many of their homes have been destroyed by Israel's brutal attacks. Roughly 1.3 million displaced Palestinians are currently sheltering in Rafah, a city built to host only 300,000, and over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity and acute starvation.

For Palestinians, the violence and mass displacement brings back memories of 1948 but indeed the Nakba never ended, it has continued for the past 76 years. This year, we will center the ceremony around the theme of “liberation” - how do we liberate ourselves from occupation, oppression, and violence? What does liberation look like and how do we begin to heal from our past and present trauma?