Unfortunately, the story of Ikrit is not unique. Over 350 villages were emptied and destroyed during the ethnic cleansing. And while many villagers were driven into refugee camps in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, some remained, or returned and are now living in Israel, or as they like to refer to it, â48â. But the villagers were not allowed to return to their villages. They live outside, but continue to identify with their village. In most villages the people are not allowed to return even to visit the village, except for the cemetery. I vividly remember visiting the village of Sufuryia outside of Nazareth with a former villager and we had to stand in the cemetery to view the remains of the village and to hear Sufuryiaâs story. Our host faced arrest if he took us into the former village, now a wooded hillside.
Israeli cruelty knows no bounds. As a form of collective punishment they force these villagers to live on the outskirts or in other towns and villages, rather than let them re-inhabit their village of origin which means so much to them. The goal is to make life difficult for Palestinians with the hope that they will leave Israel. But that is definitely not happening. Even after over 60 years of exile from their beloved villages, the descendants identify with that particular piece of land.
As you will hear Ikritâs story is a bit different because it was or is a Christian village with a church standing at its center. And although the village was destroyed, the church remains, and is allowed to function as a Christian Church on a limited basis. So villagers from Ikrit, which is in â48â, can go into the church as well as the cemetery. Some of the young descendants of Ikrit have decided that they will occupy the churchâ¦they will live there, and they do. It is an amazing story that you will hear from Amir Toume, a third generation descendent of those driven from Ikrit in 1948.
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them. It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; TJR's website, truthandjusticeradio.org, has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008; earlier editions are obtainable from radio4all.net or by navigating through our playlists. (At this important time, TJR has been airing a lot of Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjr@bluebottle.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.
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