This land - trying to understand

Ali Saleem Mousa

One of the strong recurring themes in conversations with Palestinians during my stay here has been "the land".

Ali Saleem Mousa sat overlooking what remains of his stony corner of Al Khader, with a 24 foot wall cutting him off from his crops, a military post built next to his house and soldiers from a watchtower looking on. His house has been demolished 6 times, just because it is there. The ground is rocky and dry, making cultivation hard work. He has to buy all his water from a tanker. He has to travel one hour by donkey to tend his crops which are just in front of the house. 

Yet he says "I am ready to pay my life for my land". He can name the 11 generations of his family who have lived in this place. He is one of the people I will always remember when I return home. 

After 65 years, many Palestinians still have the front door key of their house, left behind in 1948 and probably demolished long ago. They still dream of returning to their land. They can name all the families who lived in their village. 

Ayed, with whom I am living, tells me that his grandfather was a sheik, a respected landowner with cows and sheep and crops. The family all lived in the same village. The trauma of being removed from the land and having to become a labourer with total loss of pride and self-respect still hangs over the family - they have been dishonoured. 

I was told that local sizeable town of Al Khader mainly comprises just six families. This illustrates how close families are here - they live and work and talk together. They retell their story and all know it. They remember when they lived on the land, and long to return to that life.

The bedouin I met, Abu Al Abed, lived for 13 years on his own in the desert. For me it was barren, dry, rocky and hostile. Yet watching him I learned much. All his family were there together, greeting the visitors and having their photo taken. He knew everyone and all the camels too. He was alive in this land and took a joy in showing us his desert, leaping across the rocks and lighting a fire to make a cup of tea. When I arrived I thought he had very little, when I left I knew he had a great deal that we, in western civilised life, have lost. 

At the Tent of Nations, I met Daher and Daoud Nassar. These Christian Palestinians show tremendous courage and astuteness in defending their right to farm their hilltop despite all the obstacles they face, physical and legal, Their love for the land (and for people) shines through and they were a joy to meet.   

I have found Palestinians to be a proud, independent people. They are family-based and self-sufficient. They are not greedy - most of them I have met just want to live in peace and farm their land. They share a deep sense of injustice - Britain took the lead in giving away this land, in total ignorance of, or disrespect for, the Palestinians. Noone can deny the right of the Jews to live in this land. But also none should deny the Palestinians the same rights.  

It worries me that the younger "urban" palestinian appears different. He has no memory of his families' land, or of anyone outside the family showing respect. Being proud, he expects to keep the family, yet jobs are scarce and some have to work in the settlements which they hate. Many of the jobs available to Palestinians are low grade and poorly paid. It is difficult to retain your moral stance and yet feed the family. Their experience of Jews is restricted to soldiers and settlers and he has been traumatised by their treatment. It will not get easier to make peace as this generation, which lives with injustice every day, grows older. 

Peace means justice, and only justice will bring peace.

The negotiating skills of the Palestinians have been criticised, whereas the Jewish lobby is unrivalled in skill and rhetoric. I can begin to understand as I see in the Palestinians a rural-based community, tribal and family orientated, with limited experience of travel. They have not been well prepared to advocate on the world stage. I admire and support the efforts of those in Palestine, such as the Holy Land Trust, who seek to empower senior Palestinians to redress the balance and to defend the case of the Palestinian people.