As my father relayed, “the people of Eilaboun lost their village, homes, belongings, loved ones and their pride as well”.
THE UN TRUCE SUPERVISION OBSERVERS’ INVESTIGATION
The following are some extracts from the UN (UNTSO) report, providing an insight into their findings after investigating the events:
On their own side, the UN Observers in Tiberias led an investigation of Meirun (12-265) on 31 October 1948; Maghar on 5 November 1948; and Eilaboun on 7 November 1948. A special investigation was conducted on 12 November 1948 from 1100 hrs till 1400 hrs, by Lt Col. Sore ‒ Ass’t to B-3, Capt. Ratard (French Army) of the Tiberias UN, Observers’ Group, accompanied by the Israeli Army Liaison Officer Major Spector.
Their findings: “Thirteen men were killed; five bodies in a mausoleum grave were viewed by Captain Zeuty and Major Compoeasso and had undoubtedly been shot. Twenty men of military age were taken as prisoners of war. Homes viewed and showed evidence of having been plundered, pious images were broken and destroyed.” The Report added:
It was not possible to interrogate a Jewish witness about the matter: The troops responsible for those atrocities have left the sector. Those actually in the place know nothing about it [sic]. The extrusion itself was certified by Captain Zeuty, Safad observer who saw in Mairun the women and children expelled from Eilaboun. The evidence from the Catholic curate was given in presence of the Jewish liaison officer. His sincerity cannot be suspected. Having seen how the Jews behaved in upper Galilee, I fear that this curate would be submitted to bad treatments as retaliation.
The Report concluded: “There is no doubt in this observer’s mind that the Jews committed murder and plunder in the case”.29
THE MEN IN THE PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS
The following testimonies were relayed by Farid Zreiq, Yousef Slayyeh and Slim Hanna:
The men the Israeli militia chose in Farradiyya on 31 October 1948 were taken to Maghar, to a “gathering” place, where they gathered men from many villages. In the night they transported them to Nahlal by buses and gathered them near the police station. The men stayed in Nahlal for forty-eight hours, without any food, and very little water. They had to sleep on a pebble ground, full of insects…
From there, the Israeli soldiers started transferring them to the POW camps. They gathered the men in Atlit near Haifa, and placed them in tents. The ground was full of thorns, but they had to sleep on it. They gave each man a blanket to use as mattress and cover. The Israelis kept the captive men there for one month, before starting distributing the men to other POW camps. The Israelis sorted out the old men and the ill and sent them to Jordan. In the POW camps they tried to tempt the young men with money to leave to Jordan, but the latter refused their offers … The conditions in the POW camps was even worse than before, the men were made to do forced labour.30
The following are some testimonies on the conditions for the men in the POW camps:
“Life was terrible on all levels; in terms of food, the way they treated us … everything.” (Yousef Slayyeh)
“It was a very horrible situation, very painful, we did not know anything about the fate of our children, siblings, family and our village.” (Salim Ashqar).
“A guy from Farradiyya called some of his friends to bring him food; the guard on the posts shot him and killed him.” (Salim Ashqar)
The testimony of Yousef Slayyeh was particularly poignant: “One night a guy went out of his tent, he wanted to pee, a guard thought he wants to run away, he shot at him and the bullet hit another guy sleeping in the tent near ours.”
Slayyeh continued:
Every day they used to force us out, in the cold, in the rain, to count us. They grouped us in fours, but not while we were standing. They forced us to squat on the ground, to count us, and each time they made a mistake, they started all over again. The work we were forced to do in the beginning was very harsh. I am sure the work they forced other people to do (forced labour) was much easier than that we had to do. I was a kid (fifteen years old), they took us to warehouses where they stored grains, like beans, lentils and similar produce. Each bag weighed about 100kg. We had to carry the bags from the warehouses to the trucks.
THE RETURN
Return is the dream of all Palestinian refugees, but for the people of Eilaboun it became a reality. This reality was materialized partly through their determination, partly through luck, but mostly because of the exposure of the Israeli atrocities in the village, revealed by Captain Zeuty after the UNSTO report. The villagers met with Captain Zeuty near Mirun, and the latter agreed to put pressure on the Israelis to let them go back, and the efforts of the priests who had stayed in Eilaboun also facilitated the process. However, the story of their return was anything but a smooth one.
