Lubya a palestinian demolished Village in Galilee Memory-History-Culture-Identity Mahmoud Issa Preface
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Conclusion Epilogue In the year 2003 I interviewed again three young people, (Yusra, Luma and Akram) who were interviewed before in 1995. Eight years left its clear traces on the earlier concepts of the interviewees. The total isolation and loneliness was deminished, especially when the young are engaged in “the labour market” and in universities. But the issue of identity and belonging is still wavering forward and backward which provoked Fida to say: “I feel split in two”. The different displacements from Palestine to Lebanon to Denmark left its marks in both ways: positively in the education and peaceful atmosphere they are living in; negatively, in regarding the troubled relation between the past and the present, the loyalities to the family or to the new space of the western social life. Proudness of “being a Palestinian” doesn’t help in bridging the gap between the elderly and the new generation, born in Denmark. The yearning to visit the original homeland is still a pillar in their new identity; but they looked at it differently, with more implications and complexities than their parents thought. The satalites are always ready to bring back the homeland and its problems in a daily manner. But in schools the tendency is different: here in the official curriculum, Palestine is cancelled from world maps, and every time they need to present themselves, efforts are accompanied by a sense of dispair when they want to locate Palestine, or their own original village or town on the map. It was “another universe” for Akram,when he arrived at an early age of 11 years old, but now after another 11 years and being a student in the university, his understanding of integration with the Danes is little different than Yusra’s. He became more aware of his background as a Palestinian, as an Arab and Moslem, although having many danes as personal friends; and his loyalty and belonging becomes widened to embrace Palestine as a nation and not only his own village Lubya. Denmark replaced Lebanon as “my second homeland”, because of the better social life Denmark offers to them. To Luma, Lubya “represents my identity”, although never have seen it. It is difficult for Luma “to be an arab at home and a dane outside”. The pattern of the traditional family structure is still an obstacle to the young, especially when marriages took place according to the old fashion in which family decide most of the issues. Yusra came to Denmark in 1989. After 13 years in this country I have a completely different idea about what integration means. I now instinctively feel that I am part of Danish society because I work every day together with Danes and have learned to accept Danish norms and values regarding the labour market. I now know what is needed if you want to become part of Danish society, but that does not necessarily mean that I see myself as a Mrs. Jensen. I still follow my traditions and my religion, and my colleagues have accepted this. I am trained as a pharmacist and work as a drug safety assessor (M.Sc.Pharm) in a medical firm. I have come to know the Danes because at your place of work you can also have a social life where you can talk together. But when they start drinking, I avoid their company. In some way or other I feel split in two. I don't know precisely where I belong. Is it Denmark where I live or Lebanon where I was born? I have always felt that I belong to Palestine, and I am proud of being a Palestinian. I demonstrate this when I am asked: "Where do you come from?" My answer is that I am a Palestinian from Lebanon. I don't feel like just saying that I come from Lebanon. I have always wanted to see the place where my family has its roots. If I should ever get the possibility, I will visit my father's village Lubya. When I discuss the Middle East problems with Danes, I feel that they sympathize with the Jews and have done so since the Second World War. But when they come to know me as an actual example of a Palestinian refugee, they start to get interested in what I am saying. If I am asked, I say that I regard myself as as a Palestinian Moslem. But this does not mean that I am a fundamentalist. A deep gap has been created between the Palestinian children and their parents here in Denmark because the children now experience two widely different cultures and traditions. I suggest that the parents should not tighten the rules for their children. Instead, they ought to learn how to discuss the matters thoroughly and openly with the children and be more flexible in their approach to Danish culture. I do not believe that there will ever be peace in the Middle East because the present generations on both sides, Palestinian and Jewish, have nothing in common except hatred, revenge and war. I think that if ever there is going to be peace, we must educate two new generations who have the ability to create a new atmosphere between the two societies. Akram came to Denmark as an 11-12 year old child and have now lived here for eleven years. At the beginning “I felt that I had come to another universe. But I realized that I was going to live here for a very long time, maybe the rest of my life. It was difficult for me to familiarize myself with the Danish way of life. I did not speak or write Danish, and apart from that I felt very lonely and wanted to go back to where I felt more at ease. But as time passed by, I got used to life in Denmark and slowly started communicating with people around me. I went to the language school for a year or so and then I attended lower secondary school. Here I got to know many Danish friends, and life began to be more fun. I started going