Tears for Tarshiha

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Tears for Tarshiha Page 20

by Olfat Mahmoud

I worry for their future as Palestinians—after 70 years Palestinians are still locked out of jobs and their rights in Lebanese society are still minimal. The collapse of Syria and the ongoing conflicts in the region have added to our precarious position. Thousands of Palestinians in Syria have fled to family in the Lebanese camps, straining the already meagre resources we have. The camps are now old—they were never built to be permanent; hundreds of homes are barely fit for habitation and are on the brink of collapse. PWHO has worked with this latest influx of refugees, providing language classes in English and Arabic as well as skills training for women. The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremists has also given me cause for great concern. Should their power grow in Lebanon that will be the time when I will finally leave. I want to be close to my culture, but I will not live under the control of fundamentalists like ISIS.

  I am now 58 and still I am stateless. In 1984, my grandparents’ house in Burj Barajneh was bombed and completely flattened. Among the precious items lost that day was the key to their house in Tarshiha. It was never found, but to keep our memory of their home alive, we had another key cut. In 1948, when Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, was asked how he would deal with the Palestinians whose lands were confiscated and had been deported, he reportedly said, ‘The old will die and the new generations will forget’28. I keep that symbolic key and raise my voice around the globe in defiance of that. Yes, the old have died, but the new generations still remember, and one day we will go home.

  EPILOGUE

  RETURN TO TARSHIHA

  In 2015 my oldest son, Chaker Khazaal, made the journey I cannot. He returned to Tarshiha, not as a Palestinian, but as a Canadian. He became the first member of our family to walk on the streets of our ancestors since they were cast out in October 1948.

  In 2002, my grandfather passed away. On his deathbed Tarshiha was all he talked about. He had lived his entire life dreaming of the day he would return, and when fate betrayed him, dreaming became all that he had. He even asked to be buried there—a final wish that was impossible to grant. No Palestinian refugees are permitted to travel into Israel or any of the Palestinian territories. Tarshiha is only 100 kilometres away from the Lebanese capital of Beirut, but with a closed border standing between Lebanon and Israel, Tarshiha is practically unreachable.

  Sixty-seven years after his exodus, I embarked on a journey to find Tarshiha, the place my grandfather called home. As a Canadian citizen now, I have become the first member of my family able to legally enter Israel.

  As I drove north from Jerusalem, my mind was filled with memories of my grandfather. I thought of all the stories he had told of Tarshiha—about the mosque, the church, and the roads with the olive trees. I listened to the music my grandfather loved and lost myself in the reverie. I was scared and excited at the same time. I was finally about to see the land my grandfather had painted in my imagination for so many years.

  When I first came upon a sign that read Tarshiha, I stopped, took a photo with it ... and cried. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Surrounded by strangers, I didn’t know where to begin my journey to my family’s origins. Suddenly I was living my grandfather’s dream, seeing Tarshiha with my own eyes. The old streets are exactly as he had described them. The mosque is there, the church still stood. I had the biggest smile on my face, mixed with fears and tears. I stopped a young man walking down the street. ‘Is this Tarshiha?’ I asked. He answered in Arabic, ‘Yes, this is Tarshiha’.

  I knew it was, but I sought spoken affirmation, nonetheless. Finally, I could hear someone telling me I was in my home village. The young man stared at me and saw a lost boy with watery eyes. But he could not fully see the storm of emotions hitting me at the moment.

  ‘My grandfather lived here over 60 years ago. His name is Ragheb Kiblawi; his father’s name is Saleh Kiblawi.’

  ‘Sorry, I don’t know who that is,’ he told me.

  He stopped a car passing by, and the driver said the same. I was less than surprised, as they both appeared much too young to have known my grandfather. I left just a little disappointed. I found a falafel shop while searching for a place to eat and collect myself. Some of the town’s residents were gathered inside. When the shop owner heard my story, he became excited. Finally, I wasn’t the only one! The shop owner asked someone to take me to an old man well-versed in the history of Tarshiha. I was led inside a tiny hut, where he sat surrounded by maps. He was a real estate agent, and he welcomed me warmly.

  I told him who I was, and he immediately recalled my family.

  ‘Saleh owned a cafe, I remember.’

  I let out a sigh of relief at the further affirmation of my grandfather’s stories. They weren’t just stories, but a reality. The old man asked someone to take me to where my grandfather once lived. When we arrived, I requested my companion to give me some time alone, to which he complied. There, life’s countless possibilities flashed through every space of my consciousness. I was imagining the life for our family had there been no war, and no displacement.

  I took a video of the neighbourhood so that I could share it with my family still living as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. For them, it is even more emotional. It is the place they are forbidden to visit, but now they could see it through my eyes.

