Fatma

Paths of Exile Questionnaire

Q- Which is your home town or village in Palestine? To which District did it belong ?

- How old were you in 1948 ? What was your job (or, if the interviewee was then a child or youth: what was your father’s job?)

- How many members did your family consist of? List them one by one, giving their names, and tell me what has happened to them since the Nakba?

The Home Town or Village

- What was the landscape surrounding your town/village? What was grown on the village lands? What were the traditions associated with the produce grown? For instance, during the harvest or the picking of olives? Explain, sing

The Zionist attack

- Was your town (or village) attacked by the Zionists, or did you leave out of fear? At which date?

- If your town (village) was attacked: when? how? Once or several times?

- Describe the attack, the number of dead, the number of men captured and taken away (and assassinated?)

- Did you witness the destruction of your village or was it destroyed after you left? Or does your village still stand ? If so, was it reoccupied by Palestinians from other districts of Palestine who terminated their flight there?

- Where were the armies of neighbouring Arab countries (such as Iraq and Syria) at this time? Were you protected or helped by the soldiers

The Flight: its route and the landscapes crossed

- How did your flight unfold? Tell me your itinerary precisely. In which direction did you leave? Which road/path did you take?

- How many of you left? Did you leave on your own, as a family, or as a group? Who was part of this group: friends or/and neighbours?

- Which landscapes did you cross?

The Refugee Camp

- Where did you end up? Who took charge of you and assisted you? Describe how you settled in the refugee camp.

- Is this your original camp? Or were you moved from one camp to another? By whom? When ? How ?

- How did you survive? Were you helped by UNRWA or were you able to work? Where?

Palestine

- When you think of Palestine, what do you remember most? What image(s) does your memory hold?

- What is your strongest wish in relation to Palestine?

- If one offered you to return to Palestine, even to another village because your village does not exist any longer, what would you do?

- Do you hold documents (property deeds of houses or fields) or keys to show me so that I may photograph and film them?