Yalu - يالو: Transcription & translation of of the oral history in Interview with Mr. Ibrahim Aqel Mohammad Elayyan Al-Mallah by Nuseibeh Shabaitah

Interview conducted by: Rakan Mahmoud
Interviewee: Aqel Mohammad Elayyan Al-Mallah

Peace be upon you, this is the oral history program of the Palestinian Nakba, We welcome you today in a new episode, we are now at the house of Mr. Aqel Mohammad Elayyan Al-Mallah which is located in Tabarbour-Amman(in Jordan).
Today is Wednesday June 23, 2010. This project aims for the notation and documentation of Palestinian Memories. This program is by a nonprofit organization called in Arabic Palestine Remebered
The questions of this interview are divided in two parts, the first part aims to form a picture on the social, cultural, economic and humanitarian status of the people of your village before Nakba, and the other part aims to convey the suffering of the Palestinians during the abhorrent British Mandate of Palestine and the struggle with the Zionists gangs through the horrible event of the Nakba, and then the painful Naksa, and the journey of asylum and diaspora.

We shall start with the questions of the first part
Can you please tell me your full name?+
- Aqel Mohammad Elayyan Al-Mallah
Born in Yalu in 1940

+ I wish you health.
-God bless you

+Please mention the full name of your father
-Mohammad Elayyan Mohammad Al-Mallah- RIP

+Please mention the name of your mother
-Zarifeh Mohammad Hussein Zayyat

+Is she from Yalu?
-Yes, she is from Yalu

+I thought she is related Tawfiq Zayad
-No, No, she is from Yalu.

+Do you consent to conducting this interview willingly?
-Yes, Yes.

+Do you allow us to display this interview on the website of Palestine remembered
-Yes

+Yalu is the name of your village; do you have any information of the reason behind this name?
-Yalu means tiles in Canaanite, Yalu it’s distinguished in the ancient history with its strategic location and its buildings and the wall; it was located on a hill, and inside the hill there are vaults that connect to the water springs. When there was a siege in the days of Ibrahim Pasha against Turkey that was with the English. Their armies were smashed at the doorsteps of Yalu Village.

+Does this mean that Yalu is an ancient village?
-Yes, an ancient village.

+Was it Roman?
-The romans have no footprints in Yalu. It is pure Canaanite, and nobody has any kind of ownership over this village, throughout history not only during out time.

+Do you mean that is was not occupied by any occupation of Palestine?
-No, of course during the ruling of the crusaders and the days of the Romans were subject, even Titus (a Roman commander) when they attacked the Jews who were present, his army moved from the Yalu village, Emmaus Yalu and Beit Nuba and the surrounding areas, because of its strategic location, firstly it is mountainous, and secondly: the water is abundant in it, even the Islamic army in the Islamic conquests, a plague called the Emmaus plague came to the area.

+Yes
-And because of the large numbers of deaths on this piece of land, and because of the existence of water too, the Imwas Plague appeared, so that in Imwas and Yalu we have graves of the prophet’s Companions, and there is also the shrine of Sheikh Ma’la, in Imwas.

+We will come to this later on
-And in Yalu, there was an area called the “Habs” ?which means quarantine, it was an underground area, and the Islamic Armay used it as a hospital to quarantine those who are infected by the Plague.

+Yes, So the name “Habs” (meaning Jai) means quarantine?
-Yes

+Dear Sir, Do you have any information about the number of the residents of the village before the Nakba? And before the Naksa?
-Before, in the 1948 we were 850-900 individual; in 1967 we were about three thousands

+ Was there any Census conducted, did you notice that the government of the British Mandate or later on the Jordanian government, did they do any census for the population?
-Yes, there was

+During the period of the Jordanian governance?
-During the Jordanian governance census was done, during the British Mandate I don’t know, but there was something called: “Al-Adda”, were they used to count people and make them pay a personal tax, each individual paid a Jordanian Dinar, at the beginning of the Jordanian governance each individual had to pay one Jordanian Dinar; Males. And even livestock, a sheep with 6 pennies, cow for a quarter of dinars, horses and camels for half a dinar, which are paid annually.