out with them, having a pleasant time. I always tried to show that there was nothing different between us, but nevertheless I felt that actually there was a difference. I had a completely different background, a totally different colour and my Danish was not good enough to allow me to really communicate with them and understand their humour. But, nevertheless, 90 per cent of my friends were Danish. I really did my best to make myself familiar with Danish society, but I am sorry to say that I always heard some racist remarks which made me keep away from the circle of my Danish friends. Later on we moved to Broendby Strand, and after a while I got to know many children from immigrant families. I felt at ease with them and was in a much better mental condition than before. All the time I kept my close ties to Lebanon and had sympathy for Palestine. I finished lower secondary shool in 1997 and entered a broader Danish world. I got to know many people from different nationalities, also Danes, and tried to involve myself as part of social life. Moreover, I had a lot of different jobs while attending upper secondary school. But the difference always popped up in the class room when we discussed various aspects of life as for example philosophy, religion. Palestine and the Middle East conflict. We always disagreed, and I thought that it was very unjust. More and more strongly I felt my close ties to my Arab, Moslem, Palestinian world. I had a very special idea of how to live here and how to become integrated in Danish society without abandoning one's own basic identity. At home I also had problems with my parents when we talked about Palestine and especially the village, Lubya, from where the family comes. I have always felt sympathy with Palestine and have told my parents that the most important thing is Palestine as a whole and not only Lubya. They disagreed very much with me every time I said that Palestine belongs to all Arabs, in other words to the Moslems and not only the Palestinians, because Palestine is part of the Arab world and plays an important role in Islamic religion. After finishing high school I started my training as a biochemist at the university. At present I feel that my personality has developed in specific ways during specific periods. By now, I think that I have formed my distinct opinion about life in Denmark, my own identity and my way of behaving. After all, we are refugees here in Denmark, and we will never become one hundred percent part of Danish social life. I am a Moslem Arab and my roots are in the holy land which is Palestine. My dream is still my belief in Palestine - not only Palestine but the whole Islamic nation. This does not mean that I am a fundamentalist hating the Western world. On the contrary. I feel very grateful because Denmark has given me a better life. I regard Denmark as my second homeland, and I shall always be ready to serve Denmark. But I am sorry to say that there still are differences, politically as well as ideologically. I plan to leave the country when I have finished my studies and go to an Arab country where you don't feel like a foreigner among your own people. In my view it is very important that I, as an individual, can tell about Denmark and convince the Arabs whom I am going to meet in different places that there is no distinction between us and people from the West. It is a matter of real importance to show my people the positive sides of the Western world and that all of us are human beings belonging to this beautiful planet. In Denmark you have better possibilities to get a picture of the political conflict between the Middle East and the Western World of which Denmark is a part. Also, you get a better understanding of why people in the West have a very aggressive attitude towards the Middle East and, especially, towards the Moslems. As I see it, this may pave the road for a down-to-earth solution to the question of peace between Moslems and the West. I have learned never to regard people from the West as enemies. They think in human terms like we do and are very helpful, but the problem is that the media destroy every effort to create a positive atmosphere between Moslems and the Western world. I have discovered that in Denmark the media are the main distributors of information and that they are used for foreign policy purposes. They spread a lot of false information, creating an aggressive attitude to Moslems and giving the government a free access to support the Israeli regime. This leads to still more hatred in the Middle East. If you fight these media with other sorts of information, bringing Middle East and Western populations in direct contact with each other, you can open a clear path for peace in Palestine, the Middle East and the Moslem world. Fifty years of conflict have shown without doubt that violence leads nowhere. Neither does the ongoing peace process. Many more activities are needed to create peace in a complicated area like the Middle East. The most important thing is that people should be more tolerant in between themselves. There are good things and bad things, and everyone of us wishes that good will defeat bad. This will be possible if all nations work towards it, and it will benefit all coming generations. There are conditions in different nations which are completely intolerable, like the Zionist movement and Saddam's regime. Now, Saddam's regime is gone, and my hope is that a way can be found to overthrow the Zionist regime.If this happens, I am sure that it would be big step towards a final peace in the Middle East, and Israel/Palestine could become a home for both Jews and Arabs. I wish to become involved in many activities which can focus attention on the Middle East and human rights. This could be achieved