What's the Story? Rawan Bisharat on practicing return in Ma'alul
Channel: Mondoweiss
Date: 2022-12-16

During the Nakba, most Palestinian refugees were displaced to Arab states and Palestinian territories that did not fall under Israeli control. 150,000 Palestinians remained in the areas of Palestine that became the state of Israel, including 40,000 Palestinians who were internally displaced during the war. Similar to the 800,000 Palestinian refugees expelled beyond its borders, Israel refuses to allow these internally displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and villages. The Israeli government refers to these internally displaced Palestinians as “present absentees,” and confiscated their land under the 1950 Absentees Property Law.

Rawan Bisharat grew up in Yafat al-Nasira (Yaffa of Nazareth), a small village near Nazareth. During the Nakba, her grandparents were expelled from their homes in Ma’alul, a village 12 km west of Nazareth that was depopulated and destroyed by Jewish forces. Like most Ma’alul residents, Rawan’s grandparents and their children fled to the Nazareth area. Along with many former Ma'alul residents and their descendants, Rawan visits what remains of Ma'alul frequently. In this video, she tells the story of her connection to Ma’alul and how she and others from Ma’alul practice exercising their return despite Israeli laws that continue to deny her and her family the right to return to Ma'alul.

As told to producer/director Ghousoon Bisharat and cinematographer/editor Thomas Dallal.