,
16 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
The reality of Palestinian refugee camps and their relationship to the towns they are in is complicated and surprising - because HISTORY IS NEVER SIMPLE. I may get slammed for this, but it is an important story that needs telling. THREAD
Recently, I visited the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. There I spoke w/a 28 yr old man whose family fled the Arab village of Abu Ghosh in 1948 and he shared their story...I will withhold his name, because I didn’t ask his permission to share this publicly. 
Abu Ghosh is on the main road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, an area of heavy fighting between Israel and Jordan in 1948. Because of this, his family voluntarily evacuated, along with most of the town. They fully expected to return home after Jordan defeated Israel.
But Israel won the war. When the armistice agreement was signed in April 1949, some residents of Abu Ghosh found themselves on the Israeli side of the line, and some found themselves on the Jordanian side. This accident of history had HUGE ramifications for each family.
Arab families on the Israeli side of the armistice line were allowed to return to their homes, become Israeli citizens, rebuild their lives, and benefit from living in a prosperous, democratic state – higher standard of living, health care, education, freedom of religion, etc.
Arab families who happened to be on the Jordanian side of the armistice line were put in refugee camps - by the Jordanians and the UN. They were given no citizenship, no property, no jobs, nothing. After over 70 years their great-grandchildren still live there in permanent limbo.
You might ask (we did), as a Palestinian living in Palestine, under the rule of the Palestinian Authority, why does he still live in a refugee camp? Why hasn’t he been given better housing and full integration into Palestinian society?
This is the difficult part to hear.
He rejects better housing. He rejects integration into Palestinian society.
The ONLY thing he will accept is return to his family’s ancestral home in Abu Ghosh. He will live in the refugee camp generation after generation until that happens.
He rejects better housing. He rejects integration into Palestinian society.
The ONLY thing he will accept is return to his family’s ancestral home in Abu Ghosh. He will live in the refugee camp generation after generation until that happens.
He points to a small boy playing with a toy gun in the alley. “I don’t want better housing or better conditions, because I don’t want him to think for one minute that this is his home. His home is Abu Ghosh! Nothing until Abu Ghosh!”
The tragedy of such a statement is overwhelming. Because he, his family, and that little boy, are NEVER going back to Abu Ghosh. They will live in an impoverished refugee camp generation after generation, refusing any change, clinging bitterly to an idea that died 70 years ago.
Why? Why does he choose to live this way? Because his family has been taught for generations, by Arab and Palestinian leaders; by the UN; by Intl NGOs; and by each other, that someday Israel will be destroyed and they will go home. Who will tell him this never going to happen?
In his future vision there is no more Israel, but Jews can still live in Palestine - but only UNDER Palestinians. Dreams of future dominance, when the world will return to how he imagines it used to be, are the bitter delusions which fuel his life. It is tragic in 1,000 ways.
A final note: Before 1948 Abu Ghosh had very good relations with Zionist leaders, sharing anti-British sentiment. Abu Ghosh did not join with other Arabs in attacks on Jews during the British Mandate period. Those good relations continue to this day.
Today Abu Ghosh is a prosperous Arab-Israeli town, well known for popular restaurants (especially hummus) frequented by Arabs and Jews, an annual music festival, notable churches, and a new mosque, the 2nd largest mosque in Israel. ~Interesting interfaith notes about the mosque:
Land for the mosque was donated by the Israeli government. Construction was funded by the Chechen Republic, thru the efforts of a Chechen Jew. Why the connection to Chechnya?
Because the original Abu Ghosh clan settled the area in the early 16thC, and they came from Chechnya. They are not Arabs or Palestinians (at least not originally).
HISTORY IS NEVER SIMPLE.
HISTORY IS NEVER SIMPLE.