+Your village was a part of which city? Before Nakba
-At the Turkish era it was a part of Jerusalem, and during the British Mandate it was a part of Al-Ramla city an.d after the 1948 it became a part of Ramallah City

+How long is the distance between your village and Jerusalem?
-Twelve Kilometers air distance; (straight line distance), from 12-14 Kilometers approximately

+and in which direction Jerusalem is located from your village?
-East, the exact East.

+Directly?
-Yes, directly

+and from Al-Ramla?
-Al-Ramla is to the west, from the center of the village not from the borders.

+from the center?
-Yes, from the center, the distance is 12-12 Km, but from the borders of the village it isn’t that far, only one village is in between Al-Ramla and Yalu; it’s called Al-Qubab, and there is about 7 km from the borders of our village to Al-Qubab.

+Dear Sir, How far is your village from Ramallah?
-35 km to Ramallah

+in which direction?
-North-East

+if we would like to learn more about the demographics of the village?
-Yes

+Can you provide us with full description on the demographics of the village? Like is it all located on a mountain? Does it have plains: (flat land)?
-Of course, Yalu village is the border between the coastal plain, half of the lands are in the coastal plain and the other half is in the Jerusalem mountain range

+Where were the houses located?
-At the mountainous area.

+So, this mountain the people of Yalu inhabited is a difficult rugged area?
-No, it’s a hill. There was a wall, and after that the buildings spread to the mountainous area.

+so the population went up in the area?
-Some went to the mountainous area, some went north or west.

+Were the houses on the top of the mountain, or at the mountainside?
-At the mountainside, the village was at the top of the hill because of the wall of the village, I have a picture, I can show you a part of the village wall, if you could document.

+We will document.
-I don’t mind

+So going up and down in the village was hard?
-No, it was easy, we had streets and roads, the people of the village used to cooperate and divide the streets, and they even paved the roads. They had divided the street amongst the families which lived in the village; they started to move stones from the valley using animals and paved the roads, so they could get cars in the village, because the British government never gave the villagers anything, never.

+We will ask further about this later.
-Yes.


Dear sir, How was the climate of the village?
-The climate was very moderate, the area between Jerusalem and the coastal plain; is a very temperate climate, the winter is warm, the summer is cold, most of the area is Mountainous, and full of trees. We used to delicious smell of Jaffa’s Oranges all the way from our village. It was an open area; we were capable of seeing the sea. When we climb up to a high land we see the sea and the minarets of Jerusalem.

+And what color was the soil of the village?
-There were two types of soil; one was the soil of the coastal plain; red-colored mostly, and the other was the soil of the Mountain area white-colored, which we used to plant the olives and the trees. And some lands were bare black-colored made of natural manure, the manure was not chemical it was natural.

+Was there valleys surrounding the village?
-of course, there was the Valley of Masraja, and the rest were water falls. The valley of Masraja was in between Yalu; our village and Beit Nouba.

+From which side of the village?
-East-North

+And this Valley; where does the water originate from?
-it originates from the Mountains of Jerusalem, it has no source, it is made up of winter valleys. Which runs only in the winter, but as for the waterfalls.

+Let’s continue to speak about the Valley of Masraja first,
-Yes

+Are there more Valleys?
Time Stamp: 12:00
-This is the main valley

+ The Valley of Masraja
-Yes

+And this Valley comes from the East in the winter
-Yes and it goes down towards the Northern lands of the village, where it meets another valley that comes from the village of Beit Liqya and Beit Seera.

What is the name of this Valley?
-Wadi Salman

Does is it reach the sea?
-Yes, to the sea, it continues to run through the village of Al-Qbab to the sea.

+The Valley of Al-Masraja; is it deep?
-No, it’s a normal valley

+How deep is it?
-Just two or three meters

+How wide is it?
-It’s not the same width in all areas; in some areas it was 20 m, and in some it was 5 m.

+Does this valley have stones, pebbles?
-it starts from the mountainous area, and then it goes down to another area, so of course it has pebbles.

