Saffuriyya - صفوريه

 Suffuriyah is a village 6 km away from Nazareth, all Survivors said that the village is named after “ملك الاصفر", the yellow king, who ruled the land thousands of years ago.

 Survivor, Rajih al Ja3fari mentioned that there were historical artifacts that dated back to the yellow king’s rule. Nakbeh Survivor, Salam Abdel Majid said that he was told the King’s name was suffaryaaa. 

 The village of ‏Saffuriyya was a farming village, everyone for the most part owned land, they focused on farming mainly lentil, chick peas, barley and wheat. Rajih al Ja3fari mentioned that Saffuriyya’s corn were huge and very heavy. He also said that everyone only took care of their own land, no one really went out of their way to help one another. There were traders that would come into Saffuriyya and purchase some harvest, but no one sold their olive oil and they kept it to themselves. Everyone was very self sustainable in the village and they survived on their land, there were not other career options 

  The elders would spend nights playing card games, while the youth played soccer. The balls were hand made, they were hard as a rock that some folks even used it to hurt each other.
 

Trigger Warning: Nakba Story of Salam Abdel Majid

It was the 10th day of Ramadan, Salam  and his younger brother Sulieman broke their fast and went to the Bustan (kinda like a field) to play. Salam was 15 years old at the time.They were half an hour away from the houses when they heard the bombs, they panicked and ran together to the village. Once they arrived, the houses were empty, and the animals were running around. They kept running till they found a huge group of their people walking, they held hands and walked a whole day with no sleep, food, or water. When they arrived to a Palestinian village called I3’reet, a man approached them and offered them food, Salem and his brother kept crying through their meals, and they slept in the family’s home before they were taken to Beirut. 

Trigger Warning: Nakba story of Abdel Majed Kan3an

It was after 3sha ( at night ) in the summer, when the tanks and planes entered the village shooting and bombing houses and people. He mentioned that he saw his neighbor’s house explode, and that only one person from that specific family survived. He also said that the zionists first targeted the largest mosque in the village.

At the time, Abdel Majed was 28, married with 4 kids. He walked with the other villagers outside of the village, they didn’t have anytime To pick their things or even dress properly. He said that he had to take care of his 85 year old mom, who was struggling to keep up with everyone. They walked for days to Bin Jbeil in Lebanon, and the trip was mostly filled with tears and cries, and  hunger and pain.

They slept under fig trees on the way. When they finally arrived to bin Jbeil, they were takes to a specific area with barely any water for 6 days before they were taken to a refugee camp where each 3x3 room was separated by a blanket. He recalled a frog slipping through the room and his daughter, 5draa, crying and screaming for it to go away.  

The interviewer asked Abdel Majed, how his mind put up with somuch trauma while walking away from his home, Abdel Majed responded my mind? My mind was no longer with me, my mind, my faith, my religion, and my heart are all in Suffuriyah.