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Click Image For Town DetailsFwd: Memories of a veteran Palestinian in 48
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 04:11:39 EDT
From: LabibKobti
Subject: Fwd: Memories of a veteran Palestinian in 48
Memories of a veteran Palestinian fighter in 1948
Palestine, History, 5/1/98
"It is a day of persistent determination to return to my homeland," said
Hassan Jibril Manna' of Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, as Israelis
were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of their Israel=
.
Aged 75, Hassan belongs to the warring generation of the Palestinian peop=
le
who fought in 1948. A former soldier with the British mandatory forces in
pre-1948 era, Hassan, also known as Abu Jawdat, fled from the service alo=
ng
with a number of Palestinian colleagues. One night in December 1947, he
said, they decided to desert the camp where they served. They took with t=
hem
three lorries after they loaded them with ammunition and rifles.
"We took one lorry to Abdul Qader Husseini, the commander of the Palestin=
ian
forces who was stationed in his village of Ein Sinya near Ramallah," he s=
aid
and added that the second lorry was taken to Ramleh for use by the
Palestinian residents of the town. "I was with those who drove the third
lorry, and we came across a British ambush. A heavy fighting broke out
between us. They took over the lorry and killed two of my colleagues."
The other battle that Abu Jawdat well remembers was Bab Al Wad, some 18
kilometers west of Jerusalem on the main road to Tel Aviv. On that day, a=
t
least 120 Israeli vehicles loaded with medicine and food supplies drove
through the main road trying to reach to Jerusalem, where many of the Jew=
ish
gangs were besieged by Palestinian resistance fighters.
"We knew they were coming. We had orders to set up an ambush on both side=
s
of the road. We hid behind trees and waited until the Jewish convoy start=
ed
to show up. We waited until after the last vehicle in the convoy started =
to
drive up the hill where we were hiding. That area was excellent for an
ambush, unlike the rest of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road which was plain an=
d
inconvenient for guerrilla warfare."
Abu Jawdat believes that Bab Al Wad battle was one of the most important =
and
significant battles the Palestinians fought before the creation of Israel=
.
He said his group destroyed all the Israeli vehicles except for two; the
armored vehicle that led the convoy and was taken over by the Palestinian
fighters; and a jeep bringing up the convoy's rear, whose driver managed =
to
make a U-turn and escape back toward Tel Aviv.
In a special independence anniversary edition, Maariv Hebrew daily issued=
a
booklet containing the most famous 50 Jewish songs. One of those was on B=
ab
Al Wad which said: "Bab Al Wad, remember our names forever. Convoys made
their way through to the city. And on the roadside, our dead have laid
down."
Abu Jawdat's family lived in the village of Zakariya and, like thousands =
of
the Palestinians, was forced out of the village. They fled from one place=
to
another until they settled in 1951 in Dheisheh refugee camp, which the
United Nations Relief and Work Agency established shortly after the
Palestinian exodus.
In the mid-50s, Abu Jawdat was sent to the Jordanian desert prison of H4 =
for
four years. He was served with an administrative detention because of his
membership in the Communist Party. In the early 60s, he quit the party ov=
er
ideological differences and later joined Fatah where he still holds a lt.
Colonel rank in its military wing. In the mid-80s, an Israeli military co=
urt
sentenced Abu Jawdat to four years of imprisonment for possession of weap=
ons
and involvement in anti-Israel activities.
The interview with Abu Jawdat took place at his house the on day Israelis
were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of Israel. What
follows are excerpts of an interview he gave at his house:
Q: How painful is it for you to see those Israelis celebrating their
independence?
A: Undoubtedly, this is very painful for us. We have lost our homeland. O=
ur
rights are being denied. Our pain is beyond any description.
Q: What can you say about the past five decades?
A: They were awful. Ever since we were kicked out of our homeland, we hav=
e
been subjected to a series of setbacks and defeats, despite of the politi=
cal
gains that were achieved here and there. The last thirty years were the
worst under Israeli military occupation. A few minutes from here is the c=
ity
of Bethlehem which is under the PNA control but our camp is still occupie=
d
by the Israeli military government since it is considered part of the
so-called Area C under the Oslo Agreements.
Q: How do you explain the fact that the Palestinians have been suffering
over the past 50 years while Israel has been growing stronger and more
triumphant?
A: We do not have the same resources that Israel has. Therefore, you cann=
ot
compare what we did to what the Israelis did. The US and most of the west=
ern
countries back Israel. We have been fighting the Israelis all along since
they forced us out of our country but still their gains are larger that
ours. Even the Oslo Accords have failed to bring us what we need and what=
we
aspire. On the contrary, the military occupation is still here and the Os=
lo
Accords have divided the Palestinian cities into isolated cantons.
