Salman Abu Sitta (Arabic: سلمان ابو ستة; born 1937) is a Palestinian researcher. Abu Sitta, who was expelled from Palestine as a child in 1948, has dedicated his life to the Palestinian cause and is engaged in public debates with Israeli peace activists. Abu Sitta is the founder and President of Palestine Land Society in London, dedicated to the documentation of Palestine’s land and People.
Salman Abu Sitta | |
|---|---|
سلمان ابو ستة | |
.JPG) Salman Abu Sitta after giving a lecture at the University of Nottingham | |
| Born | 1937 Ma'in Abu Sitta, Beersheba district, Mandatory Palestine |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Cairo University University College London |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Palestinian Studies |
He is most known for mapping Palestine and developing a practical plan for implementing the right of return of Palestinian refugees.[1][2]
Early life
editSalman Abu Sitta was born in 1937 into a Palestinian family. His family's land and the village bore their name, Ma'in Abu Sitta (the Abu Sitta springwell), in Beer Sheba District of Mandatory Palestine. In 1948 he became a refugee, fleeing to the Gaza Strip following the 1948 Palestinian expulsion during the 1948 Palestine war. He later attended and graduated from al-Saidiya secondary school in Cairo, Egypt, ranking first in Egypt. 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 the University of London, UCL.
Career
editHe was a member of the Palestine National Council. He studied refugee affairs and authored over 400 papers on the subject. He directed international development and construction projects. He was the founder and President of the Palestine Land Society (PLS)[3] He was the General Coordinator of the Right of Return Congress.
Abu Sitta engaged in debates with Israelis who professed interest in peace without the return of the refugees, including Uri Avnery and Rabbi Michael Lerner.[4]
Palestinian expulsion (al Nakba)
editAbu Sitta spent 40 years digging for information related to Palestine before, during and after al Nakba, the destruction of Palestine. Abu Sitta's work ensured 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'.[5] The documentation process began when he was 30 years old, when he stumbled on the memoirs of the Turkish chief of Beersheba,[6] when Palestine was under Ottoman rule. The document dated to the early twentieth century.
"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 claimed to show that the return of the refugees to their homes is sacred to Palestinians, legal under international law and possible without major dislocation to the Jewish settlers in Palestine.[7] His work also includes the compendium Atlas of Palestine 1917-1966.[8]
Views
editAfter the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October Abu Sitta wrote on the American news website Mondoweiss about the "determination and courage of those young people" referring to those who executed the attack. He also stated that he "could have been one of those who broke through the siege" on October 7.[9]
Published works
edit- The Return Journey. (2007) Palestine Land Society ISBN 0-9549034-1-2
- Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir American University in Cairo Press Series G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. (2016) American University in Cairo Press, 2016 / Oxford University Press, 2016 ISBN 978-977-416-730-0[10]
- Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966. Palestine Land Society (December 2010) ISBN 978-0-9549034-2-8[11]
- 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
Articles
edit- Peace Palestine - Traces of Poison: Israel's Dark History Revealed, December 4, 2007 (about the biological war)
- Geography of Occupation
- Palestine Remembered Palestine Right Of Return, Sacred, Legal, and Possible
- Jerusalemite 7 June 2007 "Atlas of Palestine 1948: Reconstructing Palestine"
Videos
editReferences
edit- ^ 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. S2CID 151533597.
- ^ Abu Sitta, Salman (14–16 July 2006). "Back to Roots". Al-Awda. Retrieved 23 February 2014. Address to 4th International Convention, San Francisco.
- ^ "About". Palestine Land Society. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Debate Between Salman Abu Sitta and Michael Lerner of Tikkun on The Right of Return". CounterPunch. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Avnery, Uri (16 May 2014). "The Moral Right of the Refugees to Return". Counterpunch. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Howeidy, Amira (13–19 May 2004). "Salman Abu Sitta: Right of Return, A Palestine perspective on life". Al Ahram. No. 690. Archived from the original on 11 July 2008.
- ^ Abu Sitta, Salman (2001). "The Right of Return: Sacred, Legal and Possible". In Aruri, Naseer (ed.). Palestinian Refugees - The Right of Return. London: Pluto Press. pp. 195–207. doi:10.2307/j.ctt18fs9x9.16.
- ^ Abu-Sitta, Salman H. (2010), Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966, Palestine Land Society, London: Palestine Land Society, ISBN 978-0-9549034-2-8, OCLC 693947063, retrieved 31 March 2022
- ^ "I could have been one of those who broke through the siege on October 7". Mondoweiss. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Abu-Sitta, Salman H. (16 April 2024). Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-977-416-730-0.
- ^ The Atlas of Palestine (1917-1966) at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 December 2019)