Palestinian Activists Prepare For Refugee Return
Palestinian activists are taking practical measures to prepare for the return of refugees, Jillian Kestler-D’amours writes.
IQRIT, NORTHERN GALILEE — Standing on a rocky hilltop overlooking Lebanon, 23-year-old Haytham Sbait’s face lights up when asked what life would be like if he was able to live in his family’s ancestral village permanently.
“Simple,” the 23-year-old says, sipping tea from a paper cup as two brown donkeys graze in the short grass in front of him. “A small house, a horse, a donkey, the land. Simple.”
Sbait’s family is originally from the village of Iqrit. Located in the Galilee region, 25 kilometers north of Acre, Iqrit was depopulated shortly after the Israeli state was created in 1948.
After Israel blocked early attempts to return to the village, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that residents had the right to go back to Iqrit in 1951. The Israeli army ignored the ruling, however, and destroyed the village shortly thereafter.
