Loading ...The way we were: Rare Palestinian family albums to be put on show
By Zena Al Tahhan | Special to Al Arabiya News
A man sporting a dark suit and natty bowtie stares intensely into the camera, while a young woman wearing a light floral dress looks into the distance with a wistful, serene expression. A massive carpet and two vases of ostrich feathers fill the background.
This is just one of thousands of rare images taken in the early 20th century, just years before many of the people like the ones pictured would have to flee their homeland, never to return.
Compiled by the Palestinian Museum, which is seeking to preserve historical photographs and family albums for posterity, the photographs are of historical importance due to the seperation and dissolution of Palestine – then a British mandate – that was to follow in the next few decades.
During the course of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, more than 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, partly facing forced expulsion by Zionist militias, and partly escaping in fear. This exodus, termed the ‘Nakba,’ meaning ‘catastrophe’ by Palestinians, gave birth to the Palestinian refugee problem, when the newly founded state of Israel passed a law banning Palestinians from returning to their homes.
Today, Palestinian refugees number approximately 5 million, many of whom continue to live in run-down refugee camps, with over 2 million living in Jordan, 450,000 in Lebanon, 500,000 in Syria, and over 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) residing in the West Bank and Gaza, according to U.N. figures.
Under the title ‘Family Album’, the project is being carried out by the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, 25km north of Ramallah.
The project’s spokeswoman, Rana Anani says the core idea of the project is to offer ways to connect with Palestinian communities abroad that are forbidden from visiting their homeland.
“We aim to tell the story of Palestine, and to introduce the new Palestinian generations to their history, especially now with the digitalization of everything — they are not exposed to the photographs in old family albums,” said Anani.
Preserved memories
The high resolution images are being exhibited in an online publication from Palestinian families across the country and in the diaspora.
The photographs will be made available to the public in digital form on an open portal set to be launched within the next few months.
Researchers have digitally stored up to 4,000 photographs so far.
Under the slogan ‘Your Pictures, Your Memory, Our History,’ the ongoing project kicked off in November 2014 in the West Bank, and has since expanded to Jerusalem and historic Palestine.
The next phase of the ‘Family Album’ project will see research groups working to interview Palestinian families in Gaza and in neighboring countries, starting with Lebanon and Jordan.
Hopping from one house to the next, researchers have been sitting with Palestinian families for hours at a time, recording the stories behind the photographs and cooperatively selecting the pictures to be featured.
Each photograph to be displayed will be accompanied with the respective family name to which it belongs and with the family’s account of the people or events shown in the picture.
Fady Asleh, the research coordinator in Jerusalem and the 1948 territories says that the reaction from Palestinian families has been one of enthusiasm and relief that such a project is finally underway.
“We are affording new material and resources for researchers of Palestinian history, and offering a deeper understanding of the Palestinian case.
Also, many Palestinians in the diaspora will be able to search for their family name and discover their extended family’s history, and hopefully build connections with them,” said Asleh.
The Palestinian Museum
On May 11 2015, the Palestinian Museum gained official international recognition when it was admitted to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), joining a network of 30,000 museums worldwide.
The project, which is expected to cost approximately $43 million in its initial phase, is looking to open its doors in spring 2016, with construction assigned to one of the largest construction firms in the region, the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), and financial backing from the Welfare Association and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.
The Welfare Association first proposed the idea for a museum centered on commemorating the Nakba in 1997, ahead of the Nakba’s 50th anniversary.
“Over the years, the idea changed, because Palestinians were here before the Nakba, and we will continue to be here. So we chose to focus on the past 200 years for now,” said Anani.
The museum’s primary aim is to introduce, through a network of partnerships and different platforms abroad, programs that will allow them to reach out to Palestinians in the diaspora, and in historic Palestine, such as the ‘Family Album’ project.
Source: english.alarabiya.net