REFLECTIONS ON AL-NAKBA

To most Palestinians, 1948, the year of al-Nakba is the formative year of their lives. This is true irrespective of age background, or occup ation, or whether the person is a refugee or not, or lives in Palestin e or the diaspora. On this fiftieth anniversary of al-Nakba, JPS asked a number of Palestinians of different generations and walks of life t o write short pieces on what this event lias meant to them. In JPS's l etters of invitation, the ''guidelines'' suggested were to avoid polit ical and historical analysis in favor of personal reflections. The fol lowing are the results.