UN Commemoration of 1948 Flight of Palestinians Sparks Calls for Israel's Suspension and Boycott

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the UN to suspend Israel's membership unless it implements resolutions establishing separate Jewish and Arab states and the return of Palestinian refugees. Israel and the US boycotted the first official UN commemoration of the flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from what is now Israel following the UN's partition of British-ruled Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states 75 years ago. The Nakba commemorates the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes in 1948.