PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 109

The school teacher Salaheddin Saleh Aissa, 83 years old Giving children access to schooling, and therefore to an education, has long been a priority for most Palestinians, both before and since 1948, mainly because education is a way of ensuring social mobility. 1 But Palestinians are also aware that the education system implemented by the British between 1922 and 1948 has done them a disservice since it was controlled by the British, 2 whereas, at the same time, the Jewish immigrants were free to administer their own edu- cation. 3 And finally, because after 1948, after being forced to leave their lands, rural Palestinians understood that education was the only wealth that could not be taken from them; it was an inalienable means of rebuilding themselves and of avoiding the total dislocation of Palestinian socie- ty. 4 The role of U nrwa 5 was to be vital in Gaza, where the majority of the population (70%) are refugees. 6 The organ- ization would not only provide essential medical treatment and food aid, but it would also become the main supplier of education, thereby allowing many refugees to access the job market in the Gulf countries from the 1960s onwards. Salaheddin Saleh Aissa, originally from Kawkaba in northern Gaza, was one of that movement: the son of a farmer who sought refuge in Gaza, 7 he benefited from the education provided by U nrwa , becoming, in turn, a teacher within the organization. He understood very young that, just like the land, education was an important issue for Palestinians. He spoke to us in fus’ha, classical Arabic, the language of the educated.  I had a house in Kawkaba, in southern Pales- tine. A mud house 8 with a wooden roof on which we spread a mixture of mud and wheat straw known as qas- sal, that was also used to cover the walls inside. Qassal was an excellent insulator, but it had two drawbacks: it attracted snakes and it melted in the rain, which meant we had to renew it every year. I was a happy child in Kawkaba. Our village num- bered 780 souls, nearly all farmers. It was divided into harat, quarters, grouping together extended families; ours lived in the north part of the village, in Hara El Qabliah. Kawkaba was wiped off the map in 1948. Israeli sol- diers torched our houses, forcing us to leave. No trace of us remains on our lands, not of our games of hide- and-seek, not of our kite-flying over the rooftops, not of the women hanging out the washing nor of the men loading up the wheat…. But, the desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men. The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen. 9 My father owned a dozen dunums; 10 he had planted vines and he sold grapes to the traders in Jaffa. He also grew maize and wheat. He was poor and feeding his three children was often difficult so he often got into debt just to survive. In 1947, he mortgaged four dunums and received 120 Palestinian pounds from Salaheddin 107