Resisting Oblivion: Historiography of the Destroyed Palestinian Village of Lubya Mahmoud Issa Abstract There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one’s The following article “Resisting Oblivion” is part of a long native land. research on a Palestinian demolished village, Lubya, and —Euripides,43B.C. its historiography before and after its demolition in 1948. This article is part of a forthcoming book, due to be pub- Why Lubya? lished in both Danish and English in Denmark this year. he idea to research Lubya’s history began stirring in The article is based mainly on the oral accounts of the eld- me long ago while I was still living in a refugee camp erly generation from the village – 700 people were inter- Tin Lebanon. In 1948, my parents and thousands of others from Lubya and the surrounding villages in the Tibe- viewed – and archival documents, pieced together to rias district arrived at Wavel Refugee Camp, in Baalbek, produce this microcosmic piece of modern Palestinian his- Lebanon. Like other Palestinians who were expelled or o- toriography, and to show the power of past memory therwise forced to leave their homes and villages during the acounts in shaping the lives of people, even after fifty-four 1948 war in Palestine – an experience known to Palestinians years in exile. as al-Nakba or “the catastrophe” – my parents refused to settle in “proper” houses, hoping that they would soon Résumé return to their home in Palestine. Although they faced ex- L’article qui suit, intitulé « Resisting Oblivion » (« Résis- tremely cold weather when they first arrived, they preferred ter à l’oubli »), fait partie d’un long projet de recherche to live in tents distributed by the Red Cross. My father’s wife, sur un village palestinien démoli, du nom de Lubya, ain- her son, and many other refugee children died that year. si que sur son historiographie avant et après sa démoli- For more than five decades, resolutions concerning the tion en 1948. L’article est inclus dans un livre qui right of return of Palestinian refugees have shelved in the paraîtra bientôt et qui sera publié au Danemark cette an- archives of the United Nations. Every year the same resolu- tions affirming the right of Palestinian refugees to return to née en danois et en anglais. L’article repose principale- their homes, mainly UN General Assembly Resolution ment sur le témoignage oral de la génération d’anciens 194,1 have been voted on and passed unanimously, with the du village – 700 personnes furent interviewées – et sur exception of a single state that votes against them – Israel. des documents d’archives reconstitués élément par élé- Protests have not helped; the result remains the same. The ment, pour produire ce microcosme de l’historiographie “temporary status” of Palestinian refugees has seemingly palestinienne moderne et pour montrer la capacité des turned out to be “permanent.” comptes-rendus du passé, tirés de la mémoire, d’influer A Palestinian child born in Wavel Refugee Camp soon sur la vie des gens, et cela même après cinquante-qua- begins to pose the normal, if naive questions: Who am I? tre années d’exil. Why are we refugees? Why are we not allowed to attend Resisting Oblivion military classes in the Lebanese schools? Why do we live union movement and other institutions, has given me the such a transitory life? Why does father refuse to buy a opportunity to be in daily and direct contact with most refrigerator, television, or washing machine, commenting Lubyans all over the world. Therefore, the usual difficulties that it will be easier, when the time comes, to return home that face ethnographers at the onset of their anthropological without these cumbersome belongings? Why don’t we have research, to directly reach to the crux of the matter, did not the same rights as the people we live among – the right to apply to me. My Palestinian origin, my involvement in the work, the right to a nationality or a passport? Why do the Palestinian cause, and my long stay in Europe provided me authorities close the gates of the camp and prevent us from with a dual vision, placing me between the Oriental culture leaving every time an official guest from abroad comes to in which I was born and brought up, and the Western one visit the historical ruins of Baalbek? Why are we treated in which I have lived for the past twenty years. I can also say differently even though we speak the same language and share that my knowledge of, and contact with, those Lubyans who a common history? Where do we originally come from? remained in Israel, as well as with the “others” who have It was all these questions; the stories about Lubya re- occupied the village and obliterated its geographical and counted by my parents and relatives; the discriminatory historical narrative, could be considered as my “first con- policies of the authorities, and