{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "FALASTEEN.AI — Testimonies", "description": "Survivor testimony quoted exactly as published, each with a link to the oral-history archive that recorded it.", "home_page_url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies", "feed_url": "https://falasteen.ai/feeds/testimonies.json", "language": "en", "icon": "https://falasteen.ai/icon-key-512.png", "favicon": "https://falasteen.ai/favicon-key.svg", "authors": [ { "name": "FALASTEEN.AI", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/" } ], "_falasteen": { "licence": "Free to read, quote and cite. Attribution to FALASTEEN.AI required.", "attribution": "FALASTEEN.AI — A Living Archive for Palestine (https://falasteen.ai)", "manifest": "https://falasteen.ai/api/index.json", "rss": "https://falasteen.ai/feeds/testimonies.xml", "count": 27 }, "items": [ { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abdel-mahdi-al-wuheidi-bir-al-saba/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abdel-mahdi-al-wuheidi-bir-al-saba/", "title": "Abdel Mahdi al-Wuheidi — Bir al-Saba (Beersheba)", "content_text": "Driven from Bir al-Saba as a child in 1948 and from Jabalia camp in 2023, he returned after the October 2025 ceasefire to a house standing in rubble.", "summary": "Driven from Bir al-Saba as a child in 1948 and from Jabalia camp in 2023, he returned after the October 2025 ceasefire to a house standing in rubble.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Bir al-Saba (Beersheba)", "born": "1940", "archive": "Al Jazeera Features", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/5/16/from-the-nakba-to-gazas-ruins-one-mans-lifetime-of-displacement" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abdullah-nashwan-al-dawayima/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abdullah-nashwan-al-dawayima/", "title": "Abdullah Nashwan — al-Dawayima, Hebron district", "content_text": "Eleven years old when his family fled the massacre at al-Dawayima in October 1948; displaced again in 1967, he has lived in Jordan's Baqa'a camp since.", "summary": "Eleven years old when his family fled the massacre at al-Dawayima in October 1948; displaced again in 1967, he has lived in Jordan's Baqa'a camp since.", "_falasteen": { "village": "al-Dawayima, Hebron district", "born": "c. 1937", "archive": "Al Jazeera Features", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/12/2/we-will-never-forget-reliving-the-pain-of-the-nakba-amid-israels-war" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abed-abdi-haifa/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abed-abdi-haifa/", "title": "Abed Abdi — Haifa", "content_text": "A six-year-old expelled from Haifa in April 1948 recalls the crowds fleeing to the port; he returned with his family three years later and became a renowned visual artist.", "summary": "A six-year-old expelled from Haifa in April 1948 recalls the crowds fleeing to the port; he returned with his family three years later and became a renowned visual artist.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Haifa", "archive": "Al Jazeera (via the Abed Abdi Archive)", "archiveUrl": "https://abedabdi.com/library/abed-abdi-press-archive/memories-of-nakba-inspire-palestinian-artists-work/" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ahmad-abughoush-imwas/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ahmad-abughoush-imwas/", "title": "Ahmad Abughoush — Imwas, Latrun", "content_text": "Expelled from Imwas at fourteen during the 1967 war, he describes his family's flight on foot to Ramallah before Israeli bulldozers razed the village and Canada Park was planted over its ruins.", "summary": "Expelled from Imwas at fourteen during the 1967 war, he describes his family's flight on foot to Ramallah before Israeli bulldozers razed the village and Canada Park was planted over its ruins.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Imwas, Latrun", "born": "1953", "archive": "BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights (Al-Majdal)", "archiveUrl": "https://badil.org/publications/al-majdal/issues/items/1315.html" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ahmad-al-haj-al-sawafir/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ahmad-al-haj-al-sawafir/", "title": "Ahmad al-Haj — al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya", "content_text": "A survivor from al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya in the Gaza district, fifteen in 1948, describes the burning of his village and a warplane attack during the family's flight.", "summary": "A survivor from al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya in the Gaza district, fifteen in 1948, describes the burning of his village and a warplane attack during the family's flight.", "_falasteen": { "village": "al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya", "archive": "The Electronic Intifada", "archiveUrl": "https://electronicintifada.net/content/my-village-was-attacked-and-burned-down-nakba-survivor-speaks/13427" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abu-arab-saffuriyya/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/abu-arab-saffuriyya/", "title": "Ameen Muhammad Ali (Abu Arab) — Saffuriyya, Nazareth", "content_text": "Thirteen years old when Saffuriyya was attacked in July 1948, he describes the air raid that emptied the village during the Ramadan iftar.", "summary": "Thirteen years old when Saffuriyya was attacked in July 1948, he describes the air raid that emptied the village during the Ramadan iftar.