PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 42

the Arab army tell the Palestinians to leave their lands
and their homes as quickly as they could?
These fundamental questions have forged the Pal-
estinian character. Instinctively they know that in
order to exist, they will have to be the best. The best
in school. The best at university. Not to mention in the
world of business, where Palestinians would show their
abilities. The fact that today there are a large number
of Palestinian millionaires in the world is surely con-
nected to this need for excellence.
When the PLO was set up in 1964, 9 90 Pales-
tinians from Damascus took part in the creation. I
was a Palestinian militant, but I had no desire to be
involved in an organization. I noted, with concern,
that the Syrians seemed to think we were taking the
high moral ground, that we were being pretentious
and ungrateful. That was the start of the falling-out
between Palestinians and Syrians, but in spite of that
they did not abandon us but continued to campaign
for our cause, leaving it to the PLO to set up training
The apartheid wall
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Memories of 1948
camps for armed militias, the fedayin, who came from
all over the world to fight for Palestine. One of the
most powerful images in the history of the Palestini-
ans is the international support we had during those
years – for our cause was a just one.
But after the Six-Day War and the defeat of the
Arabs at the hands of Israel, everything changed. Hope
died and the reality – that there would be no going
home – began to take root in people. In our family we
gradually abandoned our Thursday night gatherings.
We, who were naturally cheerful and who had not lost
our sense of humour, became pessimistic and sad.
From 1970 onwards many Palestinians set off for
Beirut where the PLO headquarters were, and southern
Lebanon became the fedayin base.
As students at Damascus University, we had the
option to go to Europe for further studies. I was
strongly attracted to French culture so I applied for a
grant to go to France and was offered a place at the
University of Toulouse.