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Name
Omar
- Germany
Profession
Question
You’ve been through a lot and witnessed a lot of terrible things… I wonder, what is the memory that most stands out in your mind as one of the most powerful experiences you went through as a Palestinian, whether happy, sad, or painful?
Answer
The most painful story in my life was my being obliged to leave my town Beir al-Saba, in southern Palestine, and becoming a refugee instead of being citizen, and this happened on Oct. 21, 1948. I was arrested at that time by the Jewish army.
They moved me to detention centers in northern Palestine with 120 young men from my town. The rest of the residents, elderly people, children and women, they were displaced into the Gaza Strip by the Jewish army.
I was released in a prisoner swap. They released me in Jerusalem, then I went to Hebron and from there I moved to Gaza. It's worth mentioning that I met my family in Hebron, and then we went to Gaza with an Egyptian military convoy that was retreating from Hebron and other parts of Palestine to Gaza. Unlike most of the Palestinian families, my family immigrated from Beir al-Saba to Hebron, not to Gaza.
Name
Ahmad
- Egypt
Profession
student
Question
To what extent is the Israeli account right that the Arabs left their country without any violence from the Jews?
Answer
I want to make it clear to every Arab and Muslim that the every single Palestinian was obliged by force to leave his own town or village. My father, who was riding his horse, told the Jewish militia’s leader that we want to stay in our country, that this is our country… but the Jew militiaman replied: "We want a land without any people."
Name
Will Lansing
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Please forgive my ignorance, but I’m not familiar with the atrocity you went through in Beersheba… what happened exactly?
Answer
I left my town Beer al-Saba, in southern Palestine, and became a refugee instead of being citizen, and this happened on Oct. 21, 1948. I was arrested at that time by the Jewish army. They've moved my to detention centers in northern Palestine with 120 young men from my town. The rest of the residents, elderly people, children and women, they were displaced into the Gaza Strip by the Jewish army.
I was released, in a prisoner swap. They've released me in Jerusalem, then I went to Hebron and from there I moved to Gaza. It's worth to mention that I met my family in Hebron, and then I we went to Gaza with an Egyptian military convoy that retreated from Hebron and other parts of Palestine to Gaza. Unlike most of the Palestinian families, my family immigrated from Beir al-Saba to Hebron, not to Gaza.
Name
Jonas..
-
Profession
Question
Can you please tell us how you were made to leave your home and town?
Answer
I already mentioned this in general, but I will tell you more details.
Beir al-Saba was heavily fortified by Palestinian militants to defend our town, because we knew that they were coming for us. The leader of our military base was Egyptian: Captain Yousef Afifi.
On Oct. 16, 1948, the Jewish army launched heavy air strikes against the town for 5 days. During the air bombing the town was evacuated of civilians. After the fifth day, Jewish infantry troops invaded Beir al-Saba, spreading destruction and death all over the town. Most of the families were obliged to immigrate to other areas seeking safety. But some families stayed home though.
My grandfather, Ali Jarada, who was the leader of Beir al-Saba, was with a group of elderly people. They were obliged to stand in a row, and then they were executed by the Jewish army.
Name
Mikhail
- Russian Federation
Profession
Question
Looking back on more than half a century of Palestinian dispossession and your nation made refugees in their own land, do you see any improvement in the lot of the Palestinians? Have things changed for the better in any sense?
Answer
The improvement we've seen in our lives after becoming refugees is that education was spread out and was encouraged by neighboring Arab countries.
New educational centers were opened; some of them were especially for illiterate elderly people, who were sent to Egypt to receive higher education, like myself. I studied accounting at Cairo University. Then I took part in establishing the Islamic University of Gaza in 1978. The university was called the University of Tents because the class rooms were tents at the time, as the Israelis prevented us from building anything, and we did not have enough money.
Name
Mathew Bevan
- Canada
Profession
Question
From your bio, it seems you moved to Egypt at one point in your life, long enough to attend and graduate from Cairo university. What led you to go back to Palestine, when so many others chose not to?