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Saffuriyya, Nazareth", "born": "c. 1935", "archive": "Al Jazeera — Al-Nakba", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/19/nakba-survivors-share-their-stories-of-loss-and-hope" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/daiffallah-abu-al-gussain-al-shalalah/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/daiffallah-abu-al-gussain-al-shalalah/", "title": "Daiffallah Abu Al-Gussain — Al-Shalalah, Beer al-Sabe district", "content_text": "A Gaza elder born before the state of Israel, he fled his village in the Beer al-Sabe area at the age of seven and still keeps the 1938 deed proving his family's land, to pass to his grandson.", "summary": "A Gaza elder born before the state of Israel, he fled his village in the Beer al-Sabe area at the age of seven and still keeps the 1938 deed proving his family's land, to pass to his grandson.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Al-Shalalah, Beer al-Sabe district", "born": "1940", "archive": "Mondoweiss", "archiveUrl": "https://mondoweiss.net/2022/05/nakba74-palestinian-refugees-in-gaza-remember-the-nakba-through-possessions-of-their-ancestors/" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/dalal-nassar-julis/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/dalal-nassar-julis/", "title": "Dalal Nassar — Julis", "content_text": "An 84-year-old refugee from Julis recalls walking to Gaza as a girl during the 1948 exodus and the humiliation of the first years in tents at Deir al-Balah.", "summary": "An 84-year-old refugee from Julis recalls walking to Gaza as a girl during the 1948 exodus and the humiliation of the first years in tents at Deir al-Balah.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Julis", "archive": "The New Arab", "archiveUrl": "https://www.newarab.com/news/1948-2024-three-palestinian-sisters-live-endless-nakba" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/fahimi-zeidan-deir-yassin/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/fahimi-zeidan-deir-yassin/", "title": "Fahimi Zeidan — Deir Yassin", "content_text": "A twelve-year-old survivor of the 9 April 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin describes the killing of her family, in a statement recorded by British police officers days after the attack.", "summary": "A twelve-year-old survivor of the 9 April 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin describes the killing of her family, in a statement recorded by British police officers days after the attack.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Deir Yassin", "archive": "Deir Yassin Remembered", "archiveUrl": "http://www.deiryassin.org/survivors.html" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ghada-karmi-jerusalem/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ghada-karmi-jerusalem/", "title": "Ghada Karmi — Qatamon, Jerusalem", "content_text": "A Jerusalem childhood ended in April 1948: days after Deir Yassin, nine-year-old Ghada Karmi's family packed a few summer clothes and left their Qatamon home, believing they would be back within weeks.", "summary": "A Jerusalem childhood ended in April 1948: days after Deir Yassin, nine-year-old Ghada Karmi's family packed a few summer clothes and left their Qatamon home, believing they would be back within weeks.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Qatamon, Jerusalem", "born": "1939", "archive": "Jerusalem Story (excerpted from In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story, Verso)", "archiveUrl": "https://www.jerusalemstory.com/en/article/end-arab-qatamon-memoir" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ibrahim-abu-lughod-jaffa/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ibrahim-abu-lughod-jaffa/", "title": "Ibrahim Abu-Lughod — Jaffa", "content_text": "A nineteen-year-old Jaffa high-school student, he sat his matriculation exams in March 1948 under nightly mortar bombardment — 'Daily we knew people who got killed. We buried them.' — and weeks later fled the falling city by sea.", "summary": "A nineteen-year-old Jaffa high-school student, he sat his matriculation exams in March 1948 under nightly mortar bombardment — 'Daily we knew people who got killed. We buried them.' — and weeks later fled the falling city by sea.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Jaffa", "born": "1929", "archive": "Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA Letters, interview by Hisham H. Ahmed)", "archiveUrl": "http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HHA-10.pdf" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ismail-shammout-lydda/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ismail-shammout-lydda/", "title": "Ismail Shammout — Lydda", "content_text": "Expelled from Lydda at eighteen during the July 1948 \"death march,\" he recalls an Israeli soldier stopping him at gunpoint from filling a pot with water as thousands trudged toward Ramallah in the heat.", "summary": "Expelled from Lydda at eighteen during the July 1948 \"death march,\" he recalls an Israeli soldier stopping him at gunpoint from filling a pot with water as thousands trudged toward Ramallah in the heat.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Lydda", "born": "1931", "archive": "Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (PalQuest)", "archiveUrl": "http://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/24073/lydda-9-13-july-1948" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/jaber-shaban-simsim/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/jaber-shaban-simsim/", "title": "Jaber Ahmad Mohammad Shaban — Simsim", "content_text": "A survivor from Simsim, northeast of Gaza, describes the May 1948 attack that drove his family out of the village when he was ten years old.", "summary": "A survivor from Simsim, northeast of Gaza, describes the May 1948 attack that drove his family out of the village when he was ten years old.