(Japanese Version)
(Arabic Version)
By Areha Kazuya
E-mail: areha_kazuya@jcom.home.ne.jp
Chapter 4: War and Peace in The Middle East
4-8(36) East of Nakba(great catastrophe)
The Arab countries have been disastrously defeated by
Israel in the First Arab Israeli War in which Israel aimed for Independence. That
was the reason why Arab countries called this war "Nakba (Great
Disaster)" and Israel called the War of Independence. The greatest victim
was the Arab-Palestinians who lived in Palestine. Approximately 750,000 Jews
flowed from all over the world into Palestine after the war. As a result, the
same number of Arab-Palestinians were pushed out of the country and became refugees.
More Palestinian refugees came in the later Arab-Israeli wars. The number of
refugees reached approximately ten million in total. Most of them evacuated to
the east neighboring country - Jordan. Jordan was "the east of
Nakba".
Jordan, however, was the poor country from its
foundation. Palestinian refugees had a difficult time in Jordan. Many of them had
to migrate to the Gulf countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where the oil
boom began. They moved from the land of Nakba in Palestine to Jordan and thereafter
toward to the east again. This time, Gulf countries became “the east of Nakba”.
Palestinian refugees were the diligent workforce in the Gulf oil-producing
countries. Palestinians were the same Arabs with inhabitants in the Gulf
countries. They could easily communicate by speaking Arabic language. They
believed the same religion of Islam as the same Sunni sect. The Saudis and
Kuwaitis appreciated the excellent knowledge of the Palestinians.
In the Gulf countries, they called migrants coming
from abroad as "guest workers" and called themselves as "host
countries". Palestinian migrants who spoke Arabic and worshiped together
at the mosque on Friday were the best "guest workers" for “host
countries”. However, do not be misled by the softness of the word
"guest". Palestinians coming to Gulf countries in search for getting a
piece of oil wealth were merely migrant workers. Palestinians were given cold
shoulder. Inhabitants in the Gulf countries were blind to own faults and abused
the Palestinians. Children imitate their parents and teased Palestinian children
irrationally.
Palestinians, however, had to endure remained silent,
otherwise they might lose good salary which was pretty high than their home country.
Their status was unstable. The employment contract was depended on the temper
of their lords. The lords were easily dismissed migrants and expelled them. Migrants
were exactly modern slavery.
It is necessary to point out that migrants are
different from immigrants. Immigrants are those who emigrated from other
countries and acquired the citizenship of that country. Although there might be
social discrimination, immigrants have the same political rights and the right of
social security same as the original citizens. But migrant “guest” workers are
not given such a right.
The Palestinians were obviously more educated, experienced and diligent than the Kuwaitis or Saudis. But under the modern slavery system of migrant workers, they had to endure humiliation and continue their duties. They sent the most of their salary to their relatives at home. Someday in the future when they would retire and return to home, it might be their dream to build an apartment and become a landlord, or to open a small shop and become the owner of self-employed business.
Palestinians were also enthusiastic about giving
university education on children. As refugees living in other countries it was
necessary to have excellent knowledge and expertise. The Shatilas and Al-Yassins
who were Palestine refugees from Turkam had been working in Kuwait as teacher or
doctor, respectively. They were keen on education more than others. The second
son of the Shatillas was sent to the United States for studying though their household
spending was painful. The eldest son of the Shatillas who had been working at
an oil company in Saudi Arabia handed over a part of his salary to his father to
support his brother's tuition. The Shatilas expected that their young son got citizenship
of the United States after graduating university. Furthermore, the family had
hidden agenda that if something happened in the Middle East they would rely on him
and migrate to the United States.
Father himself did not lose hope to return to Turkam.
He had a dream to open a private school in his hometown and spend the rest of
his life to teach Palestine children. When he retired a teacher in the late
1970s, he left Kuwait and returned to Jordan. Around the same time Al-Yassin
also sent his daughter Rania to American University in Cairo and the family returned
to Jordan. He had a doctor's license, so he decided to settle permanent
residence in Jordan and changed their nationality from Palestine to Jordan.
When the "Black September" incident took
place in 1970, the PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization, moved its
headquarter to Beirut, Lebanon. Jordan restored a peaceful condition under King
Hussein. The Palestinians who emigrated to the Gulf countries returned to
Jordan with various expectations in mind. Once the Palestinians had moved
eastward from the land of "Nakba" to Jordan and again settled in Gulf
countries in eastward. This time they moved westward and back to Jordan. Most
of them waited for the day when they could return to Palestine.
(To be continued ----)
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