by establishing a mixed Danish/Arab socio-political organization As regards my family I think that our relations are the same as they were in Lebanon. We often disagree, but the general pattern is still the same. I feel very much attached to the family like anyone living in Lebanon, but of course we have adopted some of the positive aspects of Danish familly life in order to become integrated in a way which will not be harmful to the foundations of the family. Luma’s account regarding the integration process I have now lived in Denmark for thirteen years, and it took me a very long time to adapt myself to the Danish way of life. But, fortunately, I have succeeded in finishing my high school education. After that, I started studying English litterature. I kept it up for six months, but then I broke off the studies and went on to a training as a dental assistant. I am still in that line of training. Personally, I regard professional training as the most vital part of the intergration process but, of course, there are also many other angles like, for example, the social and cultural aspects. Through education you can meet all the demands of the integration process. At present the Danish society, and even the Danish government, is more preoccupied with integration than ever before. I think that it is a very good step forward that Denmark is now making demands on the foreigners in order to reduce unemployment among the ethnic minorities. This also implies a demand for better knowledge of Danish society - and vice versa. Although I have never lived in my village, nor seen my own country Palestine, I feel that I have a very close relationship with Lubya. My feeling of attachment to my own village is almost unbelievable. I really feel that Lubya represents my identity, and without that feeling I would not be able to know anything about my own background. I am convinced that if you know nothing about your background then you can't get on with your life in the future. In our home we grew up with the conviction that you must know your roots so that, always, there is something you can return to. The question is whether, in the education of my own children, I wil be able to give them this feeling of attachment to Lubya, their village. Actually, I doubt it. During my childhood my maternal grandfather told us many amusing and exciting stories about Lubya so that we, when falling asleep, dreamed about returning. But I did not have the same strong feelings that I have today. The more you grow up, the more difficult it is to grasp that you are stateless. This feeling gives you an inferiority complex, and you start seeking the roots of your existence in your own country, your village. Feeling that you are a refugee you yearn for your own roots, your own land, to avoid discrimination and racism. I should like very much to visit my village, but the question is if it is possiible. At present I am not planning to visit the village, because of the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli government. All the time we have been on the run from war, and we cannot stand it anymore. When peace and quiet returns I should like to visit my village, even if it has been wiped out. It hurts me to know that all the memories of my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather have been buried together with the village. Clearly I identify myself as a Moslem Palestinian. Here in Denmark there are many people with a different ethnic background. In most cases you can´t recognize their nationality, among other things because they look more or less alike, for example because of their black hair. The Danish people regard us as Moslem foreigners. But among the ethnic groups we have to be able to identify ourselves, and this is actually an advantage, because in that way you come to learn who you really are. With regard to my future I honestly don't know where it lies. My village, Lubya, has disappeared, and in my opinion the conflicts between Palestinians and Jews will never come to an end. So, I have a feeling that I am going to stay on in Denmark as long as it remains a quiet and peaceful country. It should be a good thing to have a Palestinian citizenship instead of being stateless. Actually, I would feel very happy to experience the feeling of being in one's own country without being regarded as a foreigner, without the threat of being expelled, without the feeling of being unwanted in the country where you are staying. I should really like to have the same experience that Danes and Lebanese have. I want to have the right to say: Here I am, standing in my own country, Palestine. I am not a refugee anymore. Nobody can expel me from here. My father. my grandfather and my great-grandfather came from here, so I have a right to this land just as any other man has a right to stay in the country from which he hails. If the state of Palestine comes into existence and Palestinians from all over the world assemble there, the technology of the country will develop very rapidly because a majority of the Palestinians have a higher education. I feel that Palestine will become one of the best countries in the world if we are allowed to reconstruct it in peace and quiet. Well, I don't know whether I should call them friends or comrades. Actually I don't go out shopping with them or take part in their parties. Even if I have lived here for a long time I have not succeeded in becoming integrated one hundred per cent in Danish society. I learn to know my Danish friends at school, and it is only at school that we talk and enjoy ourselves together. This is due to our different life styles. I don't go to discotheques, I have no girl friend, and I am not as independent as they are. I am not in a position where I can make my own decisions. My