Nima and the Life of Displacement

Nima Zaki Al-khatib was born in Lydda City in 1942. Nima was 6 years old when Al-Nakba
happened (refers to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine). She suffered many hardships in her
life, starting from the Nakba, then the life of immigration and displacement. Nima was born
during the British Mandate period of Palestine. She was aware when the Zionist offensive began
and committed a mass murder against Lydda citizens. Nima never forgets what happened
to Palestinian and she described the social life in Lydda before and after July\1948 (the
date of Al-Nakbah in Lydda).

Before 1948 social life in Lydda was beautiful. First, Lydda was one of the most important cities in
Palestine because it was the hub of commercial activity for its surrounding villages and towns.
There were markets for selling vegetables and fruits and there were water extensions , unlike the
villages. Lydda spread a lot of work, such as trade, agriculture, selling in shops, and
working in the British camp. On the other hand, Lydda’s citizens used to cultivate many types of
fruits like blueberry, radish, orange, and guava. Besides, the women's role was not limited to taking
care of the children only, the women also helped their husbands by working on the land. They were
picking olives and grass from among the wheat. As for the treatment, there was a medical clinic with
a number of doctors from Lydda. Regarding education, most of Lydda’s residents were illiterate
because the British Mandate period Palestine was characterized by shortcomings; there was one
school in Lydda and only for boys while girls were not educated. Also, there was a Jewish settlement
in Lydda, but their citizens did not interact with Arabs.

The war reached Lydda quickly. The war started between the Zionist militias and revolutionaries
after the British withdrew. The Zionist forces began attacking villages, killing people and
displacing them to neighboring villages, and Lydda was one of these places were people from
around Palestine migrated to it. Therefore, the news spread, especially the news of the Deir
.Yassin massacre, so the fear spread among people before the Zionist forces enter Lod
In July of 1948, the Zionist forces enter Lydda and committed a mass murder against Lod
citizens. At first, the soldiers asked all residents to gather at The Big Mosque. Nima said, “In the
”.morning they brought us into The Big Mosque and we reminded hungry and thirsty until 11 p.m.
At 11 pm they returned the women and children to their h ouses and stayed the men. After two
days the soldiers returned the old men, then chose young men and put them in The Small
Mosque, after that the soldiers killed them all. Nima emphasized “We heard from witnesses
Who swore that blood was reaching the doorstep of the mosque” she said. (The design of the old
mosque usually was when you enter it you have to go down one step after the doorstep, the
height of the step is an average of 15 cm).

On 12th July, a decision was taken by the Israelis to expel all the residents from the city. Nima
and her family moved to Nilin without water or bread without anything, then the family
settled for 4 months in Baytillu. Nima remembered, “We found a large gathering of people
from everywhere (Jaffa, Haifa, Laydda, Ramlah) they were sat under the olive trees so we sat
with them”. In October, Nima and her family moved to Al-jalazone camp where the
conditions were harsh. Nima said, “We were going to school barefoot in the rainy weather, the Fleas,
and lice attacked us. and we were suffering from water shortage and hunger".

How was life in the diaspora? Nima and her family in the camp lived in a tent and then in a thin brick
house through which water penetrated. For education, Nima entered her first grade when she was 8
years old and she studied in a tent. Then the UNA build for immigrants a school near the camp so
Nima studied in the school until she became 13 years old in 6th grade she stopped there because the
school manager refused to open a new class for 7th grade because of the small number of female
students enrolled in this class. As for the work opportunities, there is no work in the Al-jalazon camp.
People were living on aid.
Nima got married to her neighbor when she was 21 years old. her husband was serving in the
Jordanian army, so when the Jordanian forces withdrew from Palestine, she traveled with her husband
and children to Jordan, and settled there, far away from her family. Nima always reminds her
granddaughter about Palestinian history and her wish always just to be returned with all of her family
members to Palestine…

When I asked Nima about the story that she cannot forget she said:
"When the Israeli forces attacked the village of Qibya, my grandmother was living there. At her
son's wedding, she left her granddaughter in the house because she was sleeping and she was 7
years old. During the celebration, they heard the sounds of Israeli soldiers storming the village, so she
went home quickly to save her granddaughter, when she reached the house and grabbed the soldiers
They put bombs on it, "I heard her trying to tell the soldiers to take the girl out of the house,"
according to the words of one of the witnesses. But they did not listen to her, then they killed her with
a bullet in her head, and they blew up the house, so the little girl died". (Nima started crying when she
remembered that)

Interviewee: Nima Al-Khatib

Interviewer: Lana Abu Ein