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Simsim", "born": "1938", "archive": "Al Mezan Center for Human Rights", "archiveUrl": "https://solidarity-ps.org/en/%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%89_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A9-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/leila-giries-ayn-karim/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/leila-giries-ayn-karim/", "title": "Leila Giries — Ayn Karim, Jerusalem", "content_text": "Eight years old when her family fled Ayn Karim on the western edge of Jerusalem in 1948; the family moved to the United States in 1958, and she now lives in a suburb of Los Angeles with the key to the house framed on her wall.", "summary": "Eight years old when her family fled Ayn Karim on the western edge of Jerusalem in 1948; the family moved to the United States in 1958, and she now lives in a suburb of Los Angeles with the key to the house framed on her wall.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Ayn Karim, Jerusalem", "born": "c. 1940", "archive": "Al Jazeera — Al-Nakba", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/we-fled-on-foot-palestiniansinusrecallnakba-dispossession" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/michael-kardoush-nazareth/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/michael-kardoush-nazareth/", "title": "Michael Kardoush — Nazareth", "content_text": "He left Nazareth in 1954 rather than live under the military government imposed on Palestinian citizens of Israel, walking 18 kilometres across the border to Lebanon.", "summary": "He left Nazareth in 1954 rather than live under the military government imposed on Palestinian citizens of Israel, walking 18 kilometres across the border to Lebanon.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Nazareth", "archive": "Al Jazeera — Al-Nakba", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/we-fled-on-foot-palestiniansinusrecallnakba-dispossession" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/mohammed-abu-seif-julis/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/mohammed-abu-seif-julis/", "title": "Mohammed Abdul Jabbar Abu Seif — Julis", "content_text": "A 91-year-old survivor from Julis, in the Gaza district, recalls his family's expulsion in 1948 and a lifetime in the refugee camps of Bureij and Nuseirat.", "summary": "A 91-year-old survivor from Julis, in the Gaza district, recalls his family's expulsion in 1948 and a lifetime in the refugee camps of Bureij and Nuseirat.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Julis", "archive": "Gaza Unlocked (American Friends Service Committee)", "archiveUrl": "https://gazaunlocked.org/posts/displaced-1948-and-today-surviving-another-nakba-and-genocide" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/muhammad-abu-hana-al-tantura/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/muhammad-abu-hana-al-tantura/", "title": "Muhammad Abu Hana — al-Tantura", "content_text": "A twelve-year-old during the assault on al-Tantura in May 1948 describes the roundup on the beach that preceded the killing of scores of the village's men.", "summary": "A twelve-year-old during the assault on al-Tantura in May 1948 describes the roundup on the beach that preceded the killing of scores of the village's men.", "_falasteen": { "village": "al-Tantura", "born": "1936", "archive": "Palestine Remembered", "archiveUrl": "https://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/al-Tantura/Story560.html" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/mutlaq-abu-elkhair-barqa/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/mutlaq-abu-elkhair-barqa/", "title": "Mutlaq Mahmoud Abu Elkhair — Barqa", "content_text": "A 96-year-old survivor from Barqa, depopulated in May 1948, recalls walking down the coast into Gaza with his family, expecting to be home again within days.", "summary": "A 96-year-old survivor from Barqa, depopulated in May 1948, recalls walking down the coast into Gaza with his family, expecting to be home again within days.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Barqa", "archive": "Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU)", "archiveUrl": "https://imeu.org/perspectives/nakba/i-survived-israels-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestine-in-1948-i-fear-my-family-might-not-survive-its-genocide-in-gaza/208" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/omar-abedelal-burayr/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/omar-abedelal-burayr/", "title": "Omar Abedelal — Burayr", "content_text": "A nine-year-old when Burayr was besieged and depopulated in 1948, he recalls the farmland his family had worked for generations and the return they never stopped expecting.", "summary": "A nine-year-old when Burayr was besieged and depopulated in 1948, he recalls the farmland his family had worked for generations and the return they never stopped expecting.