Here are some testimonies of the villagers of Eilaboun about their return:
My wife and children had their own story, they [the Israelis] caught them while returning [to Eilaboun], they took them to Akka and after that sent them to Marj Ibn ‘Amer (Jezreel Valley) on 15 of March, it was very cold. They [the Israelis] left them [his wife and sons] without any cover, without anything. They took their [his wife and sons’] clothes. She [the wife] had with her five little children … she was alone. Those stories ... one can never forget. (Farid Zreiq)
Farid Zreik continues:
The Israelis claimed to allow the people of Eilaboun back, but in reality they did not allow them back, they had to come back secretly at night. Those who were unlucky and were caught were sent to Jenin. Those who stayed, the [Israeli] government allowed to go back. This is not the case; they turned a blind eye, nothing written. Those they caught coming back, the Israelis dropped near Jenin, they did not allow them to go back. My wife and kids are an example for that, they caught them and dropped them near Jenin.
Anise Zreiq corroborated Farid Zreiq’s experience saying: “People were terrified when they returned. When we crossed the road between Rmaych and Israel, people used to freeze. We sat like this [freezing without any movement] until we saw the way was clear and ran to the other side, and when they saw us they shot at us” (Anise Zreiq).
Malakeh Eid recounts: “On Christmas Eve while the bells tolled we were in the wilderness … I will never forget this until I die”.
AFTER THE RETURN
The villagers of Eilaboun, as recounted above, returned to a looted village. They had no food, no work, they had nothing. While men were still in the POW camps for the first six months after the return, many women had to work hard to provide for their families. It is important also to remember that Eilaboun villagers, like all Palestinians of the forty-eight territories have lived under the military rule that lasted until 8 November 1966, and they needed a permit to leave the village.
Here are some testimonies of Eilabouni villagers’ situation after their return to their village:
We returned to our homes. We found nothing, no cows, no goats, no sheep, no mattresses or blankets, no plants … nothing. We wanted to eat and drink, we started to go to the nearby villages, Arraba, Deir Hanna, Sakhnin, and beg for food. (Mere’i Srour)
After the return life was very difficult, no one was able to work, everyone had to have a permit to leave the village. We did not have food. During the night, people were calling each other to go to work in Tiberias. When they were caught, they would be returned, because they had no permits. People wanted to live, to eat, we had nothing. Homes were empty, work was not allowed, you needed a permit to go to Tiberias to work, one needed a permit to go anywhere, and there was no food. (Anise Zreiq)
Milya Zreiq said the same: “After we returned, it was hard, they limited our travel, when children were ill and screamed and cried there was no doctor. It took more than two months until they allowed us to go to Nazareth to treat the children.”
Rayah Zreiq had the following to say: “I went to Hittin’s olive grove walking, and worked all day for one lira [the Israeli currency back then], to feed my siblings. A year after that I went to the olive groves
in Maghar, and worked all day for only one and a half lira, to feed my siblings.”
THE BEHEADED SOLDIERS
The Arab Liberation Army soldiers beheaded two Israeli soldiers who were killed in battle, and paraded the heads in Eilaboun, an act that was not accepted by the people of Eilaboun. All of those interviewed emphasized they had nothing to do with this act. They all stressed that the people of Eilaboun did not like what the soldiers did. The priest of Eilaboun protested and stopped the parade.
According to the UNTSO Report, “Father Markus states that one month before the Jews invaded Eilaboun, two Jewish soldiers had been killed by Kawji Fawji [Fawzi Kawakji] troops and their bodies had been beheaded. The heads had been delivered back for burial to the Jews”. Still, the Israeli soldiers executed thirteen men, and expelled the people of Eilaboun to Lebanon, using the beheading of the two soldiers and the parade with the heads as an excuse.
According to the UNTSO Report, part of these deeds (the Israeli massacre in Eilaboun) might be accounted for by:
•The parading (by the ALA troops) of the heads of the two Jewish soldiers.
