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The Fertile Crescent - The Cradle of civilisation |
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| Sixty years ago, Jaffa was the most prosperous, most
cultured, most populous and most influential city in
Palestine and part of a network of key Arab cities that
stretched from Cairo to Damascus. In May 1948, most of its
citizens fled the city in terror. In just a few days a
community of 120,000 people was reduced to fewer than 4,000
as an almost undefended population fled the forces of the
Zionist movement which were fighting to establish the state
of Israel. This exodus was repeated all across Palestine. In 1948 up to one million Palestinians became refugees, most of them escaping to neighbouring countries, never to see their homes again. Palestinians refer to this enforced mass migration as 'al-Nakba' - the catastrophe. |
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| The city of Jaffa, known as Yapho in Hebrew and Yafa in Arabic, is also known as the Bride of Palestine. It was a city made of golden-coloured stone that sat for thousands of years looking over the eastern Mediterranean. | ||
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Personal accounts Jaffa is now a down-at-heel suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city, but Palestinians' memories of their home before the events of 1948 refuse to be erased.
To try to convey this tragic narrative, Al Jazeera
decided to focus on one of the main streets in the city. Ajami Street runs like a spine through Jaffa, but it also runs like a spine through the story of the 'Nakba'. In a special two-part programme, presenter Mona Ibellini and producer Geoff Dunlop hear stories in this street of upheaval, pain and loss, but also accounts laced with humour that evoke a vibrant, vital city. Palestine Street offers up a personal and
intimate version of the 'Nakba' and the times before and
after, providing a description that reaches beyond political
rhetoric and the history of the Middle East conflict. Watch part two of Palestine Street - The Lost Bride Watch part three of Palestine Street - The Lost Bride Watch part four of Palestine Street - The Lost Bride Watch part one of Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile Watch part two of Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile Watch part three of Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile Watch part four of Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile |
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