+Was there grass/herbs and plants growing on the side of the valley?
-Yes, there was Al-Tayyoun (herb; Dittrichia viscosa) , there were lots of things, the lands were all so clean and the farmers used to clean it constantly from strange plants, and even the sides of the valley were plowed and planted with grains.

+Did the valley used to leave Rivulet behind?
-No, never. After the year of 1948, the Zionists built a dam in Al-Qubab Village, from this valley.

+Where is Salman Valley located?
-Salman Valley comes from the east-north side, and It mixes with al-Masraja Valley, then continues to flow down from our lands and the lands of the village of Salbit, all the way to the village of al-Qubab.

+In the winter; when it’s the season of the Valley’s water running, were you able to cross the valley?
-During the British Mandate the people of the village used to wait for the rainfall to decrease and for the valley’s flow to reduce so they can cross through the valley. We had no bridges between Yalu Village and Beit Nuba and Al-Masraja Valley, even the waterfalls were strong and blocked our movement, I was admitted at Al-Maaref Palestinian School, which was built during the British Mandate era. The school consisted of two rooms. We were absent from school for a day or two because of the rain, because the sub-waterfalls inside the village were preventing people from accessing, and there were no services.

+Did the valley continue not to have any bridges?
15:00
-Yes, no bridges were built, but in Al-Masraja Valley a bridge was built later on.

+During the British Mandate; there was a bridge?
-No, no, the bridge was built during the governance of Jordan, in the year 1955 or 1956, I think.

+Tell me about the waterfalls; what are they named and where are they located?
-The waterfalls; Al-Qubba Waterfall; there was a spring of water that continues to run from it until October or November, it continues to run in the waterfall, and then descends to the Valley of Al-Masraja, there is a large and long waterfall that lasts until August, September. And there are natural springs.

+I am not asking about the springs, my question is about the waterfalls and the valleys?
-there are two waterfalls, no sorry there is also the waterfall of Khallet Ali Abdullah, the northern sha3b, a waterfall that comes from a water spring.

+A waterfall means a channel that runs on the ground level?
-In some areas, caused by the heavy rainfall, the water used to dig through the earth with one or two meters deep.

+I mean, these waterfalls fall down from a mountain?
Yes, from a mountain

+Like all the waterfalls around the globe?
-No, the area of the well is a little high, but the dome is not, it was a building with vaults, it was used during the siege and the water was very strong, the water was so strong, and it would go on like this for three to four months, and it gradually decrease, sometimes it would last until November and the end of December. The people of the village were not capable of working on this land and use it for agriculture, 90% of the land are coastal plains that Israeli Occupation took. Or it is considered a forbidden area (buffer zone) between our village and the lands occupied by Israelis.

+Dear Sir, Can you please tell me about the borders of the village?
-Beit Nuba borders our village from the North.

+How far is Beit Nuba from your village?
-two to three kilometers and from Imwas three kilometer.

+Imwas is in which direction?
-It’s at the west.

+and from the east?
-Beit Thoul and Ntaf and Saris. And from the south Beit Ayoub and Beit Mahsir

+How far is Beit Ayoub and Beit Mahsir from your village?
-Deir Ayoub is approximately only one kilometer away, as for Beit Mahsir approximately seven or six or five kilometers.

+Beit Thoul and Saris? Are how far?
-Saris, I don’t know exactly. If from the center of the village; each of Al-Qubab and Saris would be from the West and the east, you could say it’s the same distance 7-10 kilometers.

+And from Nataf?
-the same too.

+Dear sir, Did you have a village council?
-A council at our village, No!

+There wasn’t a council, before 1948 or even after?
-No, No not even before 1976.

+Was there a local council?
-there was a council that was made by a group of people, they had a representative from each family, in addition to the two Mayors of the town.

+Can we postpone this question a little bit? I want to know more about the colonies that were close to the village before the year of 1948?
-at the eastern area; there was the Al-Qubaneieh.

+its named: Al-Qubaneyeh?
-the Qubaneyeh of the five; because they have slaughtered five there, and Zongola.