Answer
I didn't want to leave Gaza because it's part of Palestine. I had many connections that could have helped me to live peacefully in some other countries, but I always wanted to serve my beloved country.
But I've always been waiting for the opportunity to go back to my home town Beir al-Saba, which is only 47 km away from Gaza.
Name
A.K.
- Egypt
Profession
Writer
Question
As a Palestinian elder, do you really identify with all those groups who claim to be fighting on your behalf and on behalf of all Palestinians? Do you feel that any of those groups represent you? If so, which group, given that they are so different, with the Islamists and the nationalists and the leftists. Or is it the Palestinian authority you look up to?
Answer
The Palestinian armed groups represent a great part of the Palestinian people. The most important thing is the ultimate goal, which is liberating Palestine, and all of these groups adopt the same goal.
But I hope that all of these groups can unite in the trench of resistance and gather their strength as one group. I am a Muslim Palestinian Arab - I've never sought to support any specific faction. My only interest is in serving my country independently.
Name
Bethany Stone
- United States
Profession
Question
Living the way you have, and being granted the opportunity to study and prosper, don’t you feel Palestinians should do more to seek peace? So that more people can enjoy similar opportunities? Aren’t you tired of wars? Don’t you think the Palestinians would be better off rejecting violence and seeking peace – at any cost?
Answer
It's a normal thing for every human to seek peace. But this doesn't mean to surrender and yield to any condition.
I would accept the current peace initiatives for the sake of peace, and for the sake of establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
However, the Palestinian refugees should be granted the right to return to their newly established state. At the moment, I accept the justice that is possible, rather than the absolute justice where the Palestinian people would have the right of return to their original lands.
The Palestinian people don't adopt violence; the Palestinian people are only resisting occupation, and this resistance is legitimate. We don't accept the labeling of our resistance as terrorism, and describing the atrocities of the [Israeli] enemy as "self defense."
The Palestinian people sacrificed when they accepted the roadmap for peace, which will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Name
Salman
- Saudi Arabia
Profession
Question
Did you ever personally fight the Jewish occupation? I mean no offense; I have great respect for you, but if not, why not?
Answer
I fought the enemy by all means throughout my life. I was part of the local councils in my country. But I was also a soldier defending my town Beir al-Saba when it was attacked by the Jews.
Name
Abdel Wadoud
- United States
Profession
Question
In light of your long experience with the Palestinian struggle, do you feel betrayed when you hear of negotiations by Palestinians, such as those that happened in Geneva, that are willing to give up the right of people such as yourself to return to their original homes?
Answer
Negotiations don't mean surrendering. Negotiations are usually mental efforts to reach solutions through dialogue.
There will never be anybody authorized to renounce the right of return. The right of return is not only my right or the right of the current generation; it's the right of all generations. Nobody, who ever he may be, can give up our right of return.
The Geneva peace accords are scattered thoughts put forward by people with no authority.
Name
Iggy
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Do you see any future for this Intifada? Where do you feel your people are going with this? Is there any hope behind the bloodshed and death and destruction?
Answer
The main goal of this Intifada is gaining our freedom and being able to live peacefully in accordance with the available peace initiatives, including crown prince Abdullah's initiative; this is what I called possible justice, rather than absolute justice.
The Palestinian people now are heading to their independence by adopting both political and military tactics.
Struggle doesn’t mean bloodshed; it only means attempting to achieve freedom and peace.
Name
Abul Qahar
- Egypt
Profession
Question
How does it make you feel when you hear that so many Arabs throw away their money on cars and luxurious living will our Brothers in Palestine die of hunger?!
Answer
I feel bitter when I hear about this, and even see it with my own eyes. It makes me feel that they aren’t fulfilling their national and religious commitments.
However, there are some fruitful efforts from some Arab figures and countries to help the Palestinian people.
