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Palestinians work to keep Nakba memory alive

Few Palestinian institutions and individuals are working on preserving the memories and stories of refugees who lived through the Nakba in 1948, in the absence of an official national project.
A Palestinian woman holds a key, symbolising the keys to houses left by Palestinians in 1948, near the West Bank city of Hebron May 16, 2009. On May 15 Palestinians marked "Nakba", or "Catastrophe", to commemorate the time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun (WEST BANK POLITICS) - RTXHR8H
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — During an interview about her displacement from her hometown Lifta, west of Jerusalem, Khadija said, “I love this girl … I will give her the dress,” as she pointed to her granddaughter Iman who fetched a dress that Khadija has kept for 70 years, as if it were her most expensive belonging.

When Al-Monitor asked her why she chose to give the dress to Iman, she answered, “Because she knows how valuable it is and she can preserve it.”

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