  I walked the streets of Tarshiha for a long time. I listened to stories from any resident who would tell me one. I found an old man who knew my grandfather, and he told me tales that reminded me of him. My grandfather’s stories were real, the village is real, and experiencing them for myself will help keep those memories alive.

  Those around my age living in Tarshiha didn’t want me to leave. They longed to hear about the people who left years ago, and they were living their own tales through me.

  While I could not fulfil my grandfather’s dream of burying him in Tarshiha, I did the best I could. I planted an olive tree for my grandfather in his village. I chose to plant the tree as a symbol of hope and peace for my family and for the remaining inhabitants of Tarshiha, that they may be spared further conflict and war. And that one day my family in exile might, too, be able to return to Tarshiha.29

  1 Pappe, I. 2006, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, One World Oxford, Preface.

  2 Israeli historian Benny Morris argued in Birth of the Palestinian Problem Revisited that news of the killings at Deir Yassin spread fear among Palestinians and encouraged many of them to flee their villages when attacked. It is a widely accepted view (http://bit.ly/NYTimes19980409).

  3 The Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France of 1916 envisioned Palestine, at the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, as part of an International Zone. Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 that promised to establish ‘a Jewish national homeland in Palestine’. The British mandate lasting from 1920 to 1948 was formally endorsed by the League of Nations in 1922.

  4 The British Peel Commission or the Palestine Royal Commission was established in 1936 after the 1936-39 revolt, and in its 1937 report, recommended partition of Palestine.

  5 The UN resolution 181 (11) of 29 November 1947, recommended that an independent Arab State alongside a Jewish State be established, and that there be a Special International Regime for the city of Jerusalem.

  6 United Nations General Assembly 194 (III). Palestine: Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator, A/RES/194 (III)11 December 1948.

  7 Pappe, I. 2006, Ethnic Cleansing, p. 142, Plates 16-17.

  8 In November 1948, the UN established the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR) to support Palestine refugees and coordinate efforts of NGOs and other UN bodies. On Dec 8, 1949, the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) under Resolution 302 (IV). The agency inherited the assets of the UNRPR and took over the Red Cross refugee registration records.

  9 T
he Suez crisis was provoked by a US and British decision not to help fund as promised the Aswan High Dam, in response to what they saw as growing ties between Egypt and the Soviet Union. When diplomatic efforts to settle the crisis failed, Britain and France secretly prepared military action to regain control of the canal, finding a ready ally in Israel whose troops invaded Egypt in November, advancing toward the canal. Britain and France, following their plan, demanded Israeli and Egyptian troops withdraw from the canal, and sent in troops to enforce a ceasefire ordered by the United Nations. Opposition to the action in the US and Europe led to a UN evacuation of British and French troops in December and Israeli forces withdrew in March 1957. Nasser emerged from the crisis a victor and a hero for the cause of Arab nationalism—Encyclopedia Brittanica Online.

  10 The Lebanese National Pact of 1943 is a power-sharing arrangement between Lebanese Christians and Muslims. Under the agreement the president is always a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the National Assembly a Shi’a Muslim.

  11 The Cairo Agreement of November 2, 1969, was an agreement between Yasser Arafat of the PLO and Lebanese army commander General Emile Bustani, brokered by the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

  12 Fisk, R. 2002, Pity the Nation, The Abduction of Lebanon.

  13 Teachers’ Day in Lebanon is celebrated for a week from 3-9 March and is a time when children and parents can express their appreciation and gratitude to their teachers. March 9 is a holiday in most Lebanese schools.

  14 The Syrian Army entered Lebanon in June 1976. Its presence was legitimised in October that year by the League of Arab States through the formation of the Arab Deterrent Force. Of 30,000 troops, 27,000 were Syrian—Rabil, R, From Beirut to Algiers: The Arab League’s role in the Lebanon Crisis, Washington Institute, Policywatch 976.

  15 Cobban, Helena. 1984, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power, and Politics, Cambridge University Press, p. 142.

  16 Shlomo Argov, Obituary, The Guardian newspaper, February 25, 2003. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/25/israelandthepalestinians.lebanon.

  17 Habib Shartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, was sentenced to death in absentia in October 2017 by the Lebanese Justice Council. The Lebanese authorities arrested Shartouni after the assassination in 1982, but he was not prosecuted. In 1990, when the Syrian Army seized the Lebanese presidential palace Shartouni was smuggled from prison to an unknown location—Reuters World Service, October 21, 2017. 2.20 a.m. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-politics-trial/lebanese-court-issues-death-sentence-over-1982-gemayel-assassination

  18 Friedman, Thomas; ‘The Beirut Massacre: The Four Days,’ New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/26/world/the-beirut-massacre-the-four-days.html

  19 Fisk, R. 1991, Pity the Nation, Touchstone, New York, p. 360.

  20 Eban, A. 1983, The Beirut Massacre: The Complete Kahan Commission Report, Karz-Cohl, New York, p. 104.

  21 Eban, A. 1983, The Beirut Massacre: The Complete Kahan Commission Report, Karz-Cohl, New York, p. 104.

  22 APHEDA now known as Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA

  23 The Ta’if Agreement negotiated in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia and signed on October 22, 1989, was an agreement to end the decades-long Lebanese Civil War, reassert Lebanese authority in Southern Lebanon (then occupied by Israel), and set a timeframe for Syrian withdrawal.