Danish friends always talk about what is going on at the discotheque and about their daily life with their girl friends. I, on the other hand, like to tell about the fun we have together in our family and the guests we have had during the weekend. I don't think that my Danish friends are really interested in hearing about it. In fact, I am not unhappy about my life style, and I am grateful for having a caring family around me. After coming to Denmark I had some difficulties in the beginning. There were a lot of things which my father did not allow me to do because he was afraid that I might become so much integrated in the Danish society that I would forget my family, my tradition and my religion. But step by step he began to understand that there are so many things you have to do in this country in order to become a part of society. So, I was allowed to take part in study tours with my class and participate in other school activities in which I earlier had not been allowed to join. I can not avoid the social problems which I run into here, neither can I deny that I am a second generation immigrant. Even if I try becoming integrated one hundred per cent, there is something which holds me back, first of all my parents. Inevitably your personality splits up when you have to be an Arab at home and try to be a Dane outside. This really creates a deep confusion in me, and it is going to influence my future life. I can give you an example of the way in which it has already influenced me. I was married six months ago, and I found out that there were so many things about my Arab husband which I could not accept. The result was that our marriage broke down because he was so denpendent on his family. He was not allowed to make his own decisions in our marriage. Everything had to be decided by the family. On the other hand, I am not prepared to live together with a Dane because of my religious belief which he will never be able to understand. On my job I feel the difference between my comrades and myself. My Danish fellow workers have more fun together than when I am together with them. Sometimes I am completely unable to understand their sense of humour, and at times they laugh at things which I don't find funny at all. This means that at my place of work they and I always keep a distance. Regarding friends, I only have close ties with four girls who, I am sorry to say, are not Danish. We feel close to each other because we have the same background and have had the same experiences here in Denmark. We have a lot of fun together, and we sit for hours talking about our problems. Actually, this is what keeps us going. Conclusion Nearly a decade has passed since I first ‘landed’ in Lubya and began the long journey of trying to uncover and reassemble the buried history of my village. This journey took me to the various corners of exile where Lubyans reside today, whether a few kilometres from Lubya in the Galilee, just over one hundred kilometres away in the camps of Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and Syria, or thousands of kilometres away in Europe and Scandinavia. Reassembling this history of Lubya so many decades after its destruction and depopulation has not been easy. In many ways, the process was like piecing together the scattered stones of a broken mosaic. More than fifty-five years later, there are things which cannot be recovered or fully mended. Nevertheless, I have tried to preserve the scattered and sometimes fragile memories of those who once lived in this village. Memory is one of the richest sources of documentation about Lubya. Shared memories cover almost all aspects of village life, from its history, its physical landscape, its inhabitants, and its lively social and cultural life. The experiences of expulsion, loss of homes and homeland, and exile are also deeply seered into the collective memory of Lubyans. A decade after I started poking around at the still tender memories of Lubya, many of the elderly that I interviewed have passed away, taking with them an irretrievable historical treasure. For Lubyans, memory is an integral part of their identity. It protects them against the ravages and injustices of a life characterized by forced separation from the land, from families, and from the village community. It is the only capital Lubyans have with them on the long road between exile and home. Memory is the spiritual reservoir and the vertebral column for Lubyans in exile. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that memory is a battlefield, or more precise, the primary remaining battlefield. Although some have argued that memory belongs to the past and, by nature, is a reactionary force and an obstacle to looking to the future, I would argue the opposite. Dashing away the memories and roots of one’s existence is an immoral and inhuman demand from those who look at history as a dead body which should be discarded. The self image of braveness of Lubyans fight until the D days of expulsion, the strong memories of the past historical events rooted for centuries in the land, such as the defeat of Crusaders on Lubya¢s land, and the famous reputation of Lubyan’s son: scholar and Mufti of the 15th century Abu Bakr al-Lubyani; all these memories showed how false and immoral all the attempts to suppress the voices of the uprooted and accusing their accounts as nostalgia. The relevance of the past is not only to a healthy present, but a necessary step in formulating the future with all its hopes and yearnings. The forest is the total sum of all its trees, and the history of the people, whether past or present is mainly based on its actors, on the people who form the driving force of the advance of life towards a better future. The other fundamental role of memory is the