Nakba #22 - Mahmud Khalil ‘Abdallatif

1946 “I grew up in Akka. We had a shop where my father sold timber. I was part of a scout band that played music in the streets. When we passed by my father’s shop, he would come out and watch. When he caught sight of me, he would start to cry. In addition to the shop, my father had a fine carpentry workshop. He also owned a piece of land where he grew bananas, figs, and grapes. We lived a very good life.” 1947 “The prison in Akka was located inside the citadel. Fourteen members of the Stern Gang were imprisoned there. They had been sentenced to death by the British. In 1947, I saw how Irgun members, disguised as British officers, managed to get into the prison. That was the first time I saw Jews carrying weapons. They freed the prisoners using dynamite. That was when I understood that the Jews were the rulers of the country, and that we, the country’s inhabitants, were their slaves.” 1948 “We traveled to Beirut because two of my brothers were looking for women to marry. Then al-Nakba broke out, and we were stuck there. There were no marriages for my brothers.” “To live is a right, but not to kill.”