  24 Friedman, Thomas, ‘Rabin and Arafat seal their accord’, New York Times, September 13, 1993.

  25 Aruri, N, 2001, Towards Convening a congress of return and self-determination, Palestinian Refugees: The Right of Return, Pluto Press, p. 260.

  26 Goldberg, S. ‘Rioting as Sharon visits Islam holy site’, The Guardian, September 29, 2000. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/sep/29/israel

  27 Only 1% of the world’s refugee population has a bachelor’s degree.

  28 Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2001, I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, p. 35.

  29 An account of Chaker’s visit was originally published in 2015 in the HuffPost, ‘A Refugee Returns Home: The Journey to My Roots’.

  Burj Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp where Olfat and her family

  have spent most of their lives. Beirut, Lebanon, early 1950s.

  Olfat’s parents Hind and Khalil. Beirut, 1955.

  Olfat aged 19 (right), with her sister Mervat. Beirut, 1979.

  At home with husband Mahmoud and children, Chaker and Fayez.

  Burj Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp, Beirut, Lebanon, 1991.

  Olfat and her mother in the tiny living room

  of their house. Burj Barajneh, 1999.

  With her family in her current house: L-R Fayez,

  Olfat, Mahmoud, Hani, Hadi. Beirut, 2010.

  Olfat with her sisters at her nephew’s wedding:

  L-R Ghada, Amani, Fayez, Olfat, Helmi, Mervat, Hanadi,

  in front Amjad. Beirut, 2015.

  Some of the bodies laid out for identification

  and burial after the Sabra Shatila massacre:

  over 2,000 Palestinians and Lebanese,

  including women and children, reportedly killed, 1982.

  The main street of the Sabra Shatila Palestinian refugee camp, Beirut, 1983.

  Bombing of Burj Barajneh on the edge of the refugee camp, 1985.

  Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al Helwah in South Lebanon

  (housing 30,000 residents at the time)

  after the Israeli military campaign, 1985.

  Collapsed buildings on the edge of Burj Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp after the 1985 war.

  At a media conference with Cliff Dolan

  (President ACTU, Chair APHEDA), Olfat with four other Palestinian nurses

  on their first visit to Australia for community nursing training. Sydney, 1986.

  Fielding a question at the same

  media conference in Sydney, 1986.

  Bombed out neighbour’s house during the Amal siege

  of the Burj Barajneh camp,

  metres from Olfat’s family home, 1986.

  Olfat (front right) with student nurses she was teaching

  at the Nursing School in Bar Elias in the Beqaa Valley, 1987.

  The first nursery, set up by Olfat

  in Burj Barajneh camp, 1988.

  Olfat (third from right) with childcare workers

  in one of the Union Aid Abroad APHEDA-funded childcare centres

  in Burj Barajneh camp (managed by Olfat), 1991.

  Olfat with colleagues outside the

  Women’s Humanitarian Early Education Centre and Nursery Centre,

  supported by APHEDA through AusAid.

  Burj Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut, 1996.

  View over Burj Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in 2001.

  Olfat in an alleyway of the Burj Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp

  where she lived until recently.

  Water and electricity lines intermingle overhead,

  at times causing deaths from electrocution. Beirut, 2010.

  Olfat with other international students

  on a peace-making course at the Kofi Annan Peace Center

  in Accra, Ghana, 2009.

  Olfat and Helen with Union Aid Abroad Staff APHEDA,

  L-R Ken Davis, Helen McCue (APHEDA co-founder),

  Melissa Park MP, Olfat, Jeremy Smith. Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, 2014.

  Olfat with Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales, Sydney, 1996.

  L: Olfat with Ged Kearney, then President of the ACTU

  and Chair of APHEDA. Sydney, 2014.

  Olfat at the United Nations where she spoke

  on the plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, New York, 2015.

  Olfat at the United Nations with

  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Ne
w York 2015.

  Olfat speaking at a Union Aid Abroad

  APHEDA fund-raising dinner. Wollongong, Australia, 2014.

  View of Tarshiha and surrounds, 2016.

  Photos of Olfat’s son, now a Canadian citizen and as a result,

  the first member of the family allowed to visit Tarshiha.

  At right, with an elderly Arab resident. Tarshiha, 2016.

  Olfat with her son Chaker after her address at the UN. New York, 2015.

 

 

 


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