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Showing 21 - 40 from 65 entries
> Life in Beit Sahour: Jaela Andoni’s Story
> Sada, living in Dheisha, 120 years old
> Hend, from Al-Walaja near Bethlehem
> Abu-Yaser Recalls Life in Tel el-Safi
> Najwa Ahmed, a Palestinian refugee in Khan Younis
> Ramzt Baroud's father
> Ishaq al-Shami, Arab Jew
> A Palestinian child in a Syrian refugee camp
> This Is Me! By Dina Meo
> Mazin Sukkar, taxi driver
> Prisoner of War: Yusif Sayigh, 1948 to 1949
> A Palestinian in Dhahiat al-Barid Records a Life...
> Talbiyeh Days: At Villa Harun ar-Rashid
> Sa’id Nimr’s Stormy Career:From the Dungeons...
> A Personal Account of the Life of Zahra al-Ja’uniyya
> Growing Old in Palestine: Gabriel Khano
> Our Palestinian Elderly: A Sociological View
> Elderly people in Palestine
> Families in Beit Ummar
> Interview with a Muslim Teacher from Artas Village
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WHERE I LIVE ISN’T REALLY OUR VILLAGE
Interview by Jane Toby
The village I come from is called Al-Walaja Village. When I left my village, I was very young: I was only one year and six months old. My sister was 6 years old. We left at night under fire. It was the time of the Nakba.
The Israeli soldiers were shooting at us. My mother carried me in her arms and ran very fast. They shot my mother. The bullet entered the front of her shoulder and went out the back. She was brought to the hospital but she didn’t die.
After that night, we had to move from place to place. When we were in Beit Jala, they brought us to Dheisheh Camp.
In Dheisheh Camp, we lived in tents. In the winter, it was cold and raining. In the summer, it was very hot.
The UNRWA opened schools for us. The teachers taught me to read and write. I went to school for five years. Now I can read and write.
Today I live with my family in Walaja village. It isn’t really our village. We named it after our original village that we had to leave behind. We can still see our village on the hillside across from us, but we aren’t allowed to go there. The Israelis live there now.
Most of our family live in Jordan. Some live in other places like Beit Jala, Dheisheh Camp and Aida Camp. Some of our family live in America.
My son Taha was taken to prison when he was thirteen. When we visited him, he could only talk to us from behind thick glass. When he was in prison, he built a miniature replica of the Al Aqsa Mosque. He dreams of praying there one day, though the Israelis won’t give Palestinian men a permit to pray there till they are over fifty.
My son Mustafa is a farmer. This winter he was carrying firewood home to us. The Israeli soldiers stopped him and made him stand out in the rain till nightfall. They took his donkey and told him they were taking his donkey to prison.
I like to sew and embroider designs on dresses. I sew by hand.
I make bread [shraak] every day for my family. I keep the dough under the covers so that it will rise well. I hope people will visit me so I can offer them warm bread, olive oil, and sage tea.
Interview: January 2008, Al-Walaja.
Interviewer: Jane Toby from Catskill, New York, who worked for many years with Women in Black and Middle East Crisis Response, Hudson Valley, NY. Interview in cooperation with AEI.
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