Al Birwa, Lifta, and Qatamon Visualizing Palestine
Al Birwa, 1948, depopulated but not built over We are standing in the Galilee, in the town of Al Birwa, on an open patch of land. Here, there were once 380 houses, 2 schools, a mosque and a church, according to Palestine Remembered. The land was cultivated with olive trees, wheat, and barley. One of Al Birwa’s 1,460 residents was a young Mahmoud Darwish, born in 1941. In 1947, his family fled from Zionist militias and were never allowed to return. Later, Darwish wrote:
ter of the Palestinian intellectual Khalil Sakakini, was a young teacher here. In her diary, she documented the worsening situation leading up to her family’s flight to Cairo. March 13, 1948 - We […] were all sitting in the dining room when an explosion took place...two more loud explosions shook our house and we guessed that they were very near...Shooting did not cease until morning. It was a terrible night. Today, from early morning, we could see trucks piled with furniture passing by. Many more families from Qatamon are moving away, and they are not to blame. Who likes to be buried alive under debris?!... If strong security measures are not taken immediately, our turn of leaving our home will come soon.
A person can only be born in one place. However, he may die several times elsewhere: in the exiles and prisons, and in a homeland transformed by the occupation and oppression into a nightmare. Israel has not built over the original built-up area of Al Birwa, but two Israeli towns are situated on part of the surrounding village lands today.
April 13 - Not a day passes without Mr. Daoud Tleel asking in his sarcastic way, “What do you say, shall we flee tomorrow?”
Lifta, Jerusalem, depopulated but not built over We are standing on a hill on the road to Jerusalem, amidst over 50 empty stone homes. In December 1947, Zionist militias killed 6 people in a coffee house here. By January, all the residents had fled. The short video “Sons of Lifta”, by BADIL Resource Center, follows Palestinian refugees visiting their homes from Jerusalem. The video reminds us that denial of the Right of Return affects not just those in exile, but also those living just a short distance away. Palestinians in East Jerusalem cannot return to their nearby homes in Lifta. Palestinians in Nazareth cannot return to their nearby homes in Safuriyya. Israel has designated both areas as national nature reserves. Qatamon, Jerusalem, depopulated and appropriated as an Israeli neighborhood
April 29 (morning) - We are now the only family left in Qatamon. The Sakakini family arrived in Cairo on April 30, 1948. Shortly thereafter, Qatamon was repopulated by Jewish Israelis.
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We are standing in a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. Over 70 years ago, Hala Sakakini, daugh24
