When Tarif Khalidi (88 years) closes his eyes, he sees his Jerusalem childhood home with laser-sharp visual memory. He maps the neighborhood and his home with impeccable precision. From the stairs, to the backyard garden to the cloakroom to the wood in the fireplace to the enormous tree he used to climb as a child, he cherishes the place he is forbidden from ever returning to again.
He was 10 years and 2 months old when he left Palestine. The situation was tense. More and more of his friends at school began to disappear. This was when his family decided to send him and his sister to Lebanon on April 1st, and they followed later on. As a child, Tarif did not understand the weight of being expelled from his own home. He thought innocently, “How exciting to vacation in Lebanon”. He says that the memories from 1948 stick with him in a way that the memories of later years do not. The reality of ethnic cleansing hits as time passes. Now, an Israeli settler lives in Tarif’s home in Jerusalem, the man unabashedly claims ownership of a home he stole. His pain and fury will never be lifted as Israel refuses Palestinians their humanity, dignity and the RIGHT OF RETURN. Listen to Tarif’s story.