Q: Can you envisage any situation in which peace and coexistence will rea=
lly
prevail in the region?
A: There can never be peace so long the Palestinian people's right is den=
ied
and the Palestinian question is unsolved. Israel at the moment demands bo=
th
peace and land leaving nothing for the Palestinians. Therefore, there can
never be a just peace to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people o=
n
their soil and in their homeland. Never.
Q: What does peace mean to you and what sort of a peace arrangement would
you like to see occurring?
A: The characteristics of peace that I aspire to should include the right=
of
the Palestinian people on their national soil and the creation of the
independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem its capital. Jerusalem is th=
e
core issue of the whole cause of the Palestinians.
Q: A peace agreement that safeguards a Palestinian state within the 1967
borders and with Jerusalem being its capital won't bring your village
Zakariya back. How do you cope with this question? Are you ready to skip =
the
demand to return to you home village?
A: Peace and justice are relative issues. I think there won't be a total
peace in the region if I do not restore my own right in my own village, a=
nd
if nobody returns to his country. Full and ultimate peace for me means no=
t
only to liberate Jerusalem but also the rest of the Palestinian cities su=
ch
as Haifa and Jaffa and of course my village Zakariya.
Q: And what about Israel?
A: Israel? We are not responsible for the problem of the Jews who came to
our land. Those responsible for this problem are the US imperialism and
Zionism which gathered all the Jews from all over the world and brought t=
hem
to our country. How come [Ethiopian Jews] Falashas are brought in to live=
on
my land while I am dispersed and kicked out of my own homeland? This can
never be accepted. Peace can never be achieved under the present
circumstances. Never. Impossible.
Q: Do you feel as angry today at Israelis as you were fifty years ago or =
has
your anger faded away with the passing years?
A: The question is not that of anger. The occupiers have taken over our
homeland, kicked us out of our land and occupied our country. How do you
expect us to feel about that? The Jews claim they never forgot Palestine =
for
the last 2000 years and yet they expect us to forget ours in 50 years? Fo=
r
me, the Israelis are my enemy who occupied my land. We are using all
possible means to restore our rights, or at least part of our right. We
believe there are UN resolutions that need to be implemented and this is =
the
minimum the international community can do to maintain stability in our
region.
Next to Abu Jawdat, sat his daughter-in-law, Ghada. Aged 30, Ghada is of =
a
family that came from Zakariya too. She knew her village through the rema=
ins
she saw every time she went to visit it along with elderly relatives.
Excerpts of a brief interview with her follow:
Q: You are part of what is now known the uprising generation, how do you
feel about living all you life in a refugee camp while your original vill=
age
is no more than 40 minute drive from your camp?
A: It is natural that one would feel depressed especially when we visit o=
ur
village, Zakariya. The last time I was there, I wished I could stay there
forever. As a matter of fact, our fathers and grandfathers made a big
mistake when they left the village. They could have stayed and we might h=
ave
averted going through a series of endless sufferings.
In the 30 years of Israeli military occupation, we have had lots of
sufferings, and detentions. Lots of people were killed. Many more were
injured. Even today, we are still suffering. We live in a big prison.
Though the PNA (Palestinian government) is next door in Bethlehem, we do =
not
feel we are free because we are still under the Israeli military occupati=
on.
Our presence in the camp is the most blatant evidence that we are sufferi=
ng
after and before the Palestinian government took over. Until now, we are
living under political, economic and other sorts of siege. Settlements ha=
ve
increased. The by-pass roads are eating up more of our lands on the West
Bank and things are getting worse day after day.
Even during the days of the intifada, we could still go to Jerusalem or
anywhere else. But now, with the continued closure imposed by Israel we
cannot go to Jerusalem but with a permit.
Q: Have you imagined, during the intifada, that the situation today would=
be
as it is or were your expectations totally different?
A: People during the intifada did not expect anything called Oslo and nev=
er
had hopes that agreements would be reached or that the Palestinian
government would come into being. The Oslo Accords have not achieved
anything for us. On the contrary we have retreated 50 years backwards.
As I said, the noose is getting tighter around our neck, and there are ma=
ny
whose economic condition has worsened after the Oslo Accords. We always
expected the best. In the worst days of Israeli crackdown, we expected
things would be better. We felt the situation would burst and new
settlements would be achieved. We always believed that it is always darke=
st
before the dawn.
Q: What sort of a settlement were you expecting?
A: We hoped that at least we would return to the village we left. We hope=
d
that we [would] restore Jerusalem back into our hands. But what happened =
was
the exact opposite. We do not even have a permit to go and visit our
village, which as a matter of fact, is very beautiful. I cannot describe =
how
beautiful it was. Last time I visited the village, I decided not to blink
and to keep my eyes open all time so I could see the village without miss=
ing
a single frame of it.
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