Monday, April 12, 2010

Deir Yassin's inextinguishable fire


(The author's mother standing near the site of the Deir Yassin massacre more than 60 years after it happened. Dina Elmuti)
Dina Elmuti writing from Deir Yassin, Palestine
""Deir Yassin," she says with a sadness, a sense of loss in her eyes each time she speaks of the atrocious day she lost her home. "Deir Yassin," she says with a childlike innocence in her voice as she recalls sweet memories before her entire world was completely denatured by evil. "Deir Yassin," the imperishable words of my grandmother continue to resonate with me each day for she made me promise to never forget, and that's a promise I intend to keep to her.

I followed the imperiously-placed road signs leading to Givat Shaul until the memories began flooding back, one by one. With no place to park, I took the chance of leaving the yellow-plated car on the side of the road, near the abandoned blue fence so I would be able to step back in time on foot. In the cool breeze of that afternoon, standing on the ledge overlooking the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in scenic view of the Jewish Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, I inhaled deeply and digested the view of what was now known as Givat Shaul. As I stood there taking in the surreal surroundings of Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem, I was overcome by emotions as the tales of my grandmother soon came to life right before my very eyes."

No comments:

Post a Comment