my long life of forced displa- tacts” with my new horizons and my new field of study. cement from one country to another, that motivated me to The information and experience I accumulated during visit Lubya in 1994. The visit became possible only after I almost ten years of working in grassroots organizations in had obtained Danish citizenship. For the first time in for- Lebanon, Jordan, and Europe were vital to this research. In ty-three years, I was finally able to carry my own official addition, I spent fourteen months living as a participant- passport, a document that gave me official status. Even with observer among Lubyans in Israel and Jordan, and later on that status, however, I was forbidden to write the name of an additional nine months in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the Lubya, my place of origin, in my passport. (In my refugee West Bank. Innovative and diverse approaches were neces- documents, my place of birth reads: Lubya-Tiberias). For the sary to cope with the widespread network of Lubyans, from Danish authorities, Lubya had ceased to exist; they could Gaza and Ramallah in the Palestinian self-rule areas, to Deir only agree to write Tiberias, refusing even to include the Hanna, Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm, and al-Makr in Israel. word Palestine. Nevertheless, the passport enabled me to The network also stretched from Irbid and Amman in finally visit my homeland; but only as a tourist and not as Jordan, and Wavel camp, ’Ain al-Hilwe, Bourj al-Shimali, a local or a citizen. and Bourj al-Barajneh in Lebanon, to Lubyans in Berlin, That first visit was followed by a second one on which I Denmark, and Sweden. was accompanied by my parents and a Danish television Although there is a pattern of a common historical nar- crew, in order to film a documentary about Lubya’s history. rative and plight that traverses this wide spectrum, the The documentary was entitled “Den Faedrene Land (Our responses to the questions were at times as different as the Ancestors’ Land)” (31 March 95), and was followed by a geographical locations in which the respondents live. Inter- working paper on the more than one thousand Lubyans viewing Lubyans in Denmark is different from interviewing currently residing in Denmark.2 The documentary and the those in Israel, or in Jordan. Therefore, the social situation subsequent working paper became the foundation of a and personal status of the interviewee, as well as the political much larger research project about Lubya based on seven situation in the country in which he or she resides, played hundred interviews with refugees from the village.3 In ad- a vital role in the narrative. To overcome some of these dition to a narrative report, the project includes more than obstacles, earlier taped information was compared with one thousand pages of pictures, maps, and film on Lubya. new material; and, in some cases, meetings would be held A future exhibition about Lubya will comprise the entire bringing together two or three of the interviewees. research material, including a reconstruction of a model of Different psychological factors, such as fear and inse- the village as it was before 1948, along with agricultural curity, also played a vital role in the narrative, especially in tools, genealogical trees, embroidery, household articles, countries where Palestinians face discrimination, whether costumes, maps, etc. Danish and German ethnographic in Israel or in some Arab countries. While recalling their museums, among others, have already agreed to host the past, present fears were a dominant factor in the interviews. exhibition in 2004. An interview with a Palestinian who visited his village, Lubya, in 1994, for example, resulted in his being barred Fieldwork: The Research Process from ever returning because of what he said in the inter- My relationship to Palestinians, both personal and public, view. These feelings complicated the interview process. which arose from my work within the Palestinian trade Only when assured of anonymity would the interviewee Volume 21 Refuge Number 2 start to speak, and only a few consented to their full name these have not dimmed the villagers’ recollection of their being given. This was not a problem for the Israeli officers history prior to 1948. interviewed for the project. They spoke with confidence For teenagers, the middle-aged, and the elderly alike, and without reservation. Unlike their Palestinian counter- Lubya is an identical central image, a theoretical and sub- parts, they were not afraid to speak of the past. conscious point of reference, a cultural framework and a Exile and life as refugees have left a heavy toll on Lubyans past and present mental image that shapes, inspires, and in terms of oppression and marginalization, in both their impacts their personal lives today.