•The resistance put up (by the ALA troops) at Eilaboun and the excitement of Jewish troops.
•Immediate security concerns.
•They cannot be justified on a legal plane. (UNTSO Report)
The people of Eilaboun were punished because the ALA troops resisted strongly, beheaded two Israeli soldiers and paraded the heads in Eilaboun. In other words, they were punished for the deeds of ALA soldiers.
What is even more distressing is the fact that the Israeli soldiers (Battalion 103) used the same excuse to commit another massacre in the land of Arab El-Mawasi (a semi-nomad tribe near Eilaboun), where the Israeli soldiers executed fourteen men and boys on 1 and 2 November 1948:
1.Abd-Alah Ersheed (sixteen years old)
2.Saleh Alramli (thirteen years old)
3.Ateya Ersheed
4.Meqbel Ersheed
5.Meejel Ersheed
6.Saeed Qasem
7.Asaad Qasem
8.Bayer Taha
9.Mohamad Taha
10.Hseen Ahmad
11.Hasan Alwahsh
12.Mohammad Alander
13.Ahmad Alnader
14.Nayef Aleesa
The Israeli soldiers even reported and documented their deeds in Arab El-Mawasi, as the Israel Defence Forces archive document shows:
Subject: Report of patrolling the Arab El-Mawasi area: “Skeleton of the two missing in action soldiers in a previous operation in this area. Their identification was established by their uniforms found near them. They are beheaded. … Fourteen men were executed. The rest were sent to POW camps”.31
CONCLUSION
The people of Eilaboun are still traumatized from the events of the Nakba. Today, even after fifty-eight years, the people cry whenever they mention their loved ones who were killed then. They could not understand why the Israelis did that to them, and all the interviewees asked this same question: “Why us, when we did not do anything and were peaceful and unarmed?” They could not understand and could not accept what had happened to them. All interviewees spoke about the massacre in Eilaboun, even those who were already in Lebanon at the time. This was undoubtedly the biggest trauma that inflicted the village since 1948. What makes the trauma so deep, I found, is the fact that the Eilabounis could not then, or now, comprehend why the Israelis did this, despite the excuse given to them by the Israelis. Their trauma has been exacerbated by their witnessing and knowing about the killing of fourteen men from Arab El-Mawasi by the Israelis. All these experiences made it impossible for them to understand, let alone accept.
The hardships faced by the Eilabounis during their expulsion and march to Lebanon was evident in the words, the facial expressions and the body language of the interviewees. The women walking the difficult terrain of the Upper Galilee Mountains, without their husbands, carrying their children, while the Israeli soldiers shot at them, was particularly traumatic. Milya Zreiq’s statement: “It is good that we are still sane … The agony! carrying two children, and running the Faradiya’s slope, while they [the Israelis] were shooting at us”, expresses it all.
The humiliation they faced in the process of becoming refugees was no less traumatic. In addition to the separation of the women and children from their husbands/fathers and not knowing about their fate, some of the Eilabuni refugees witnessed men being killed, and others dragged off to the POW camp. Those who survived and were able to return found their village looted, emptied, except for the walls, windows and doors, although many were broken. As stated in the UNTSO Report, “Homes viewed showed evidence of having been plundered; pious images were broken and destroyed”.
The POW camps left their marks on the men who experienced them. The villagers spoke of the harsh conditions of forced labour and the maltreatment they faced, which was also documented in the UNTSO Report as follows: “The Arab men were held at Nahlal for two days without food or shelter. There were reported cases of maltreatment of Arabs by Jewish guards at Nahlal.”
All of the above, I believe, is not unique to Eilaboun; this is rather the story of most of the Palestinian villages that were cleansed by the Israelis. What is possibly unique to Eilaboun is the return, albeit to an emptied village. Their return was made possible largely by their amazing will to return, combined with the luck of meeting the UNTSO observer near Mirun, which led to the UNTSO investigation.
