GAZA
CITY, May 15 (IslamOnline.net) - On the 56th
anniversary of Nakba (loss of Palestine), Palestinians remember with
bitterness the usurpation of their homeland and dispossession of their
property by Jewish gangs.
Habib
Jarada, 79, is one of two who survived a Zionist massacre in 1948,
when Jewish gangs such as Irgun, Stern and Haganah, slaughtered entire
Palestinian families to occupy their lands.
He
was living at the time in Bir Al-Saba’ [Beersheba], whose population
before May 15, 1948, was 5,000 people.
"When
the British military decided to pull out of Palestine in mid May 1948,
Arabs, Bedouins and the residents of Bir Al-Saba’ volunteered to
defend the city against a looming attack," he told
IslamOnline.net.
"They
succeeded in standing up to armed Zionist groups, who then controlled
the strategic roads leading to the city.
"Following
pitched battles and heavy bombardment, the Zionists captured the city
on October 10, 1948," recalled Jarada, who now resides in Gaza
City.
When
his mayor father asked the Zionists not to evacuate the Palestinian
residents, they put it bluntly: "We need a homeland not
slaves".
The
Palestinians were forced to desert their homes at gunpoint to
Al-Khalil (Hebron).
Massacre
Jarada
described how he survived a five-hour Israeli massacre perpetrated in
northern suburb of Bir Al-Saba’.
"Volunteers
from the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian soldiers and a Libyan brigade
led by Ramadan Al-Sanousi were outnumbered by the enemy, who was also
better equipped.
"We
were under siege and ran out of water and food for days," he
recalled.
Jarada
hailed the extraordinary bravery of the Muslim Brotherhood fighters
and the professionalism of the Egyptians, though they were poorly
armed.
"On
October 21, 1948 Bir Al-Saba’ fell into the hands of the Zionists
who forced the fighters to leave their trenches. We were then lined up
and three Jewish tanks started opening fire. I don’t know how I
survived the massacre."
Jarada
still remembers the names of some of the victims, who included his
grandfather Ali Jarada, his cousin Youssef Jarada, Sheikh Ali Bisiso,
Hashim Tawfik, Hosni Ewida, Hassan Bargouth, Hassan An-Nabulsi and
Dawoud Al-Akili.
"Only
two people survived the massacre, a young man called Mohammad Soliman
el-Banna and myself. We were 22 at the time."
 |
|
The mosque-turned-museum of Bir Al-Saba’
|
He
went on: "We fled to a nearby house and stayed for four days to
be later arrested by the Zionists. We labored in the prison along with
other fellow Palestinians, who were systematically executed by their
Israeli jailers.
"The
executions only stopped, when the Red Cross intervened and counted the
prisoners."
Jarada
was set free in a prisoner swap deal between then Jordanian King
Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein (1882-1951).
He
visited his disfigured native city after the 1967 war to find one of
his family’s homes dwelled by Iranian Jews. The other was reduced to
rubble.
"I
went to the city’s mosque to pray and reflect on the catastrophe in
solitude, but found it turned into a museum."
"Now
I pin high hopes on my grandchildren and the generations to revive our
dreams of return to our homeland. These generations will not commit to
official peace initiatives and agreements, which scrap the inalienable
right of return."
Bir
Al-Saba’ is located south of Palestine and north of Negev desert.
Its strategic position, as the southern gateway to Palestine and the
eastern gateway to Egypt, lured many colonial powers throughout
history.
Some
believe that it derives its name from the seven female camels
presented by Prophet Ibraham to Palestinian King Abi Malik.
Others
believe it acquired the name from the existence of seven wells in an
arid area.
The
Othman Empire conquered the city in 1900 and launched a spectacular
architecture campaign characterized with the constructions of mosques,
schools, water pumps and mills.
Now
Israel defaced the Arab and Muslim character of the city and renamed
it to Beersheba.
According
to statistics, Palestinian refugees from 1948 and their descendents
comprise the bulk of the Palestinian refugee population today
numbering over 5 million persons and constituting nearly two-thirds of
the Palestinian people.
