Praise for
Nakba
“Sabria’s story encapsulates the denied and forgotten horrors of the Palestine 1948 catastrophe. Lloyd Johnson provides us with a powerful and well researched narrative that no decent person will be able to ignore. This fictional story, based on true events, will help the readers to understand, and I am quite confident also sympathize, with the Palestinian struggle for peace and justice in the holy land.”
—Ilan Pappe, Ph.D., Jewish Historian, Chair in History, University of Exeter, England
“This is a brilliant narrative based on historical facts of the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians in 1948. The reader will be intrigued by the drama but will also be enriched by the history, the culture and passions of Jews, Muslims and Christians who lived in the Holy Land during that period. The book is a fascinating, well-researched work of art. The author brings to the English speaking world a side of the Arab-Israeli conflict that is not known to most people. I highly recommend the book!”
—Alex Awad, Author, Peace and Justice Activist, Co-founder Bethlehem Bible College and Shepherd Society (Refugee Crisis Middle East).
“Once again Lloyd Johnson has created a beautiful and poignant parable to bring to reality the complexity and the human failings at work in the Holy Land. His approach is to lead you deeper into knowledge through story. I highly recommend this book.”
—The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel Bishop of Olympia, Washington
“Lloyd Johnson has taken significant historical events and made them come alive through a fascinating story that many will identify with as they recall their own experiences with cultural, political and relationship struggles.
This beautifully descriptive narrative weaves historical facts with fictional dialogue in a way that makes these events come alive for the reader.
This important book intersperses important events that have shaped the lives of Israelis and Palestinians with a fictional representation of efforts to bridge the cultural and political divides that exist in the Holy Land.”
—Dr. Rod Schofield, Consultant to the Schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land
“A novel based strictly on historic facts is rare. ‘Facts can help dispel the rewriting of history.’ And, Lloyd Johnson goes on to write in Nakba: ‘We are all entitled to our own opinions—but not our own facts.’ After living and working in the Middle East for 45 years I can’t wait to get multiple copies of this book to share with family and friends. Nakba will do what I have always tried to do—share the whole truth about what has and is happening today in the Lands of the Bible.”
—Leonard Rodgers, Facilitator, Relief—Middle East—North Africa, Founder, Venture International
Nakba:
Catastrophe
by Lloyd Philip Johnson
©copyright 2017 Lloyd Philip Johnson
ISBN 978-1-63393-494-8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters are both actual and fictitious. With the exception of verified historical events and persons, all incidents, descriptions, dialogue, and opinions expressed are the products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Published by
210 60th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
800-435-4811
www.koehlerbooks.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Author’s Note
FOREWORD
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Appendix:
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
This story clings to the mostly hidden facts of what actually happened during 1948 in the Holy Land, including real people who molded the events. Facts can help dispel the rewriting of history. Often quoted, “We are all entitled to our own opinions—but not our own facts.”
Fictional characters make the facts come to life in human experience. I have tried to weave their stories around what actually happened, with care to not skew the real events. Any errors or misinterpretations in the book are mine alone.
What happened to ordinary people in the Holy Land? How did they cope? Historical fiction can take the skeleton of actual past events and hang on it living breathing human beings in action, in joys and suffering, in adventure and romance.
Two groups of people, one real and the other fictional, are listed in the Cast of Characters. While never putting my words or thoughts into historic characters, I have included their actions. Their writings and actual spoken words I’ve quoted in italics. These have been well documented by Ilan Pappe in his books. The main events, dates, and places in this book are real, historic and true.
If you wish to brush up on the history that led to the events of 1948 in Palestine, check some key actions summarized in the Appendix. I have relied heavily on Pappe, a prominent Jewish historian with access to the temporarily released secret archives of the Israeli militias and their government. I have also benefited from the eyewitness account of Ghada Karmi, “In Search of Fatima; A Palestinian Story,” Verso, London, 2002. She writes powerfully of her own experience as a child in Qatamon, a section of Jerusalem.
But I hope this account—of adventure, action, and even a bit of romance—keeps you entertained, asking questions and seeking answers.
Cast of Characters’
First Appearance by
Numbered Chapters
Fictional characters (F) use first name only
Historic Characters (H) use full names when known
Prologue-Sabria, Arab student (F)
1.
Eldad, Jewish militia officer (F)
Menachim Begin, Jewish militia officer, later Israeli
Prime Minister (H)
2.
