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"I came from my school in Akka to my home in Al Ghabsiyah village in April 1948 for Easter break, but I never returned.
"Villagers were terrorised by the news of massacres taking place, which coincided with battles between the Zionist gangs, and Palestinian villagers and the Salvation Arab Army.
"Villagers were only armed with old guns and rifles, and could not face Israeli warplanes. The Arab army asked Palestinians to leave their villages so they can fight Jews while avoiding civilian losses. Unfortunately, people believed this and left. After leaving our village, we went to Tarshiha, where we stayed for two weeks before the situation worsened when Israeli fighters started raiding Tarshiha. The Salvation Army asked the villagers to leave yet another time, to be able to fight Israeli troops. The army told people they had to leave for one or two weeks only, but they were all lies. My biggest regret was believing the army's calls.
"My grief doubled when I returned to Palestine for a reunion visit in 1973 and visited my uncle in Kafr Yassin village in Akka.
"When I entered the village, I kneeled down and kissed the ground, smelling and watering the sands with my tears. I will never forget the image the deserted village. The houses were falling apart, and the mosque was turned into a cow pen. Our old house was surrounded by weeds and I could not reach it.
"On the way back, my cousins and I visited our old fig farms, and although the fig season was over, I found a fig on one of the trees.
"I was meant to eat from the products of our land once again. It was a miracle.
"I am 70 years old and I still dreams of returning home and strongly believes that the Palestinian cause will be solved in 20 years, at most.
"I drew this conclusion from a Jewish man who told me about the definite return of Palestine to its legitimate owners, because the Jewish state would not survive for more than 75 years, according to the Old Testament."
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