In order to preserve the memories of the destroyed villages ... careers inherited by the Palestinian refugees after the Nakba

Awad al-Rajoub - Hebron

Until the Nakba of Palestine in 1948, the area surrounding the shrine of Sheikh Ali remained the beating heart of the Palestinian population in the town of Al-Dawayima (about 25 km west of Hebron in the West Bank).

Next to this maqam, there were markets, shops and commercial exchange, and there was the epic of Muhammad Abd al-Fattah Hudayb, one of the most famous butchers and meat sellers. At the time, son Hajj Mahmoud Hudayb was no more than 12 years old, but he remained with his father in the saga, and in the trade of sheep and cows.

Despite age and forgetfulness, Abu Ahmed regains some details of life while accompanying his father to other cities and villages in the West Bank, such as Jericho and Hebron, to buy sheep and sell them in Dawayima or in Gaza.

The Al-Jazzareen family
The Friday Market in Dawayima remained the most important meeting place for “halal” (cattle) merchants in Palestine until the catastrophe, and while the town's consumption was not more than three heads of sheep per day, it was slaughtered in the morning and executed in the evening, while at weddings it was slaughtered approximately 12 heads.

The wheel of time for Haj Mahmoud did not stop at the catastrophe and the bitterness of departure, so he continued with his father the same profession, and opened an epic in the town of Dhahria, then expanded to Al-Fawwar camp and Dura town, all of them in the southern West Bank, and as he inherited the profession from his father, he transferred it to his sons.

Rami - one of Haj Mahmoud's sons - says that he does not find himself in any other profession, and his adherence to it increases what his father tells him about memories of the profession, travel and trade in Al-Dawayima.

The son does not consider that the profession of the butcher is a source of livelihood for him and his brothers alone, but finds in it the smell of the town of Al-Dawayimah, which his father has always talked about its plains, farms and markets without seeing, and he says that he is ready to give up everything he owns now in return for returning to Al-Dawayimah.

From Al-Fallujah to Corona
, many other professions left with their owners. The seventy Saadi Al-Bayed was forced to take refuge in his childhood, and he settled with his father in Al-Fawwar camp. .

Haji Saadi went along with his father’s path, with developing work according to the needs of people's lives, and he became making kitchens, doors and bedrooms, and despite persistent efforts he refused to allow us to visit or photograph him.

His son Yunus al-Bayd says that his father used to cut wood himself and manufacture it on request, and that this was passed on to the children, but the jobs are draining most of their time.

Many Palestinian families have established themselves on the map of the national economy, and have maintained the same profession that they had before the catastrophe. The Al-Safaan family has continued to work in the trade, detailing, and sale of fabrics, and today, under the Corona pandemic, it works in manufacturing masks and protective clothing from the virus.

The Al-Bayid family also maintained the meat trade and expanded the profession to import it from outside Palestine.

The events of the Nakba and the accompanying massacres of themselves were imposed on the media and historians, in order to highlight significantly the image of the martyr or displaced Palestinian who takes refuge in the tents of asylum, at the expense of the image of the urban and civil society that prevailed, whether at the commercial, industrial or agricultural levels.

Trade and civilization,
and agriculture was not as important as the work of the only Palestinians in Palestine. In addition to the many trades and professions, trade had ample fortune in Palestinian society before the Nakba and moved with many to the diaspora.

Hajji Abdul Majeed Abu Tabbana, who served as the deputy mayor of Al-Fallujah, was one of the largest textile dealers in southern Palestine, and he has shops and distributes his goods throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

With the onset of the catastrophe, Hajj Abdul Majeed refused to leave the town, and he resisted the occupation with his son Ibrahim until he was martyred, when the rest of his sons left for Gaza and Hebron.

Sheikh Yunus, one of the sons of Haji Abdul Majeed, refused to stay in the camps, and settled near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron, considering that the city's atmosphere is better for commercial projects, so he opened a grain store, and soon turned into one of the city's major merchants.

Academic son Dr. Adnan Abu Tabbaneh says that his father later turned to the plastic trade, and his sons, who now own several plastic companies and factories that the West Bank, Gaza and Israel markets depend on, inherited.

A passion for civilization
Ibn al-Fallujah and the researcher on refugee issues see that the inheritance of the profession is natural among peoples, but what differs in the Palestinian experience is that preserving the profession is part of adherence to the right of return, despite the Nakba, the Palestinians maintained their professions and coped with the change and transferred it to their children.

Abu Tabbaneh says that none of the refugee artisans will inevitably take you back to his hometown from which he was abandoned when talking about his profession or telling his stories, linking him to the right of return.

He concludes that from the experience of the Palestinian people before the asylum, it is clear how much a civilized people was passionate about industry, trade, import, export and agriculture, and many of the eastern societies preceded it.