+Zongola?
Zongola is at the lands of Beit Zoul and the village of Abu Goush.
+Zongola is far from your village?
-Yes, it’s close to Qubaneyeh of the five.

+How many kilometers is it far from your village?
-15 kilometers.

+And Zongola is the same?
-Yes, 10-15 kilometers. I haven’t been there, we weren’t allowed to enter that area, but later in the 1900 and 2000 I have visited Palestine, and I was able to see the distance between the village and the other areas.

+Were any colonies/settlements build on the lands of your village?
-No.

+Were any colonies built after 1948, close to your village?
-there’s a small colony at the town of Salbit, located to Western North from our village.

+Western north?
-Yes, I still haven’t’ talked about the western side of Imwas and Al-Qubab, and the northern of Beit Nuba and Salbit.

+At the lands of Salbit; A colony was built?
-Yes, a very small one.

+What was the name of it?
-I don’t know, it was center, this was before 1967.

+Qubaneyet Al-Khamseh; of the five or Zongola, have you seen them before the year of 1948?
-No, at all, I don’t know anything about these colonies.

+according to your information; how many settlers are living at these two colonies?
-very few, it was centers, I don’t have accurate information 100%, but the population of the settlers living at the colony is low, there isn’t large numbers.

+Do you have any information of the Jewish that were settled at these colonies, were they more of eastern or western looks?
-these colonies were built for western settlers, who came as immigrants.

+This means that those who settled in the colonies came from abroad
- -Yes, from abroad, with other people, which might be from the Arab region, but I do not have a hundred percent certain information.

+Do you have any information on the language they spoke in? Did they use Arabic language?
-I don’t know, I don’t have any information.

+Do you have information about the name of the Mayor of Zongola or Qubaneyet Al-Khamseh?
-No.

+Do you know if the village had services; like electricity, water and streets?
-Yes.

-At the time of the British Mandate governance?
-Yes. All kinds of services, we used to see it lit, from our village; we could see the lights. At Qubanyet Al-Khamseh not only the houses were lit, but the streets as well.

+Do you think that water services were connected to their houses like ours at the current time?
-they had water, and all kinds of services.

+Dear sir, How was the relationship between you and them-(referring to the Jewish Settlers and the people of Yalu village), Was it a hostile or a friendly relationship?
-it was called Qubaneyet Al-Khamseh because five Jews were slaughtered in it, but the question should be asked to the people of Abu Ghosh village, the fact that the people of Abu Gosh are closer to them comparing to us, and they know them well. Even in the year of 1948 (Nakba); they didn’t occupy any of their lands. It’s the only village in Palestine, that Israelis didn’t take over their lands is Abu Gosh village.

+I want to ask if there was a hostile relationship between you and them; have you ever attacked them?
-of course, there were rebels, but there wasn’t anyone coming and announcing that he will attack them, but

+I am not speaking about rebels; I am asking about the people of the village, was there enmity between you?
-No, there wasn’t even any kind of contact.

+Was there any kind of cooperation between the village and the colonies?
-Never.

+trade or agricultural cooperation?
-Absolutely Never.

+Did they work at your village or did you (referring to the people of the village) work for them?
-I haven’t seen any of them working at our village, nor have I heard of it, but those who were living in Jerusalem and Lifta; they used to take fodder for their cows, they had cow farms, they were from the Jews who came before the British Mandate. They were already there and dealing with Arabs like they were Arabs too.

+This was my question; did you notice any kind of hostility in Palestine from Arabs towards Jews?
-Never, If they were hostile then there would be no Jews in Palestine, on the contrary, the goodness of the heart and the kind treatment ruined everything for us. We should have not let those people in, they have slaughtered us, they have done atrocities, and they have done so much harm. Knowing that some of the Jews- we should not believe what the media says- but the media/press at the Arab world is very negligent, because most of the Jews who find financial stability; migrate and leave the land, they take the passport! There are more than 1.5 million Jews who received the Israeli Citizenship but don’t live in Palestine, they are selfish and they love themselves and they like to gain money, they have gathered those rootless assemblage of people and placed them in our land, which they had no right in

+Dear Sir, there was never any attack from your side or their side?
-No, there wasn’t any contact.

