In the face of genocide and apartheid, the Federal Government’s response has not been to impose sanctions on Israel, but rather to open a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism on campuses that acquiesces to the political pressures of Zionist lobbying and empowers university administrators to repress pro-Palestinian activism under the guise of safety and inclusion.

The Christchurch mosque attacks have conjured waves of support and solidarity and shame. These are important and heartwarming, but they are not enough. Every attack of this kind opens floodgates of racialised violence. It legitimises and emboldens.

The mass expulsion of Palestinians was overwhelming in its scope. Arab Palestine was erased and replaced with Jewish Israel. It is estimated that between 750,000 and 900,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and became refugees in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. About 500 villages were destroyed and Palestinian cities were purged of their Arab residents. Only 160,000 Palestinians remained in what became Israel. But Nakba Day is as much about the present as it is about the past.