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Burayr", "archive": "Palestinian Information Center", "archiveUrl": "https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/The-1948-Palestinian-Nakba-Continues-Today/" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ouda-abu-haddaf-naqab/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/ouda-abu-haddaf-naqab/", "title": "Ouda Salem Ouda Abu Haddaf — A village near Beer al-Sabe, Naqab", "content_text": "A Bedouin survivor from the Naqab, born in 1936, describes the 1948 attack on his village and the chain of displacements that ended in the refugee camps of Gaza.", "summary": "A Bedouin survivor from the Naqab, born in 1936, describes the 1948 attack on his village and the chain of displacements that ended in the refugee camps of Gaza.", "_falasteen": { "village": "A village near Beer al-Sabe, Naqab", "born": "1936", "archive": "Al Mezan Center for Human Rights", "archiveUrl": "https://www.solidarity-ps.org/en/%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%89_-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/reja-e-busailah-lydda/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/reja-e-busailah-lydda/", "title": "Reja-e Busailah — Lydda", "content_text": "A visually impaired teenager during the July 1948 expulsion from Lydda, he recalls being herded east on foot in the exodus that became known as the Lydda death march.", "summary": "A visually impaired teenager during the July 1948 expulsion from Lydda, he recalls being herded east on foot in the exodus that became known as the Lydda death march.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Lydda", "archive": "Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Palquest)", "archiveUrl": "http://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/24073/lydda-9-13-july-1948" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/salman-abu-sitta-main/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/salman-abu-sitta-main/", "title": "Salman Abu Sitta — Ma'in, Beersheba district", "content_text": "Salman Abu Sitta, expelled from Ma'in near Beersheba at the age of ten, speaks to Al Jazeera about the Nakba and his life's work mapping the destroyed villages of Palestine.", "summary": "Salman Abu Sitta, expelled from Ma'in near Beersheba at the age of ten, speaks to Al Jazeera about the Nakba and his life's work mapping the destroyed villages of Palestine.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Ma'in, Beersheba district", "archive": "Al Jazeera", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/5/17/nakba-the-man-reconstructing-palestines-lost-villages" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/salwa-naser-jaffa/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/salwa-naser-jaffa/", "title": "Salwa Naser — Jaffa", "content_text": "Six years old when her family left Jaffa by boat in 1948, and a refugee for the second time in 2012 when the war in Syria destroyed her home in Damascus.", "summary": "Six years old when her family left Jaffa by boat in 1948, and a refugee for the second time in 2012 when the war in Syria destroyed her home in Damascus.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Jaffa", "born": "c. 1942", "archive": "Al Jazeera — Al-Nakba", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/19/nakba-survivors-share-their-stories-of-loss-and-hope" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/umm-omar-jusayr/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/umm-omar-jusayr/", "title": "Umm Omar — Jusayr, Gaza district", "content_text": "Eight years old when her family was expelled from Jusayr in 1948; she has lived in Jabaliya refugee camp ever since.", "summary": "Eight years old when her family was expelled from Jusayr in 1948; she has lived in Jabaliya refugee camp ever since.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Jusayr, Gaza district", "born": "c. 1940", "archive": "Al Jazeera — Al-Nakba", "archiveUrl": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/5/19/nakba-survivors-share-their-stories-of-loss-and-hope" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/wajiha-al-harsh-jaffa/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/wajiha-al-harsh-jaffa/", "title": "Wajiha al-Harsh — Jaffa", "content_text": "An 80-year-old refugee from Jaffa, living in the Jabaliya camp's 'Jaffa neighborhood' in Gaza, recalls the panic of the May 1948 flight from her city.", "summary": "An 80-year-old refugee from Jaffa, living in the Jabaliya camp's 'Jaffa neighborhood' in Gaza, recalls the panic of the May 1948 flight from her city.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Jaffa", "archive": "Zochrot", "archiveUrl": "https://www.zochrot.org/tours/tour_details/56232/en?From_Jaffa__to_Gaza_" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/yacoub-odeh-lifta/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/yacoub-odeh-lifta/", "title": "Yacoub Odeh — Lifta, Jerusalem", "content_text": "An eight-year-old when Lifta was emptied in early 1948, he recalls fleeing with nothing but the clothes his family wore, certain they would be back the next day.", "summary": "An eight-year-old when Lifta was emptied in early 1948, he recalls fleeing with nothing but the clothes his family wore, certain they would be back the next day.", "_falasteen": { "village": "Lifta, Jerusalem", "born": "1940", "archive": "MintPress News (republished by Aletho News)", "archiveUrl": "https://alethonews.com/2021/07/12/the-fight-to-save-lifta-the-last-remaining-palestinian-village/" } }, { "id": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/zakaria-elnatour-al-sumayriyya/", "url": "https://falasteen.ai/testimonies/zakaria-elnatour-al-sumayriyya/", "title": "Zakaria Elnatour — al-Sumayriyya", "content_text": "A refugee from al-Sumayriyya, between Acre and Nahariya, describes the 1948 capture of his village and his family's flight to Lebanon and Syria, in a letter to a Jewish student.", "summary": "A refugee from al-Sumayriyya, between Acre and Nahariya, describes the 1948 capture of his village and his family's flight to Lebanon and Syria, in a letter to a Jewish student.", "_falasteen": { "village": "al-Sumayriyya", "archive": "Zochrot", "archiveUrl": "https://www.zochrot.org/publication_articles/view/52412/en?Letter_from_Zakaria_Elnatour_a_refugee_to_a_Jewish_student_" } } ] }