+Dear Sir, We will move to another subject; I will ask you about before 1948 (Nakba) and before 1967 (Naksa).
-Go ahead.

+Usually we ask about the time before the 1948 because of the Occupation.
-Whatever I know or have heard about that period, I will tell you.

+Was there paved roads/streets at your village and the nearby villages? And what was the transport used before the 1948 and after 1967?
-Sir, I have told you, before the 1948 the roads were made of dirt alone and then the villagers paved it with stones without Asphalt, you can go to see the main road that connects Ramallah and Al-Ramla, and that’s it, and the rest are secondary roads that people walk in.

+Roads made of dirt?
-Yes, Made of dirt.

+The roads that are paved by the people; by their footsteps?
-Yes, there wasn’t any paved road before 1948, the British Mandate used to milk these villages -take advantage- taking taxes and not offering any kind of services, even the health/sewage services.

+I will ask about everything, we will not leave any detail behind, was there any transport before the year of 1948?
-there were only camels and animals. People used to carry their belongings using Lorries sometimes, and sometimes they used it to carry grains too.

+What do you mean by Lorries, you mean trucks?
-Yes

+Was it before or after 1948?
-Both, before and after.

+I am asking about before; who owned these trucks?
-The ugly truth; after the Turkish governance-(meaning the Ottoman Empire) there was individuals who used to collect taxes, they used to assign the lands to the people of the village, and divide the Turkish
The truth is that we had a family called Jarallah, after the British Mandate, they pretended that they are the owners of the land; they took approximately 48% of the coastal plain with fraud.
29:10
Even the residents of Al-Bayeqa area, this area was quite large, this village used to collect money and rent schools to educate children, there was only two classrooms. And the Bayeqa; they used to use it-Jarallah and others-they used it to store hay, gains and wheat, their cars would come. We haven’t only faced injustice from the Mandate or the Israeli Occupation, but Jarallah who confiscated the land. Knowing that in the 1948 when the assault on the village took place; every 6-10 individuals would contribute to buy a rifle, because they didn’t have the financial resources.

+Let’s continue to speak about Jarallah, is he from the village (meaning Yalu)?
-No, he’s from Jerusalem and this group of people and during 500 years they were in charge of this area they were loyal to the Ottoman Empire, and they used to condemn people to heaven or hell. And even when the people of the village stood- Jarallah not only took over that part of the land, but he also wanted to appropriate the pasture land, at that time, the people of the village were simple, and their livestock were the top priority, so they gave some of the land to those who wanted to build a shed or to plant some trees and didn’t own a piece of land. And so Jarallah came and filed the papers of the ownership of these lands and these people were transferred to jail of Al-Ramla, those whose names were among that list were 40 persons, but those who were captured by the British authorities and they put them in jail; 17 persons, do you want me to name them for you?




+I will ask you to name them in a little bit..
-alright, these people when others tried to pay the ransom to free them from prison, the lawyer asked; his name was: Khallous Al-Khairi RIP, he asked for a JD (Jordanian dinar) which equals one Palestinian Pound, to bail them out of jail, and people didn’t have money, so he asked further about their case, and people told him about Jarallah and his deeds, who wanted to confiscate all of their lands, Khallous-the lawyer, said that “this is a national cause, and that he will waive his fees. And then he freed them from prison, and the lands were proved to their owners and they were distributed on the people of the village, and they called it; Al-Ma’adeed (the lands which was distributed after they won in the court) and that was with the efforts of those 17 person who were imprisoned for a while, and the lands they received were full of rocks, but they fought, and a large number of those who stood against Jarallah were martyred in the 1948 and another number were martyred later on, even their children were martyred on the borders of Lebanon and in the Jordan Valley, and in the 1967 too.

+May their souls rest in peace. Dear Sir, We will continue to speak about this elaborately, my question is about Jarallah, did he won those trucks?
-No, he didn’t own it, he used to rent the trucks to move grains.

+Did any of the people of the village own a car, a truck or a taxi?
-Yes, in 1948 or 1947 there was two or maybe a group of 4/5 who shared the ownership of a small truck.

