“I left Palestine when I was ten” – Fatima, 78

In February 2016, Interpal sent a delegation to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, where many Palestinians from Syria have sought safety and security. The group met 78 year-old Fatima, one of the original 750,000 refugees who were driven from their homes during the Nakba, and one of the few still alive. She was born in Tabariyya (Tiberias) in Palestine.

 “I left Palestine when I was ten. I still remember every part of my land, I can’t forget. Now I am displaced again, and this is not a place of living.” – Fatima

Sadly, many of those who witnessed the Nakba have now passed away, after a hard life of poverty,refugee status and conflict. Like Fatima, many older Palestinians continue tosuffer the indignity of living in refugee camps, and discrimination whilst witnessing their children and grandchildren suffer as they have. Fatima has not lost her desire to return home to Palestine. She’s been passing on her memories to her children and grandchildren, and hopes that one day they will be able to go back to Palestine, even if she has now lost that hope for herself.