Fatima’s Story

Palestinian Oral History Archive
Interviewee: Fatima Abd al-Salam Hanafi
Provenance: Al-Kasayyer, Haifa
Date & Place of Interview: Dec. 27, 1997, Tyre

Ghina: Jaber asked you when he came about how you left Palestine. We don’t want to make you repeat that story; we just want to ask you what was your first reaction when Jaber came? Did you immediately want to talk, or….

Fatima: Yes, my reaction was very positive. And even though normally, with my health, I get a bit dizzy or uncomfortable, with this, I felt my chest expanded — do you understand, sweetheart? — and my spirit and life opened. Praise be to God. I mean, I was very happy, with every question Jaber asked me. And had I been able to talk more, I would have been happy to. And even though now I’ve been talking to you, and for a month I’ve been sick with a bit of nausea and dizziness in my head, but today I’m not, praise be to God…

Jaber: May you recover speedily, auntie.

Kirsten: We don’t want to take to much of your time, auntie. Was this the first time somebody came and asked you about these things in a formal manner?

Fatima: No, it wasn’t. But we — how should I tell you? — among ourselves, I keep remembering what we did, how we came and went [in Palestine]. May those days rest in peace. And I wish we’d never left Palestine….

Kirsten: What did you feel that you had inside you that needed to be told to Jaber so he could publicize it?

Fatima: Whatever I can tell him.

Kirsten: I mean, what did you feel that you personally know about the history of Palestine?

Fatima: By God, what can I tell you? It’s true that when I left Palestine I was fifteen, sixteen years old and only three months married, you see. But, I mean, the memories are still strong. I mean, imagine that, in 1980, after all this long exile, I returned to my region, I walked through it and contemplated it — I wanted to walk about in it. Praise be to God…. [She goes on spontaneously to recount her story of the events leading up to her leaving Palestine.]

Ghina: Auntie, you were telling us that as soon as Jaber came your chest was filled with joy. Why? Because you were talking about things you felt like talking about?

Fatima: Of course, of course.

Ghina: Okay, what did you feel — did you feel that your talk was important, apart from that you were remembering things you like to recount…

Fatima: Of course. I mean, in relation to Jaber, when a person who was born here, and you too, and this whole generation of youth, is still asking about Palestine, its ways, and how people were living there…Of course, if I weren’t happy that would make me happy. When I start talking about these matters, even if I weren’t open to talking about them, I would immediately become so. Pride. When I see generations born here and asking what is Palestine, that’s one thing — like all of you, praise be to God, they still want to hear about Palestine, its customs, its sacred land. How could I not be happy? I’m being reborn again! I feel myself that I’m being made a young girl again, born anew, when I see people like your honored selves asking about memories that are not forgettable. How could I not be happy, my sweetheart?

Ghina: Jaber told you that your interview with him will be published not just in Arabic but also in English, because we want to send the magazine abroad. We want the people who are living abroad, too, to hear these stories.

Fatima: May God reward you with blessings.