For many years, refugee Laila Muhammad Khalil Al-Ghazzawi, the mother of the martyr of the stone uprising, Moufid Al-Ghazawi, did not know the taste and joy of the holiday, since the occupation displaced her family in the Nakba in 1948, from the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, she lived Various tragedies and misfortunes in all parts of her life, and even in her childhood, the feast is associated with memories of suffering and poverty.
Al-Ghazzawi says: "The catastrophe affected our lives a lot, despite the struggle of my father, who used to work in many professions, to provide us with a decent life, but we lived deprivation, misery and misery, and we did not know the taste of joy even on Eid."
And she adds: "The first feast I lived in my life, I was a little girl among a large and poor family who lives in a tent. Our family did not have the money to buy clothes and holiday sweets. My mother, like all mothers, prepared us for first-class holiday clothes in the tent, where she cut the thin layer and rubbed it on Her hands, and turning them into clothes for us, we had no choice but to accept them, and we did not even have the most basic necessities of life. "
Catastrophe and displacement
In the Al-Ajami neighborhood, the refugee Leila saw the light, and lived among her family with the people of the neighborhood a beautiful life as she describes it, and she says: “Despite the difficult circumstances, we had all the essentials of life from the good things of our city Jaffa, and the relations between people were distinguished by brotherhood, love and solidarity, there was a renaissance The city developed and distinguished, until the Zionist gangs began to implement the conspiracy that we are still paying for today, as the Zionist gangs launched their attacks, and the massacres that ended with the displacement of our people committed naked barefoot from their homes, and from the intensity of terror and anxiety they were unable to take out anything with them, and the fate has ended Our family is in Gaza City. "
And she adds: "Despite my childhood, I still remember our lives in Jaffa, and every corner and inch of the city that dwells deep down, and whatever years pass, we cannot forget our homes and our land, and we all trust the Lord of the Worlds that we will return one day and get rid of the unjust occupation by liberating our land."
from the memory
In the years after the catastrophe of 1948, refugees lived a life of hell, deprivation and tragedy between the loss of their homeland, their homes and their property, and the extreme poverty that UNRWA´s scarce aid has not compensated for.
Al-Ghazzawi says: "The dream of return was dissipated when I discovered the truth about the loss and extradition of Palestine. We had no choice but to settle in Gaza, where my father continued his struggle, and our patience to complete our lives. We lived simply, cooperatively and lovingly, we lived in tents and we had little, and after we lived in pride and dignity, we turned into refugees, but we grew up, and we did not give up for a moment the right of return. "
Eid after the catastrophe
Years passed and holidays followed in the life of the refugee mother of Mu’in, who tells that, despite the harsh conditions of life, the feast had its rituals and beautiful memories, and she says, “We used to receive the holiday with joy, and we prepared our needs thanks to the role of my mother, who was an excellent housekeeper, dedicated to cooking food and preparing bread and cakes on Al Babur, and cooperated with the women of the neighborhood. Before the Eid, we exchanged the distribution of what every mother makes in her home with the neighbors and devoted a large part of it to the poor and the needy.
"After the Eid prayer, and the clothes worn by mothers weaving, we used to accompany my father on his tour to greet the families and neighbors, we used to live a life of joy with visits, and everyone visited his family and neighbors and felt them. He excels at Eid and buys some toys. "
Early marriage
The harsh conditions of life cast a shadow over the lives of refugee families who were keen to marry off their daughters at a young age (between 13-15 years), and the refugee refugee´s wife, Laila, was the same at this age, and she shared with her husband the difficult situation and supported him after they had children, and she says: "Our life full of difficulties was forcing the parents to agree to the marriage of the girl and her association, despite being a minor, and this was my destiny, so I took responsibility and stood by my husband, and we started to form our lives, but the life of poverty did not stop and our joys were overwhelmed, so there was no work or permanent source of income We bemoan the arrival of Eid because we were unable to provide his needs for our children, and we were waiting for the Relief Agency to distribute the supplies to the people, so that we could prepare the cakes for the Eid two days before it came, as we were gathering and cooperating in making the work of all its varieties and forms with its filling in the Ajwa, and spraying With crushed sugar, as we were preparing coffee to serve with modest desserts for the guests, the holiday atmosphere was beautiful thanks to the love and familiarity between people, which we regret today, as conditions changed and in many cases the neighbor no longer knew his neighbor or visited him even in woes.
Immigration to Jenin
In light of this reality, the mother of Mu´in’s family moved in the early 1970s to the West Bank, and the situation settled in Jenin.
She says: "We lived black days after we had a family without an income source, and after tiredness and research there was an opportunity for my husband in Jenin, so we did not hesitate, so we packed our bags and settled in them and we are still in them today."
And thanks to the work, my husband became able to provide for our living requirements, and I learned the profession of sewing, worked with it, and helped us in raising and caring for the children who grew up in Jenin, and despite the misery of life due to the occupation, we adapted to reality, and practiced the rituals of Eid that were characterized by our ability To prepare all his requirements according to our capabilities, and I feel happy, because the holiday clothes we buy for our children from the shops, and the memories of the tents did not leave me. "
Painful pictures
"Eid is soreness and a bleeding wound does not stop" ... refugee Laila described the feast these days, after the departure of a companion trained by Abu Moeen and the martyrdom of her son Moufid in an ambush of the occupation that he chased since the beginning of the uprising of stones as "pain and bleeding wound."
She says: "That life did not last long, for the occupation seized our joys and took away our feasts since the pursuit of my son Moufid, who carried the banner of the struggle and resisted in the alleys of Jenin, so we received feasts with terror and terror because of the repeated raids of our house, the abuse of us, and the denial of my son. My son, who was injured, and miraculously escaped death, so I was missing him on all Ramadan tables and Eid days, which turned into grief after the occupation managed to assassinate him. "
Constant aches
The tears of the refugee or mother come down, with the coming of Eid al-Fitr, which the bedwoman receives after she has received diseases, especially after the martyr of her beloved heart is useful, and she says: "The more time passes, our suffering and constant pain increases, especially in Eid al-Fitr, so how can my heart rejoice and be more precious People in my heart were absent from the occupation for me forever? Despite my pride in a beneficial martyrdom in the prime of his youth, our feasts have become without joy, as the first moments of the feast begin with a shrine visit, decorate it with flowers, and recite Al-Fatihah on the souls of the martyrs. My house, I sit in front of useful pictures that I remember and pray to God to accept his testimony, and what relieves me of his heroic pictures and his being a martyr.
And she adds: "The disease has guided me and destroyed my life, and despite my patience, what hurts is that the painful relations between people have changed, and some have forgotten even the families of the martyrs, and unfortunately in this time he no longer asks anyone about his neighbors and even his family. In these days when we miss the meaning The real Eid, we hope from the Lord of the Worlds to return to the values ​​of Islam in interdependence and compassion, and to revive the rites and rituals of the feast, the truth, but my greatest wish is that the Lord of the Worlds age honors me to live the moments of liberating Palestine and returning to Haifa and Jaffa.
And concludes her talk to "Jerusalem" by saying: "My will to our people and to my grandchildren to adhere to the dreams and goals of the martyrs, prisoners and refugees, and to fulfill their sacrifices until the right returns to its companions."
