Idlib, Syria – In a small house in northwest Syria, Muhammad Haninun is glued to his cell phone, following the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza.
For more than a month, he has watched videos of Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of civilians trying to escape the bombings. Meanwhile, events bring back clear memories of what he endured 75 years ago.
The 80-year-old can’t help but think of the similarities between what he sees in Gaza and what he experienced when he and his family were displaced during the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” in 1948 , when Israel was created and more than 750,000 people were displaced. Palestinians were forcibly removed from their lands and thousands of people were killed.
“The Palestinian tragedy is happening again,” Haninun said. “The people of Gaza are facing war without receiving the same help as before. »
“A cracked disc”
Since October 7, when the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas crossed the separation wall surrounding Gaza and attacked southern Israel, Western countries, led by the United States, have rushed to condemn the movement which runs the Gaza Strip under siege since 2006.
This condemnation was followed by Western financial and military support for Israel, which has been relentlessly bombing Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, for 35 days. Since October 7, at least 10,812 Palestinians, including 4,412 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.
Similarly, during the first half of the 20th century, Britain provided military support in the form of protection and arms to the Zionists, encouraged Jewish immigration from Europe to Palestine, and allowed them to displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes as they built a new territory. state for themselves.
In November 1948, Israelis used planes to bomb the northern village of Tarshiha in rural Acre, destroying three homes – including Haninun’s family home – and killing seven of his relatives.
“Before that, we had evacuated our homes several times for two or three days and returned. We didn’t take anything,” he remembers. “We thought we would come back, especially since we couldn’t recover the dead from under the rubble.”
But they never succeeded.
Haninun, then five years old, and four members of his family were forced to move between seven cities in Lebanon and Syria before being allowed to stay in a refugee camp in Aleppo, a “tragic” setting with small room for each family. no kitchen, no bathroom or shared running water and toilets.
He remembers Arab radio stations and governments promising the Palestinians a quick return – after seven days, then after seven weeks, then after seven months, until more than seven decades had passed.
“This cracked record has been playing since 1948, when people were fleeing from one village to another, only to face massacres, because the enemy considered the “others” as animals and killed them like one kills cattle – and this logic is always the same. same today.
Haninun moved to Damascus, the Syrian capital, to study history. After that, he worked as a teacher in Aleppo, living in the camp, until the Syrian war forced him to flee to Idlib in 2014. But what he still longs for is the chance, one day , to return to Palestine – and to its roots.
“There is still hope,” Haninun said. “If I die before returning to Palestine, I will tell my children and grandchildren that you have a right to this land and that we are the real owners. »
Strengthening the Palestinian cause
On Thursday, the Ain Jalut Scouts and the Syrian Private Scouts marched through downtown Idlib, one of several activities held in the region in recent weeks in support of Gaza.
Ayman Muhammad, 40, a displaced Palestinian residing in the northwestern Syrian city and scout leader of the Ain Jalut group, told Al Jazeera that the injustice Palestinians have suffered for 75 years is the motivation for organizing demonstrations as well as to raise funds and provide support. via social networks.
Israel’s war against Gaza has strengthened the Palestinian cause, Mohammed believes. “Today, the West and the East, from one end to the other, stand with the Palestinian people against aggression. »
In October, major cities around the world witnessed protests bringing together hundreds of thousands of people to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and freedom for Palestine.
Palestinians in Idlib cannot sit idly by, Mohammed said. Despite the difficult economic and security conditions in Idlib, he added, members of the Palestinian community and Syrian supporters managed to collect around $400,000 in donations for Gaza.
Syrian activists also took part in protests in support of Palestine despite bombing by government forces and Russian warplanes targeting rallies in the country’s last rebel stronghold.
For Palestinians from northern Syria who are experiencing the war in Syria, the Syrian revolution and the Palestinian cause are now inseparable, believes Mohammed. “Victory will come for both causes because the right will not be lost as long as we demand it,” he said.
