|
Memory of Ein Karem
Interview by Jane Toby
Rose, Bethlehem
I was
born in Ein Karem in 1934. My grandmother
was born in Ein Karem. Ein Karem was a very
old city where Muslim and Christian people
lived. The Jewish people came in 1948. They
were shooting. We left because it was
dangerous to stay. I was 13.
We
escaped in the morning. We went on foot
because there was no transportation. We left
everything behind. My brothers were babies
and we carried them.
We
rented donkeys. We put flour and sugar on
one side of the donkey and on the other
side, we put the oil. When the donkey
walked, the oil spilled. It took us one day
to walk from Ein Karem to Beit Jala. When we
reached Beit Jala, the flour and sugar were
covered with oil.
We found
our way to the Salisian School in
Bethlehem. The Salisians put up tents for
every family on their playgrounds. They
gave us water. The women cooked on their
babour [burner fed by kerosene]. We did
everything in the tents.
One day,
the Catholic Father told us they needed the
playground for the school. He gave each
family money to rent a house. My family
didn’t receive this money because my father
could work and my mother went to UNRWA
[United Nations agency to support refugees]
to sew. I don’t know how long it took us to
find a house.
Once we
went back to Ein Karem to see the city but
we couldn’t visit our home because the
Jewish people were there and they prevented
us. My mother wanted to see our furniture,
our clothes and other belongings, but the
women didn’t let her enter. They locked the
door.
I went
to school to the sixth grade and then I
stayed home to take care of my brothers. I
got married at 19. My husband had many
jobs. He worked as a Jordanian soldier; a
hair-dresser; a driving instructor. We sent
our children to school. Some went to the
university.
Now I’m
living here in this house with my
relatives. Each family has a floor. I stay
at home because I have some pains in my
hands. I don’t feel lonely because my
grandchildren are nearby.
When I
think about the past, I become sad. I live
in the present and hope for the future. Life
is gone. And everything is gone. If my
family is safe and nothing happens to them,
that is the important thing to me. My
family is the important thing.
Interview: January 2008
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.
|
