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Enough for me to remain
in my country's embrace to be in her close as a handful of dust a sprig of grass a flower.
The recent Camp David negotiations ended in failure, and a whole nation of refugees remains ignored. But, like past "negotiations", Camp David II was headed for failure. At the many meetings, the exchanges of words between President Clinton, Arafat, and Barak, and during the 30-second news flashes of the "peace talks" at Camp David, something important was still being forgotten: the individual losses, the personal histories, and the deep meaning of returning home for the people who are at the heart of all of this, the Palestinian refugees. In the process of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and again in 1967, Israeli forces drove out one million Palestinians from their homeland, destroying over 500 Palestinian towns and villages in the process. This system of using violence to force people from their homes has modern name to. It's called "ethnic cleansing." Palestinian refugees and their descendants are estimated at over 5 million worldwide, with 3.2 million of them formally registered with the United Nations; the world's largest and most persistent refugee problem. For over fifty years now, Palestinian refugees have been waiting for something that means more to them than most people can imagine-- the basic right to return to their homeland. In any discussions of the Palestinian problem, I wonder whether people truly understand what "Al-Awda" (the Arabic word for "the return" home) really means for Palestinians. What feels so natural and simple to Palestinians seems to be the one thing that is not being emphasized in these or any "peace talks" -- that their right to return is not just about compensation for property stolen. Palestinian land and the concept of "home" is much more than mere ownership of property, and involves more than justice and legality. It also concerns identity, existence, and personal tragedies. The loss for these individuals, families, and their descendants is much more than something tangible. Returning home to your own land is about reclaiming a part of yourself that was lost. To a Palestinian, the homeland is inseparable from their sense of existence. It is a part of their heritage, identity and very being. The pain and humiliation of being expelled from your home and land is something that I think so few understand, especially those of us who have no direct experience with it. For me, the experience is part of my family history. In 1948, Israeli's invaded the Palestinian town of Ramleh and my grandfather was forced at gun point to immediately leave his home with his wife and nine children. Driven by fear, they took nothing but the clothes they were wearing, and settled in a West bank Palestinian village. In 1967, the Israeli's were upon them again, seizing the West bank and remaining occupiers of it for my grandfathers entire life. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Palestinians and the Return Home (Part 1) in Arab Culture is owned by Aida Hasan. Permission to republish Palestinians and the Return Home (Part 1) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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