Peasant Narratives Memorial Book Sources for Jerusalem Village History Rochelle Davis
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Peasant Narratives Memorial Book Sources for Jerusalem Village History Rochelle Davis How do we write about Palestinian village life in the first half of the 20th century? The absence of peasants and other non- elites from the social and cultural history of this period contrasts with the prominent role they play in contemporary scholarship regarding the political history of this period. In similar situations in other parts of the world, historians are left with only official records with which to reconstruct the past, resulting in serious gaps in understanding the perspectives and issues of importance to rural populations.1 Fortunately, in the case of Palestine, the last 20 years have witnessed numerous compositions by Palestinians that offer us their unique lens on village life from this period. This essay focuses on village memorial books as sources for understanding Jerusalem village life prior to 1948. 62 JGF-20.indd 62 2/7/04, 9:06:31 AM Memorial Books accounts solicited from individuals living Memorial books, as explained in Susan in the same country as the author/s (Israel/ Slyomovics’ extensive work on the subject, Palestine or Jordan).4 Given the low rates form a uniquely hybrid category of folklore of literacy among Palestinian villagers, and village history. They are composed Palestinian memorial books are almost by Armenians, Eastern European Jews, entirely based on oral compilations.5 In fact, Palestinians, and Bosnians to recall and villagers who have had little opportunity record their lost towns, villages, homes, to write their own accounts or have their and lands.2 The 1980s and 1990s witnessed voices heard or their stories told are targeted the widespread appearance of Palestinian as sources for these memorial books. Only village memorial books that focus on the a small number of the books, however, Palestinian villages lost in the 1948 War. The feature the interviews in colloquial Arabic term “memorial books” is not used anywhere (the Birzeit series, in particular); the in any of these books; they categorize majority of the accounts in other series are themselves in a number of different ways retold in modern standard Arabic. While - with subtitles such as “Our Palestine in the the interviews were likely conducted in story of a village” and “a Jerusalem village colloquial Arabic, particularly those with in [our] memory” or as “one of the destroyed older people and women, the memorial book Palestinian villages”. authors have chosen to rewrite the interview in standard form. These memorial books set out to create a historical record for the village through Palestinian memorial books can be testimonies of its residents, their experiences categorized into three groups by author of the 1948 War, and available documentary and the author’s relationship to the village: evidence. They focus on lineages, the Birzeit series, Destroyed Palestinian descriptions of the land of the village, and Villages; books published by village accounts of village economics, education, societies; and individual publications.6 culture and traditions. Composed through a The earliest Palestinian memorial books are combination of collected oral testimony from part of a project undertaken by the Birzeit former residents (as well as the recollections Center for Research and Documentation of the author if he or she is from the village) of Palestinian Society (CRDPS) to and written documentation such as land document destroyed Palestinian villages. records, maps and photographs, these texts Under the leadership of Sharif Kana’anah, strive to present a picture of the village as an accomplished folklorist, the Center it existed prior to 1948. Palestinian village envisioned the memorial books as a national memorial books have been written by project and chose six villages whose individuals and by groups, as single volumes residents would be interviewed.7 In the and as series, on one village or on groups beginning, this group included Kana’anah of villages, by individuals about their own and five other researchers, a typist, and natal village (or the natal village of their a mapmaker, and they began work in 1985. parents), as well as by outside researchers The authors of these books, unlike most of who see village history as an important part 3 the other memorial books, were not from of Palestinian national history. the villages where they collected the oral The geography of the Palestinian diaspora histories.8 The composition of these books and the difficulty faced in travelling to the is set within the national context of the countries of the region limit these works to Palestinian Nakba of 1948. “The series, 63 JGF-20.indd 63 2/7/04, 9:06:32 AM The Destroyed Palestinian Villages,” reads history before 1948 and also discuss details the explanatory text, “is a collection of concerning the establishment and activities of ethnographic snapshots of the