PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 149

Milk Grotto, Bethlehem
When I left the seminary, I went to Madaba 4 as a
curate for two years, from 1955 to 1957. I became very
interested in the history of this town because it illus-
trated the story of how cohabitation between Chris-
tians and Muslims had been built up in this region.
Madaba was founded in 1878 by Christian Bedouins
from Al Karak. They had had to leave Al Karak after
a forced marriage between a Muslim and a Christian
family, which had resulted in the murder of a Mus-
lim. In accordance with the customs of the time, the
Christian tribes were forced to flee in order to avoid
reprisals and so they migrated to the Madaba area.
There they found some habitable land, but the grazing
rights on it belonged to other tribes. Having obtained
permission from Constantinople, the capital of the
Ottoman empire, and after some bitter fighting, the
Karaki Christians were able to establish themselves on
these lands and founded the town of Madaba. How-
ever, in order to work their land they needed more
people than they had, so they employed Muslims who
took one quarter of the harvest as their salary. Gradu-
ally, the Muslims also settled in the town. And when I
arrived there in 1955, they represented almost half the
population.
In 1956, on March 19, St Joseph’s Day, there was a
violent clash in Madaba that left six people dead: three
from the Christian side and three from the Muslim
side. King Hussein, who had just ascended the throne,
quickly intervened. 5 A curfew was declared for two
weeks, until the tribes made peace. And everything
went back to normal.
After Madaba, I went to Beirut to study Arabic at
Saint Joseph University, and I found myself once again
in the middle of shooting and skirmishes – it was when
Michel
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