In 1948, Palestine was beautiful and
vibrant. There were fields of olive trees, people everywhere, much commerce,
and a thriving society. Palestinian culture was rich in its food, familial
traditions, music and dance. Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side
, all part of the same social fabric.
Charles Tarazi was twelve years old
when his family could no longer stay safe in Palestine. Zionist terrorism
was rampant- assassinations were out of control and several massacres had
already taken place.
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General view of Haifa in 1935. (source:palestineremembered.com)
Haifa. One of Palestine’s major port cities, with its own
airport, oil refinery, and tobacco, fishing, textile, grain,
ice, soap, and other industries, Haifa was a booming town and
the birthplace of the Palestinian labor movement in the 1920s.
The city also boasted three Ara bic newspapers, and according to
many accounts, its Palestinian-Arab majority and substantial
Jewish community had established bonds of friendship and com
mradery. The Zionist plan to takeover the city, Operation
Misbarayim (scissors), was implemented on April 21-23, and
consisted of dividing the historic city into three parts
beginning with the Jewish neighborhood, and systematically depop
ulating each of the three Arab neighbor hoods, pushing many of
the inhabitants into the sea. This was done under the watchful
eye of British troops, who not only stood idly by in neglect of
their duty to protect the lives and properties of the city’s
civilians, but actively helped Zionist forces isolate the
Palestinian resistance in the city, turning back 300 fighters
from nearby Al-Tira who aimed to reinforce the city’s crumbling
defences. As part of the prior agreement between David Ben Gu
rion and King Abdullah of Jordan, nearby Jordanian troops were
given strict orders not to come to the aid of the city. Out of
the 61,000 Palestinian Arabs who used to call Haifa home, only
3,566 Pal estinians were allowed to stay. The re maining
population were in constant fear on their lives and properties,
and many of them witnessed the looting of their homes and
possessions by the Zionists. Since Israel still maintains and
enforces the “Law Of Absentees”, all Haifa’s in dustries, farms,
buses, cars, railroads, cattle, and real estate have been looted
and become Israeli property.
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One day, the Irgun terrorist group
blew up a British military encampment near Charles’ sister’s catholic
boarding school in downtown Haifa. Their vantage point from the house made
it seem as if the school had been bombed because smoke careened off the
rooftop. It wasn’t until the end of the day that they found out his sister
was safe. His parents decided it was time for them to flee the danger.
Along with his mother, brother and
sister, Charles took a long and arduous trip by train and traveled through
Gaza, Rafah and the Sinai until they reached Egypt a day and half later.
Though his father had been the Deputy Head of the Municipality of Haifa and
the family enjoyed the comforts of middle-class status, Egypt only offered
Charles’ father unemployment and heartache. In fact, Palestinians were
denied employment until the Egyptian Revolution in 1952. Luckily, they had
friends and family in Egypt who helped keep them afloat through the most
difficult times.
Upon arrival in Egypt, the Tarazis
thought they would return to Palestine within a few months. They never
expected that 60 years later, there would still be no return in sight for
Palestinian refugees. They had faith in the United Nations and the
superpowers and believed a resolution would be reached. In May, when word of
the Israeli Declaration of Independence reached Egypt, Charles remembers
people were upset... yet they still hoped.
As the years wore on, it was difficult
to retain that hope. At age 22, Charles left Egypt by convincing United
States Senator Thye of Minnesota that he qualified for a visa under the 1957
Immigration and Nationality Act otherwise known as the Refugee-Escapee Act.
The Senator wrote a letter on Charles’ behalf and soon thereafter, the
United States Consulate in Cairo contacted Charles with the good news.
Though Charles was interested in
engineering, he felt as if he didn’t have a choice to pursue his true
aspirations and instead needed to take advantage of what was available. So,
he went into commerce. After hitting the pavement in a bitterly cold,
selfish and inhospitable New York January, he finally found employment in
the metal business. Several years later, he fell in love, married and had
three daughters. Though his daughters are American/British citizens, they
have always been taught about their Palestinian heritage.
In 1998, Charles’ daughter, Monica,
decided to study Arabic at Birzeit University in Palestine. It had been 50
years since he’d last been to Palestine so Charles decided to visit her at
her behest. Though he was adverse to crossing into Israeli territory,
Charles agreed to show Monica his childhood neighborhood in Haifa.
They began the trip with a map but
after a while, Charles realized he knew exactly where he was. Monica was
incredulous yet Charles still knew the neighborhood well enough after 50
years that he needed no map to find home. They got out of the car and began
walking until finally a woman popped her head out of an old friend’s house
and asked “Can I help you?” Charles explained that he’d grown up in that
neighborhood and hadn’t been back since 1948. He proceeded to tell the woman
what her own apartment looked like from the inside as he had spent much time
there as a child. The woman knew the people who currently lived in Charles’
childhood home and agreed to introduce them so that Monica and Charles could
see their house as well. The house was exactly the same and brought Charles
a flood of memories. He could hardly believe he was there.
As serendipity would have it, months
later, part of the house was available to rent. Monica was given the
opportunity to stay in her father’s old house and slept in the bedroom where
her grandfather slept until 1948.
Charles returned to Palestine again a
few months later in order to share his homeland with his other daughters,
Fiona and Nadia. While driving in Haifa he stopped at a grocery store that
was once owned by family friends of his. Charles approached the man standing
outside and asked, “Is this store still owned by the same family?” The man
replied, “Yes, why do you want to know?” Charles said, “The son of the store
owner was my best friend as a child.” To that, the man looked him straight
in
the eyes and responded “Charles?” They hugged and felt overwhelmed with
emotion as they rekindled a childhood friendship after 50 years. Distance
may have separated them, but the friendship had endured all that came to
pass since 1948.
The idea of abandoning Palestine never
occurred to Charles. Even after 60 years, he is a Palestinian, he believes
in their righteous cause and will never abandon the dream of a state for all
Palestinians and a respected national identity free from denigration. He
continues to support his people’s struggle for freedom by taking part in
cultural events, political rallies and supporting activist organizations. He
believes these are the duties of every Palestinian.
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