Salman Abu Sitta
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Salman Abu Sitta (Arabic: سلمان ابو ستة; born 1937) is a Palestinian researcher most known for his ground-breaking project mapping of Palestine in 21st, 20th and 19th centuries and developing a practical plan for implementing the Palestinian right of return of Palestinian refugees.[1][2]
Biography[]
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Abu Sitta was born in 1937 into a Palestinian family.[citation needed] Since 1922, the land had been under the jurisdiction of the British, under the provision of the British Mandate for Palestine. Prior to this, the Ottomans had ruled the region for four hundred years. Abu Sitta's family's land and the village bore their name, Ma'in Abu Sitta (the Abu Sitta springwell), in Beer Sheba District of Palestine.
Fighting intensified in the centre of Mandatory Palestine in March, hence the decision of Abu Sitta's headmaster. Abu Sitta made the 40 km journey from Beer Sheba town back to his home on foot, and joined his family.
On the day Israel was declared, Abu Sitta became a refugee.
With the Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949, Abu Sitta's family remained refugees in Gaza Strip. Abu Sitta then moved to the prestigious al-Saidiya secondary school in Cairo, Egypt, where he graduated with "excellence", ranking first in Egypt..[citation needed] After graduating from Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering in 1958, Abu Sitta went to the United Kingdom to continue his post-graduate studies, receiving his PhD in Civil Engineering from one of the well-known colleges of the University of London, UCL.
After graduating from Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering in 1958, Abu Sitta went to the United Kingdom to continue his post-graduate studies, receiving his PhD in Civil Engineering from one of the well known colleges of the University of London, UCL.
He then took positions in London, Canada and Kuwait. His key activities include:
- Member of Palestine National Council
- Researcher on refugee affairs and author of over 400 papers on the subject
- Director of international development and construction projects
- Founder and President of the Palestine Land Society (PLS)
- General coordinator of the Right of Return Congress.
Abu Sitta has engaged in debates with Israelis who profess interest in peace without the return of the refugees, including Uri Avnery and Rabbi Michael Lerner.
Documentation of the 1948 Palestinian exodus (al Nakba)[edit]
Abu Sitta has spent 40 years digging for any detail of information about or related to Palestine before, during and after The Nakba. Abu Sitta's work has encompassed not only documenting the Nakba in which an estimated 6-800,000 Palestinians were displaced in 1948, but also ensuring that "the memories and identity of the occupied homeland are never lost". He is regarded by Uri Avnery as perhaps 'the world's foremost expert on the Nakba'. The documentation process began when he was 22 years old, when he was studying in England.
"It sort of started from there, and it has never stopped," Abu Sitta says. "I kept collecting all and any material on every inch of my homeland."
Abu Sitta's work was to show that the return of the refugees to their homes is not only sacred to Palestinians, legal under international law but also feasible and possible without major dislocation to the existing Israeli Citizens.[citation needed] His work also includes the compendium "Atlas of Palestine 1917- 1966", (Palestine Land Society, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-9549034-2-8) and Arabi edition in 2012, also the Atlas of Palestine 1871-1877, London 2020 depicting Ottoman Syria - Palestina before it's occupation by the British forces. Additionally the Return Journey Atlas (2006) which shows the depopulated Palestinian village lands and the Israeli villages which occupy the land today.
Published works[]
- The Return Journey (2007) Palestine Land Society, ISBN 0-9549034-1-2
- Atlas of Palestine, 1917- 1966 Palestine Land Society (December 2010), ISBN 978-0-9549034-2-8
- The Palestinian Nakba 1948: The register of depopulated localities in Palestine (Occasional Return Centre studies) (1998 reprinted 2000), Palestinian Return Centre, ISBN 1-901924-10-6
- Mapping My Return, The American University in Cairo Press (May 2016), ISBN 9789774167300
Articles[]
- Peace Palestine Traces of Poison: Israel’s Dark History Revealed
- Geography of Occupation
- Palestine Remembered Palestine Right Of Return, Sacred, Legal, and Possible
- Jerusalemite 7 June 2007 "Atlas of Palestine 1948: Reconstructing Palestine"
Youtube[]
- 'Right of Return Conference, Day 1:Keynote Address 13 May 2013.
References[]
- ^ Irfan, Anne (20 January 2017). "Mapping my Return: a Palestinian memoir" (PDF). British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 44 (2): 283–284. doi:10.1080/13530194.2016.1272216.
- ^ Abu Sitta, Salman (14–16 July 2006). "Back to Roots". Al-Awda. Retrieved 23 February 2014. Address to 4th International Convention, San Francisco.
External links[]
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- 1937 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of London
- Cairo University alumni
- Palestinists
- Palestinian non-fiction writers
- Politicians from Beersheba
- Palestinian refugees