Nakba: An unbroken chain witnessed from the rubble of Gaza

“We left Al-Masmiyya carrying the keys to our homes, without ever imagining that the journey would last a lifetime.” The exile extended to the whole family.

Ever since I was a child, I remember my grandmother Intisar and my grandfather Marwan sitting with us and telling us the story of the Nakba. I remember their calm voices, made heavy by fear and exile. As a child I listened without fully understanding how a person could suddenly leave their home or how a homeland could turn into a memory that one carries with them wherever they go.

They told us about their home village, Al-Masmiyya al-Kabira, located between Gaza and Ramla in the Palestinian coastal plain. It was known for its vast farmland, wheat fields, olive groves and peaceful rural life. People had lived there for generations with a simple and stable way of life before the village became a memory, carried by its inhabitants into exile and refugee camps.

My grandfather always said: “We left Al-Masmiyya carrying the keys to our homes, without ever imagining that the journey would last a lifetime.”

The exile extended to the whole family. My grandfather went to Egypt to study, then moved between Lebanon, Syria and Jordan before settling in Iraq. His life became a long chain of moves between different........

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