future perspective and horizon for Lubyans apart from strengthening of self-image, proud ness , cultural enrichment, secure feelings of belonging to roots ,fundament, and corner stone of their existence. Lubyans were allowed for the first time in more than a half century to speak for themselves about their past, present and future identity, yearnings, hopes and dreams, as well as their own version of the events that took place in their beloved village. Lubya¢s struggle to defend itself and its existence is yet more contradictory evidence to the official Israeli story that the Palestinians left their homes following orders from Arab leaders. On the other hand, memory and Oral history accounts would mean an efficient tool to people¢s involvement in their own destinies. Involvement of the people would really mean including the people¢s voice into the history. There is little appreciation among politicians nowadays to hear the voices of the people, even though it becomes a phenomenon of our age, but unfortunately it is not part of our modern political culture, especially among Palestinian elites. The interviews conducted was telling how true people¢s comments were about Oslo and how the last years have unfolded and the lessons that need to be learned from that. It is interesting to look back now at the opinions expressed by Lubyans living in exile about the Oslo peace process. This was well before the second Palestinian intifada that began in September 2000. More than three-quarters of the interviewees expressed dissatisfaction with the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel. The pessimistic outlook was more prevalent among the older generation than the young one. Memorial accounts of good relations with neighboring Jews demonstrate also the way for future coexistence again built on past peaceful coexistence. The past peaceful coexistence between the Palestinians and the original Jews of Palestine prior to 1948 and its implications for the future, were clearly demonstrated through interviews with Jews and Palestinians. But the documents also show that the central administration of the Jewish Agency had worked hard to implement the conquest of Palestine through the policy of buying as much land from the Palestinians as possible. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued as a result of this, in direct contradiction to the Mandate¢s declared policy of establishing a national home for the Jews in Palestine without affecting the rights of the indigenous people. Memories of the battles around in and around Lubya and their annual commemoration by both Palestinians and Israelis, has acted as a historical register of events, and also as an education for both people. The steps on the road to a permanent and peaceful solution, and the cornerstone of future reconciliation between the parties, must be built on the recognition of the facts and the events as they happened, and not on the slanted narrative of politicians and their self-interested interpretation of them. The nine chapters this research project * memory, landscape, daily life, relations with others, land purchase and subsequent revolts, nakba days, exile and future perspectives, presents a lively memorial landscape with all its vivid and lively colours drawn by uprooted Lubyans as a master piece of drama, where stones, persons, trees, caves, shops, jobs, harvest, weddings, historical persons, enmity and friendship come to form an unforgettable symphony with all its ups and downs. As long as the injustices continued and the cause is unaddressed, frustration and dissatisfaction would widen for those uprooted exiles. Only true reconciliation based on addressing the real demands of those exiled would peace their turmoil. Jews in Europe do have the right to address their demands in Europe during and after the horrors of the second world war Holocaust; Armenians are entitled to reopen their tragedies after the first world war to readdress the inhumanities committed against them; South Africans did have the right to address their suppression and dispossession of their lands during the past three centuries before they succeeded a decade ago to get rid of the monstrous apartheid regime- registered memories and family trees are already in use to solve land restitution; Bosnians did have the same rights of return and compensation according to Dayton agreements; Cyprus is on its way to resolve the almost four decades of separation; while Palestinian refugees in more than five decades, including Oslo, Camp David, Taba and Geneva- are offered only denial of their catastrophe-alnakba- and more dispersion in more exiled countries in the world- all solution proposals are only intended to divert addressing the core of the refugee problem and recognition of the 48 Nakba. Finally, I hope that this study fulfils a regional, national and international need for additional historical, social, legal, political and cultural data on the status of the Palestinian refugees. There is still room for more research on the same subject and it is sorely needed, especially since some central topics, such as cultural identity and integration, need more time to research and investigate. The issue of the Palestinian refugees was, and still is, one of the main sources of unrest in the Middle East, and without serious attempts at addressing it the circle of violence will continue unabated, not only in the Middle East, but eventually also in Europe. Out of 22 million refugees in the world today (according to UNHCR), five million are Palestinians. I would add a final note of optimism and future perspective by reiterating what Nelson Mandela said: ،To be free is not merely to cast off one¢s chains, But to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others¢. |