al-Hamma - الحمة: Memories from Al-Hammah

Memories from Al-Hammah
My name is Anthony Hanania and my parents were born in Acre, Galilee. My father is Farid Mikhail Hanania and my mother is Jeannette Mikhail Amour. Her mother is from Shofar'Am from the family Bahouth. Half of my relatives remained in Haifa, Mount Carmel and Al-Makr in Galilee. My father's house in Acre was looted and occupied by an Eastern European Jewish family. My mother's house was preserved because our relatives in Haifa claimed the house immediately before any Jew would occupy it. My grandmother Renee Raji Bahouth told me her father owned many lands in Al-Hammah. She used to describe how her father Raji Bahouth and members of his household would go to Al-Hammah on horses and how they used to spend the summers enjoying the natural hot waters in this rich organic and mineral land. She would also describe the snakes and the scorpions crawling at night. She would speak about Al-Hammah and end up the story crying in nostalgia for the old days. Now, after many years since I heard her story, in Canada, I came across this website: Palestine Remembered, and I saw for the first time pictures of Al-Hammah. I played Fairuz's song Beesan and went back in memory to the place where the echoes of the past haunted me like never before. I could feel the breeze in Al-Hammah and listen to the water of the creek breaking the silence of those who departed and reposed. Thank you and God bless all of you.