Caleb, American student in Haifa (F)
Lord Arthur Balfour, UK Foreign Min. (H)
Theodore Herzl, founder, Zionist cause (H)
3.
Adnan Sabria’s
grandfather (F)
Hava, Sabria’s mother (F)
Neighbors:
Jamal- Sabria’s young friend (F)
Rana and Ilias- Jamal’s parents (F)
5.
Yilgon Allon, Jew, militia officer/general (H)
Youssef Weitz, Jewish demographer (H)
Ben Gurion, Israeli State founder, First Prime Minister (H)
7.
Judith, Sabria’maternal aunt (F)
9.
General Orde Wingate, British Army (H)
11.
Liana, Sabria’s other maternal aunt (F)
Valerie, Jewish friend (F)
Noor, Muslim friend (F)
12.
Khalid, Sabria’s father (F)
15.
Pastor Sam Jamison, Dallas pastor (F)
17.
Rabbi Yousef, friend of Valerie (F)
Moshe Kallman, Jewish officer (H)
21.
Abd al-Qaadir al-Husayni, Palestinian commander (H)
23.
King Abdullah I, leader of Transjordan (H)
24.
Fayhim Zaydan, Arab boy, Deir Yassin (H)
Rachel, Zaydan’s mother (H)
26.
Sabria’s Professor, Technion, Haifa (F)
28.
General Hugh Stockwell, British Commander, Haifa (H)
29.
British Officer, Valerie’s friend, Jerusalem (F)
31.
Amira, Sabria’s friend, student from Acre (F)
33.
Michael al-Issa, Jaffa, Arab Leader (H)
Frederick Jaffa, son of German missionaries (H)
36.
Tabitha, Arab refugee, Jerusalem (F)
44.
Joseph, Caleb’s father, Dallas, Texas (F)
Officer, Alexandroni Brigade (Jewish Militia) (H)
48.
Chester, Friend, business associate of Joseph, New York (F)
52.
Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat, UN peace mediator (H)
53.
Caleb’s Professor, Technion, Haifa (F)
54.
Helen, Caleb’s mother, Dallas (F)
55.
Talisha, Al Shati (Beach Camp) refugee, Gaza (F)
56.
Butrus, Beach Camp administrator (F)
FOREWORD
Lloyd Johnson has done it again --- but this latest book must stand as his crowning achievement. Of all the sins of the Zionist Movement, the ethnic cleansing of 1947-1949, carried out with chilling, ruthless, brutal efficiency, stands as the most horrifying. The facts of the Nakba, covered here by Johnson on the basis of painstaking historical research, is the most commonly overlooked chapter in this tragic story—who among us knew the true story of the “birth of Israel” as we celebrated the Zionist miracle?
This book is a blessing not only to Palestinians and to all who treasure and work for justice, but for the Jewish people, in Israel and across the world, whose future and true redemption lies with knowing the truth of our modern history. Our future lies with (and not alongside!) our Palestinian sisters and brothers. There never was a plan or intention for a Palestinian state, and the story of the Nakba, recounted here with heartbreaking, shocking vividness—makes all too clear what the original and enduring intention of Zionism has always been—no Palestinians in Palestine. Along with the work of Ilan Pappé and other tireless workers to bring the truth that will set us free, Lloyd Johnson has taken us several giant steps forward in creating a future of dignity and hope.
—MARK BRAVERMAN, Ph.D, Jewish American co-founder and Program Director of Kairos USA, author of Fatal Embrace and A Wall in Jerusalem.
Palestine/Israel Cities and Villages
limited to those in the story
Prologue
December 1947
Sabria (Sab-ri’-a) studied in her small room adorned with family pictures on the chest of drawers opposite the bunk bed. The fifth floor of the apartment building bordered the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in mid-town Haifa on the Mediterranean Coast of Palestine. She reached for a fig and gazed absent-mindedly out the window eastward toward the mountains. Mt. Carmel showed the lights of homes high up the slopes in the midnight dark of Mid-December 1947. Well into her third year, the education student relished getting better acquainted with two Jewish girls, now housemates freshly immigrated from Germany. She had held off asking about their families and what happened to them during the Holocaust. Could such tragedy ever happen here? If it happened in highly educated, sophisticated Europe, why not in Palestine?
