The history of al-Masmiyya as I know it

The history of al-Masmiyya as I know it

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Posted by Abudayyeh on June 28, 2000

The following account is what I learned from relatives, some of who teach history in different universities throughout the Middle East, from what I read in such books as Biladuna Falstine, and from my father's own personal experience. Below is the story of my father's Palestinian Diaspora that he experienced at the age of 16. It is confirmed by living references with additional information about where they now live.

STORY I
This story is based on my father's account, He was the eldest of 5 brothers and a sister. He said that one day when he was 16, he was returning home from the village school only to find a fence around the village. The fence was supposedly built by the Israeli army after the massacre at Deir Yassin. In order to be able to pass through the fence to get to his house, my father had to be claimed by his mother from inside.

Everyone in the village was so scared that a massacre similar to the one that took place at Deir Yassin would happen in al-Masmiyya al-Kabira and also in neighboring villages. The Israeli army itself and some other radio stations added to everyone's fear by broadcasting news of massacres. People started fleeing the villages and went towards Gaza because it was supposedly safer since it was under Egyptian rule. The three main roads that intersected at Masmiyya, either led towards Jerusalem, Ramallah, or Gaza.

The safest way to leave was by the road leading to Gaza. While traveling on foot, with animals like donkeys, sheep, and goats, my father said that the Israeli army was bombing right behind the traveling villagers to make sure they would not even think of going back. My father covered his younger brothers with plastic containers (Tisht) whenever a bomb exploded so he could protect them from the flying debris. Though the bombing was very close, there were very few casualties. Those that were killed or injured were mostly older men and women. My father could not have remembered or even observed everything that happened since there was so much fear and chaos.

The villagers at last reached a place in Gaza and later migrated to a somewhat better location. This is what happened to most of the refugees who went to Gaza. I heard very similar stories from people who were forced out of their villages close to al-Masmiyya such as Beit Iksa. An account of this village was related to me by one of my father's high school friends that I recently met in Freemont, USA.

My father was among the lucky people who were able to finish high school in Gaza. He then went to Cairo University on a scholarship from the Egyptian government, became a civil engineer and worked in Kuwait for 35 years until 1990 when the Gulf war broke out. He then left Kuwait 8 months after the war to live in Amman, Jordan.

My father's name and address are: Yousef Abudayyeh, Adbulrahman Gorayeb Estates, Fawzi El-Ma'aloof street (crosses Rainbow street), Jabal Amman. Phone 64615284.

STORY II
This is based on accounts related by my relative Dr. Ismail Yaghi, Professor of History in Saudi Arabia who also contributed to the Palestine Encyclopedia along with other relatives such as Dr. Hashem Yaghi, Dean of the Department of Literature at the University of Jordan, and Dr. Abdul Rahman Yaghi. Dr. Hashem Yaghi and Dr. Abdul Yaghi also contributed to the encyclopedia. The later two are my father's maternal uncles and are both living in Jordan. They both were old enough to remember the details prior to the 1948 phase of the Palocaust.

Al-Masmiyya al-Kabira and al-Masmiyya al-Saghira (Masmiyat al-Hurani) were one village founded by
people who migrated from Syria from a place called Masmiyya (also known as Zahraniyya after some Sheikh Al-Zahrani). They settled in this region due to the abundance of water wells and fertile soil. Their homes were built from the "ruins of Ascalon - according to the Biladuna Falasteen series of books. Some of the families who lived in these two villages were Abudayyeh (known as A-Zahrani), Yaghi, Muhanna, and Kurtum, and some other families that I do not know. The reason that there were two villages is that at one time there was a major quarrel and a big fight between the Abu Dayyeh and Muhanna families over water rights and who had more priority to provide this water to their animals and plants.

Some of the people I personally know from al-Masmiyya al-Kabira who are still living are: Mushaik Yaghi, my paternal grandmother, who lives in Deir El-Balah in Gaza with her Daughter Nada Abu Dayyeh (my paternal aunt). My grandmother, although in her nineties, still remembers and tells stories about Masmiyya especially about a person called Mishkhas. She keeps telling the Mishkhas stories to my father and mother whenever she visits Jordan. My father is the only one of her sons who actually remembers many of these stories and even at times corrects her. My younger uncles were too young to remember Masmiyya. Having a sharp memory himself, my father always reconfirms that my grandmother has a very good memory and mental abilities in spite of her old age. My grandmother is in good physical shape. She travels across the bridge to Amman by herself and argues and fights with the soldiers in the middle of the summer heat. No matter the weather, she insists on wearing her very thick thaub (Palestinian Robe).

Dr. Hashem Yaghi is my father's paternal uncle who is the dean/professor of literature at the University of Jordan. He is also Mushaik's brother. He lives in Jordan not too far from the university. He has two sons, Amr and Anas, and a daughter, Laila.

Dr. Abdel Rahman Yaghi is another brother of my grandmother who was a professor of literature at the University of Jordan. He is the author of several books and also a contributor to the encyclopedia. He lives in Jordan near the university and is a neighbor to his brother Hashem. He has three sons, Mudhar, Sahem, and Saru, and a daughter, Rama.

Yousef Abudayyeh is the same name as my father, my Aunt Nada's husband and from the same family. He holds a PhD degree in agriculture (I think but am not too sure). He lives in Deir El-Balah in Gaza. My grandmother lives in a small house attached to their house (so I heard). They have two sons, Khaled and Mohammad, (I forgot if they have any other children since I am not in contact with them). He works as a director at a college in Gaza (probably the Islamic University - not sure).

Abdel Rahim Yaghi is my father's maternal uncle who lived until retirement in Kuwait and worked as a biology teacher although he was an agricultural Engineer. He lives in Jordan (Dahiat Al-Rasheed). He is married to his Lebanese wife (Tharwat) and has a son, Ayman, and two daughters, Samar and Lina.

Essam Abudayyeh is my uncle who now lives in the UAE. He is a teacher although he was an accountant in Kuwait for a while (al-Bank al-Watani). One funny but true anecdote about my uncle Essam is that he once taught French when the real French teacher left at the last minute. My uncle taught this course even though he did not know a word of French. He's very adventurous. He and his wife Yusra have Ahmad, Sami, and Laila.

Mohammad Abudayyeh is my uncle who lives in Jordan in Mukhayyam Al-Hussein and works as an accountant now. He used to work for Soft Paper Tissue company a while back. He is married to Fatma Abudayyeh and has three boys, Fadi, Tha'er, Eyyas, and two daughters, Nisreen and Nada.

Salah Abudayyeh is my youngest uncle who recently moved from the UAE back to Gaza. He is believed to have started working in an accounting job in some college in Gaza.

al-Taiba
I always heard that many of our relatives from Masmiyya who went to Jordan lived in al-Taiba camp (it does not look like a camp anymore). When I was young, my uncle Essam used to drive from the UAE to Jordan and visit them. He would take me along with him.

al-Baqa'a
Some of our relatives also migrated to al-Baqa'a camp at that time. I remember visiting some family there when young, but unfortunately forgot who they were.

Dr. Ismail Yaghi
I remember that he was a teacher of history in Kuwait then he got his PhD and left to Saudi Arabia and now teaches at some University there. I remember from childhood that I enjoyed sitting in his presence because he always told stories that were revealed to him while he was conducting history research. He is an excellent source of Palestinian History and he was a contributor to Palestine Encyclopedia. He has two sons, Dr. Ziad, and Nihad, and a daughter Dr. Hala. His wife was Um-Ziad (Fatima was her name I think).

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