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WHERE I LIVE ISN’T REALLY OUR VILLAGE
Interview by Jane Toby
Hend, from
Al-Walaja near Bethlehem
The village
I come from is called Al-Walaja Village.
When I left my village, I was very young: I
was only one year and six months old. My
sister was 6 years old. We left at night
under fire. It was the time of the Nakba.
The Israeli soldiers were shooting at us.
My mother carried me in her arms and ran
very fast. They shot my mother. The bullet
entered the front of her shoulder and went
out the back. She was brought to the
hospital but she didn’t die.
After that night, we had to move from place
to place. When we were in Beit Jala, they
brought us to Dheisheh Camp.
In Dheisheh Camp, we lived in tents. In the
winter, it was cold and raining. In the
summer, it was very hot.
The UNRWA opened schools for us. The
teachers taught me to read and write. I
went to school for five years. Now I can
read and write.
Today I live with my family in Walaja
village. It isn’t really our village. We
named it after our original village that we
had to leave behind. We can still see our
village on the hillside across from us, but
we aren’t allowed to go there. The Israelis
live there now.
Most of our family live in Jordan. Some
live in other places like Beit Jala,
Dheisheh Camp and Aida Camp. Some of our
family live in America.
My son Taha was taken to prison when he was
thirteen. When we visited him, he could only
talk to us from behind thick glass. When he
was in prison, he built a miniature replica
of the Al Aqsa Mosque. He dreams of praying
there one day, though the Israelis won’t
give Palestinian men a permit to pray there
till they are over fifty.
My son Mustafa is a farmer. This winter he
was carrying firewood home to us. The
Israeli soldiers stopped him and made him
stand out in the rain till nightfall. They
took his donkey and told him they were
taking his donkey to prison.
I like to sew and embroider designs on
dresses. I sew by hand.
I make bread [shraak] every day for
my family. I keep the dough under the
covers so that it will rise well. I hope
people will visit me so I can offer them
warm bread, olive oil, and sage tea.
Interview:
January 2008, Al-Walaja.
Interviewer:
Jane Toby from Catskill, New York, who
worked for many years with Women in Black
and Middle East Crisis Response, Hudson
Valley, NY. Interview in cooperation with
AEI.
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