Biting her pencil while trying to study, she thought of the contrast—herself an Arab, Palestinian Christian, growing up just outside Tantura, a village of about 1,700 people 25 kilometers to the south, her family roots on the land traced back over 500 years. They lived as they had for centuries peacefully on the Coastal Plain in an area of farmland, mostly citrus fruit growing, along with Muslim and Jewish people. Her grandfather Adnan had built a large home on a hill overlooking the sea and became not only prosperous but a respected leader in Tantura. She loved the large citrus grove where her parents lived and worked on the family farm as she grew up. Reminded many times by others of her beauty, she usually stuffed her long black hair into a sunbonnet to assist her grandfather and her father growing oranges and lemons. At college she missed the feel of warm soil.
Sabria’s soliloquy crashed as a sudden bright explosion brightened the sky in an Arab residential area at the base of Mt. Carmel. Panicked, she rushed down the hall to the telephone to call her Aunt Judith who lived there with her family, below the new Jewish neighborhoods expanding up the hill.
The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity. With her aunt’s frantic “Asalam alekum” Sabria heard children screaming in the background. She had learned of occasional trouble in the neighborhood and didn’t understand why.
“What happened? I saw an explosion light up the sky from my window. It looked like your area.”
“Our neighbor’s house just disappeared in a bomb blast.” Judith sobbed and couldn’t speak for several moments. “They had three little children, now all are gone, mother and all. The father is at work, night shift, at the port.”
“Oh, Aunt Judith. Are you all right?”
“We lost only a tree and part of our low wall, but yes, we weren’t hurt. The children are screaming and crying. I can’t believe what happened. Our youngsters played with the four kids next door. They were like brothers and sisters.”
“I’m frightened for you. What are you going to do?”
“My husband is over there in the rubble with the police and firemen sorting through it looking for any survivors. I need to be with the children. The whole thing seems unreal. I’ve got to go now.”
Sabria leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. She sat there for several minutes, her thoughts spinning. She could envision that neighbor family, a lovely Muslim couple in their early 40’s with four children whom she had enjoyed on visits to Judith’s home. Now gone. Why? What had they done to deserve this?
Chapter 1
Following her first class of the day, Sabria wandered aimlessly through the campus to the student lounge crowded with students at many tables and very noisy. She could not remember the subject of the anthropology professor’s lecture or what he taught. Last night’s explosion consumed her thinking. It seemed like the deliberate targeting of the family. But why? Bringing her mid-morning cup of tea to an empty table, she sat down, avoiding the stares and smiles of several male students at an adjoining table.
Sabria, tall with her dark piercing eyes, olive skin and long flowing hair always seemed to attract attention, mostly unwanted. She thought perhaps the absence of a hijab made her stand out among Arab young women. But some of the Muslim girls also did not wear the traditional covering. Jewish young women often dressed fashionably like their European counterparts, or those from kibbutzim informally with pants, farm girls like
herself. She often found people thought she was Jewish.
She had just begun to sip her tea when she heard a voice in English with a German accent.
“May I join you?”
Sabria raised her eyes to see a short athletic-looking man several years older than her with black wavy short hair and a military bearing, carrying a tray containing a roll and coffee. He smiled at her as he sat down on a chair across the table. She tried to smile, outwardly betraying her desire to be left alone to mourn the loss of the Palestinian family. She would have to be welcoming to be kind, but became instantly wary wondering what this older guy had in mind. His dress, colorful sport shirt, Jewish yarmulke and slacks suggested something different than the average college student. Swallowing a sip of tea, she managed a weak smile and gesture to sit down. She usually enjoyed chatting with Jewish students, but this one put her on guard. “Please. I don’t think we’ve met.”
“We haven’t. I saw you sitting alone and concluded you needed company. I’m Eldad, and as you may know, that means beloved of God.”
“It’s nice to know he loves you. I’m Sabria. That means patient.”
“Your parents must have thought that name is close to Sabra, native born in Israel.” He leaned forward taking a bite of his roll.
“I suppose.” She suddenly realized Eldad thought she was Jewish. “You must be a new student here. I’ve not seen you on campus.”
“I’m new to this campus. The Hagana put me on leave to continue engineering studies. Right out of high school I did attend Hebrew University in Jerusalem but that was several years ago.”
“So you are attached to one of the militias?” she asked before sipping her tea.
“Oh yes. I learned much from fighting with the British Army in Europe in 1944 and 5. Now many of us use the same skills in accomplishing the goals of Zionism.”
“So you have military training?”
“I do. British infantry officers picked me for their special forces under Field Marshall Montgomery. I returned to Israel in late 1945, almost three years ago, at the end of the war and volunteered for duty in the Hagana, which will some day, become our defense force. They recognized my skills and experience and assigned me to serve with the Palmach.”
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