Before I conclude, I would like to say that the claim that the Israelis treat Palestinian Christian differently (better) than Muslim Palestinians is a myth. This myth was exposed in Eilaboun as well as in various other Palestinian villages such as Iqrit and Kufur Bir’im. And from my own experience as a Palestinian Christian, I admit, I was never treated differently from any Muslim Palestinian. If anything, I proudly say that my village, Eilaboun, defies Israeli attempts at dividing Palestinians on a religious basis. The two Muslim martyrs of Eilaboun are buried in the Zreiq family mausoleum grave along with my uncle, Badee Zreiq (one of the martyrs), my mother, my father and other relatives of mine. This to me symbolizes the unity of Palestinians in victimhood and defiance.
NOTES
1All interviews were conducted in May 2006 and took place in Eilaboun and Nazareth.
2The information on Plan Dalet is based on the interview I conducted with Ilan Pappe during the month of research. Here is what Ilan Pappe told me about Plan Dalet, the policies and practices used by the Israelis in displacing the Palestinians during the Nakba: “The Jewish leadership, actually the High Command of the Jewish society, what they called the Matkal, later to be known as the High Command of the Army. The Matkal met in Tel-Aviv and decided on the means of implementing Plan Dalet. The Plan divided the future state of Israel into twelve zones; created twelve brigades and each brigade was supposed to cleanse all the area from the Palestinian villages and towns in it. And the plan says very clearly how to do it: You encircle the village or neighbourhood, you occupy it, you separate the men which they [Israelis] defined as anyone above the age of ten, you separate the men from the women and the children, you expel the women and the children and you take the men that you think have a military potential and send them to the POW camps, and you execute who are suspicious of being involved before in actions against the Jews. This was a standard operational command.”
3IDF Archive 49/715, File 3.
4The United Nations Truce Supervision Observers conducted an investigation on the events in Eilaboun and published its report on the same. See UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11, “Atrocities, September‒November”.
5Ibid.
6Interview with Nimer Zreiq and Farid Zreiq.
7Interview with Samira Zreiq, Meree Srur and Nimr Zreiq.
8Most interviews attested to this, especially Butros Matta, Farid Zreiq and Nimr Zreiq.
9UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11,”Atrocities, September‒November”.
10Interviews with Miriam Eid, Farid Zreiq, Yousef Hayek and Diab Eilabuni.
12Several interviewees, including Salem Zreiq, Diab Eilabuni and Butros Matta.
13Interview with Salem Zreiq, corroborated by most others.
14Interviews with Samira Zreiq, Salem Zreiq, Anise Zreiq and Rayaa Zreiq
15Interviews with Butros Matta and Farid Zreiq.
16Interview with Butros Matta.
17This information was corroborated by all interviewees from Eilaboun.
18UNTSO Report, UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11, “Atrocities, September‒November”.
19Interview with Salem Zreiq.
20For more information on Kafr Inan, see Palestineremembered @ http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Kafr-’Inan/.
21Mr Shqeer.
22For more information on the village of al-Farradiyya see, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Safad/al-Farradiyya/.
23Interviews with Milia Zreiq, Miriam Eid, Asaad Zreiq, Salem Zreiq and Rayan Zreiq.
24Interview with Malakeh Eid.
25See UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11, “Atrocities, September‒November”.
26See http://www.palestineremembered.com/Safad/Mirun/.
27UNTSO, UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11, “Atrocities, September‒November”.
28Interview with Salem Zreiq.
29UN Archive 13/3.1 box 11, “Atrocities, September‒November”.
30Interviews with Farid Zreiq, Yousef Slayyeh and Slim Hanna.
31IDF Archive, 51/957, file 1683, Battalion 103, company C; See also, IDF Archive 5943/49/114, 13 April 1938.
11
“This is your father’s land”: Palestinian Bedouin women encounter the Nakba in the Naqab
SAFA ABU-RABI’A
We were expelled, meaning we were not allowed to enter our lands. It is forbidden: we used to stand on the fences or on the mountain and we explain to our children: “we used to live here; there was the water well …” it’s important for me that my daughters will know how our lives used to be. (Abu-Bader)
An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba Page 31