Palestinian the village society in the diaspora.11 villages as they were in the 1940s of this The final group of memorial books also century before they were destroyed between emerges from concerns over local identity 1948 and 1950.”9 within a national framework. Not affiliated As part of the project’s intent to examine with organized village societies, these books comprehensively and equally the destroyed instead were produced either by a person villages throughout Palestine, each book from the village on their own initiative or by follows the same format. The first chapter outside researchers. These books vary widely describes “the popular history of the village” in form, content and presentation. [al-tarikh al-sha’bi lil-qaryah], including its location and that of bordering villages or towns. The remaining chapters fall under Jerusalem’s Villages the subtitles “clans and families,” “the The village memorial books for the village in the 1940s,” and “politics, wars, Jerusalem district that I have collected cover and exile.” The interviewers who collected six of the seven most populous villages, the information are completely absent from according to the Mandate population any part of the text, and their questions have estimates for 1944.12 These are: ‘Ayn Karim been removed. Despite the books’ similarity (3,180), Lifta (2,550), Beit Mahsir (2,400), in general layout, each varies significantly Deir Aban (2,100), al-Walajeh (1,650), and in the type of information and its manner of Qalunya (1,260). Al-Maliha (population presentation. Photographs, documents, and 1,940) is the fifth largest village in the district other items of significance are appended at and does not have a matching memorial the end, and in some cases constitute a large book.13 Similarly, the village memorial portion of the total book. Under Kana’anah, books also cover most of the villages with at least thirteen books in the series were the largest Arab land ownership: ‘Ayn Karim produced. Another seven appeared under the (13,449 dunums), Beit Mahsir (15,428 subsequent project director, political scientist dunums), Deir Aban (21,578 dunums) and Saleh ‘Abd al-Jawad.10 al-Walajeh (17,507 dunums). Some other The national purview of the Birzeit series villages that are not covered but have large is complemented by a second group of land ownership are al-Burayj (population memorial books written by authors who 720, land ownership 18,856 dunums), Deir are originally from the village under Rafat (population 430, land ownership discussion. Their books are published by 12,966), and ‘Allar (population 440, land village charitable societies in Jordan whose ownership 12,353). One village, Suba membership consists of refugees from that (population 620, land ownership 4,082), specific village in Palestine. The authors has had two books written about it, one by presumably had access to many former an author living in Jordan, and the other by a residents of the village, outside of their own resident of the West Bank. relatives, through membership in the village The books can also be mapped in terms society. The books in this group vary widely of their geographical layout within the in their style of writing, sources, general Jerusalem district. As evident in the layout and content, although all of them Jerusalem district map for All that Remains, include information about the village and its the villages with the closest proximity to the 64 JGF-20.indd 64 2/7/04, 9:06:33 AM city of Jerusalem all have memorial books 1948, the physical and political elements written about them, with the exception of in the village, religion and the religious al-Maliha, al-Qastal and al-Jura. The other monuments, waqf properties, the fighting that villages are located mid-way along the occurred in the twentieth century, traditions Jerusalem hills towards the cities of Lyd and and cultural elements of life in the village, Ramleh. All of these projects seek to present important men, travellers and political an overall picture of the village as well as opinions of ‘Ayn Karim, and the people of a comprehensive treatment of the details of ‘Ayn Karim in exile.15 village life before 1948. One book about the village of Suba was written by Ibrahim ‘Awadallah.16 The Al-Walaja to Qaluniya: opening chapter discusses the history of Surveying the Texts Palestine and the Jerusalem villages through 1948. The second chapter explains Arab ‘Aziz Abu Khiyara, Salih Fannush, Mahmud lineages and how Palestinian tribes fit into Sulayman, and Musa ‘Ashur together this larger structure, along with a historical composed Al-Walajeh: Hadarah wa tarikh glimpse of the family structure of Suba [Al-Walajeh: Culture and History]. The village. The remaining chapters address the authors provide chapters on the history and geography of the village, the events of the geography of the village, economic life, war of 1948, kinship in the village, social social life, the fighting in 1948 and martyrs, and economic life, and the archaeological and the folklore of the village.