Welcome
Login:   Pass:     Register - Forgot Password - Resend Activation

Turkish Class Forums / Turkey

Turkey

Add reply to this discussion
Moderators: libralady, sonunda
Nakba for the third generation - 1948-2008
1.       Roswitha
4132 posts
 18 Apr 2008 Fri 02:25 pm

Few weeks and the Palestinian in all over the world will commemorate their Nakba (catastrophe), their loss of their homelands, of their identity, dignity and their life. Many countries and organizations that are interested in the Palestinian dilemma in the world will help in this commemoration, however, the Nakba for them is to speak about the sufferings and loss of a nation, to tell stories from those who witness the real event and fled from their homeland with one hope that one day they will return.

As a third generation Palestinian, the Naka is different in term of the pain and sufferings it holds, I am totally aware of the great loss that my grandparents, my parents have to experience when they fled from their homeland in 1948, and I know how devastating to lose the place that gives you all the feelings of security, and the identity that tells who you really are. The pain that my grandparents held during the years of their life in the camp until they died with their only wish to see their home again is heart breaking, the dreams that my father holds on behalf of his parents, and his own dreams of returning back home is also heart breaking.

But for me it (the Nabka) is more than fleeing the homeland, and losing your identity, it is not having a single memory of the homeland that once was for your grandparents, and your parents. It is not having anything to tell to your children about like the taste of your lands’ fruits, the smell of its sand, about stories and experiences with your people.

My grandparents and their generation, my parents and their generation too are lucky, simply because every one of them still have a story to tell, a story of their own, even their story about their journey of fleeing with all its painful experiences. Their shared memories of the place that once was theirs helped them to continue in their life, and gave them the courage to struggle against the bad conditions they have to live. I still remember the stories of my grandparents about their homeland, about their traditions, their neighbors, weddings, giving birth, even about death. With every word they narrate a stream of feelings break the pain and loss and bring back their homeland again, fresh and a live, as if they never left it once.

These stories were the sparkle of hope that strengthen their conation and well, and give them a reason to live, to continue. Sharing these stories with their children and their grandchildren was the revival of their homeland.

While I am as a refugee that lived her entire life in a camp, wonders what stories should I tell my children, what stories should I keep, the stories I have are limited to the camp space, to the narrow alleyways, to the sewage canals that running in the camps, and overflow in winter, to the crowded classrooms. My stories does not have a grove to describe its fruits, and its taste, in my stories there is no natural scenes, and simple people who live their day. Stories that my children will live because they are too will live the same life that their parents have, the life of the camp. They will walk in the same narrow alleyways, they will jump over the same sewage canals to cross the street, and they will experience the same crowded, painful life that their parents lived.

Though the fleeing experience was terrible for my parents and my grandparents, but the memories they hold over the years alleviate the taste of their loss, and pain. The memories they have helped when they are lost in their sadness to bring something sweet back to their life, a privilege that I and my children and may be my grandchildren will not have.

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2008/04/15/p24780

extensive reading see: WASHINGTON REPORT American Educational Trust May/June 2008

Add reply to this discussion




Turkish Dictionary
Turkish Chat
Open mini chat
New in Forums
Why yer gördüm but yeri geziyorum
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much, makes perfect sense!
Etmeyi vs etmek
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much!
Görülmez vs görünmiyor
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much, very well explained!
Içeri and içeriye
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much for the detailed ...
Present continous tense
HaydiDeer: Got it, thank you!
Hic vs herhangi, degil vs yok
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much!
Rize Artvin Airport Transfer - Rize Tours
rizetours: Dear Guest; In order to make your Black Sea trip more enjoyable, our c...
What does \"kabul ettiğini\" mean?
HaydiDeer: Thank you very much for the detailed ...
Kimse vs biri (anyone)
HaydiDeer: Thank you!
Random Pictures of Turkey
Most commented