+How many?
-Two small trucks.

+and who owned these trucks?
-Ali Othman and his brothers, Mohammad Khader Shuaibi, Othman Salem, and a group of people which I cannot remember their names, they pitched in; each pays an amount of money, and they buy a truck, but it didn’t stick around for a while, and also Abdurahman Nassar.

+was there a bus route?
-in the 1948, No the bus used to pass through Ramallah.

+Have you ever used this bus?
-Yes.

+Who was the owner of these busses?
-it was owned by a company in Al-Ramla, I don’t know it’s name.

Do you remember how much were the bus fees?
-before 1984, No

+Were they using Chariots at that time?
-The nature of the land of our village doesn’t allow us to use Chariots.

+Have you used bicycles or motorcycles?
-I don’t know, bicycles most of the young men who worked at Al-Qnouba during the time of the British Mandate owned bicycles.

+There weren’t any motorcycles?
-I don’t know.

+Did you move on foot?
-Yes, there was one car owned by Ahmad Abdullah Al-Khdour, he used to work in the construction, he had a very old British car

+these cars were new at that time?
-Yes, old cars in the eyes of today.

+Dear Sir, was there a railway close to you?
-it was far from our village, it used to pass through the south, I forgot, maybe I will remember after.

+Was there a train station?
-it’s the same station; Artouf; Yes I remember, the railway used to go through Artouf to Jerusalem, and it used to come from Al-Led.

+Can we go back to asking about moving on foot?
-Yes.

+When you want to travel from a village to another, the roads you used to take, were dirt roads?
-Yes, dirt roads

+Were these roads marked or did it have any borders?
-No, not exactly.

+Was there improvement on the roads after the year 1948?
-Sure! A paved road was made between our village and Beit Nuba Village, it connects Nuba and Yalu and Imwas.
This was another road, not the one made by the british mandate.

+After that, did you own cars?
-of course, the same company which had trucks in Ramallah, at that period, a bus would pass every hour, and in the villages which are far from the main road, the people tried to provide transport to, so the company came and provided the road with a bus that passes once an hour.

+So the nearby villages used to come to your village to use transport?
-No, the bus used to take off from Imwas and that is the last village on the borders, heading to Yalu, Beit Nuba, and to Ramallah.

+Do you remember, how much were the bus fees?
-I remember it was 7 cents, at the beginning it was 3 or 4 cents, but in the latest period during the 1960s it was 7 cents.

+Do you remember the name of the company?
-Ramallah Company, I don’t know the exact name.

+Did any of the villagers work as a driver of these buses?
-No, the people of Imwas are the ones who were driving those buses.

+Do you remember the name of the driver?
-Yes, Ismail Al-Sheikh, and Omar Abu Gosh, and the brother of Ismail Al-Sheikh his name as I remember is Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, and Abu Shanab; I don’t know his first name.

+for riding the bus did you need a ticket?
-Yes.

+ Was there a ticket inspector?
-Of course.

+Do you remember his name?
-Omar Abu Gosh, he was the ticket inspector then he became a driver, and there were others, we used to go to work, but we didn’t use these buses, we used it rarely. I used to work abroad, I travelled to Kuwait and I stayed there for a while, I don’t know that much about the ticket inspectors, I know some of them were from Ramallah.


+in the period between 1948 and 1967, did people have taxis or private cars?
-Of course, there was Yousef Nimer Al Roub, which later on was called Abu Al-Roub, and yousef Ahmad Abd Al-Raheem, And Abdelmajeed Al-roub, and his brother Abdelaziz they used to own trucks, and Mohammad Khader Shuaibi used to own a dump truck, Mousa Rabbah owned a dump truck too, and there was two tractors, one for Mohammad Nimer Abu-Roub, and the other is for Lutfi Hammad, those people used to live in the village.

+Did you have a gas station?
-No, the gas used to be brought in buckets and people would buy it in tanks.

+Even after 1967?
-there was no gas station.

+from where did these cars were able to get fuel
-From Ramallah, the station of Ramallah.

+Excuse me, we will take a short break and then continue.