African-Palestinian communitys deep

roots in liberation struggle

Ali Jiddah speaks with a tour group in the Old City of Jerusalem in March 2014.
Ryan Rodrick Beiler

Budour Youssef Hassan-Jerusalem 10 July 2015

In early June the African Community Club in Jerusalems

Old City was crammed with mourners. They had come to pay their respects to the late

Subhiyeh Sharaf, an amiable woman and community elder.

The club serves as the headquarters of the African Community Society. It is a gathering
place for the African community and a social and cultural center for Palestinians,
screening films and hosting debates and other activities.
Outside the club, young men were running to bring tea to every incoming guest and
maintain order. The necessary funds for Sharafs funeral ceremony were raised
through donations as is typically the case during occasions of mourning and
celebrations that take place in the African community here.
This is known as hatita, a longstanding tradition among Jerusalems AfricanPalestinians, in which community members contribute a certain sum of money
according to their ability.
The tradition mirrors the strong ties and communal solidarity that distinguish the
African community in Jerusalem. Most of this community, of approximately 350
people, live in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
Interviews with members of the community and the societys Arabic website reveal a
rich history. African migration to Jerusalem dates back to 634 when Omar Bin alKhattab, the second Muslim caliph, conquered Jerusalem. But it wasnt until the
beginning of the 20th century that Africans started settling in Jerusalem in significant
numbers.
Coming mainly from Chad, Sudan, Nigeria and Senegal, Africans flocked to Jerusalem
for two main reasons. The first was religious: some considered Jerusalem the final
destination of their pilgrimage. The second reason was their willingness to fight along
with Palestinians against British and Zionist colonialism.
Guardians of mosque
The Africans who came to Jerusalem were initially scattered across the city but were in
the early 1930s concentrated in two buildings facing each other, a few meters away
from one of the main gates to al-Aqsa mosque. The gate is known as Bab al-Nazir or
Bab al-Majlis.
The neighborhood itself was built in the 13th century and is characterized by its
Mamluk-era architecture. It primarily served as a resting place for pilgrims and as a

shelter for the poor and the homeless.

During the final years of Ottoman rule, the buildings were turned into a notorious
prison compound where rebels against the Ottomans were held, including African
dissidents. Following the end of Ottoman rule, the buildings referred to as al-Ribat
al-Mansouri (or al-Ribat al-Kurdi) and al-Ribat Aladdin al-Bassir became part of the
Islamic Waqf, a religious trust.
In the early 1930s, Palestinian political and religious leader Sheikh Amin alHusseini leased them to Jerusalems Africans.
While taking pride in their African roots and trying to preserve their ancestral
traditions, Africans in Jerusalem have largely integrated with other Palestinians and
were woven into the Palestinian Jerusalemite fabric. This integration was facilitated by
shared religious ties, the sense of belonging that Africans immediately formed with
Jerusalem and the fact that African migrants could easily interact in Arabic.
The two most powerful manifestations of this integration are social and political. On
the social level, intermarriages between Africans and other Palestinians in Jerusalem
are common, occasional complications notwithstanding.
Active in struggle
This is not to say that racism against African-Palestinians doesnt exist. Some
Palestinians who are not from Jerusalem pejoratively refer to the African community
as the neighborhood of slaves, for instance.
Mahmoud Jiddah, an African community member and alternative tour guide, told The
Electronic Intifada that we occasionally face racism by other Palestinians due to our
darker skins, but by no means can you say that this is a trend. Far from it.
He added that the main perpetrator of racism is the Israeli police. We face a twofold
oppression by the Israeli occupation: first because we are Palestinian; and second
because we are black, he said.
On the political level, Africans have been strongly involved in the Palestinian struggle.
Jiddah, whose father migrated to Jerusalem from Chad at the beginning of the 20th
century, said that Africans were particularly active in the Arab Salvation Army and
played a key role in the Jerusalem battles during the 1948 Nakba, Israels ethnic

cleansing of Palestine. In fact, the commander of the battalion that prevented the fall
of Jabal al-Mukabber an East Jerusalem neighborhood in 1948 was the Nigerianborn Muhammad Tariq al-Afriqi.
Africans also suffered their fair share of displacement during the Nakba with almost
one-quarter of the original African population in Jerusalem becoming refugees in
neighboring countries.
The role of Africans in the Palestinian liberation struggle became even more notable
following the 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem.
The very first female Palestinian political prisoner was Fatima Barnawi, a Palestinian
of Nigerian descent, who served 10 years in Israeli occupation jails after a foiled
bombing attack in Jerusalem. She was released in a 1977 prisoner exchange and
deported.
During the height of the first intifada, a high percentage of the African population
both male and female was imprisoned.
The first Palestinian killed during the second intifada was Osama Jiddah. A member of
the African community, he was shot dead by Israeli forces on 29 September 2000
while on his way to donate blood in al-Maqased hospital on the Mount of Olives.
These are just a few examples of the active participation of the African community in
the Palestinian struggle for liberation that belies their relatively small numbers. For
the African community, resistance is not a choice, but an obligation made unavoidable
by living in the Old City.
Passport racism
For some people coming from other places in Palestine to pray in Jerusalem for the
first time, it is not obvious that there is a community that lives a few meters away from
one of the holiest Muslim sites. Their initial reaction when they learn about it is to say
that these people are so lucky and blessed.
For African-Palestinians, however, this can occasionally be a blessing in disguise.
Living in the heart of the Old City means being a target of Israels constant attempts to
drive Palestinians out of this place and erase Palestinian identity and existence. In this
context, Israel systematically denies building permits to African-Palestinians living in
the Old City.

Even minor restorations or the building of an additional room are banned, forcing
people to smuggle basic construction materials into the neighborhood. Newlybuilt Israeli settlements in the city are quickly restored and expanded, while
Palestinians are threatened with demolitions if they build one additional room or
restore their houses.
Restrictions on building combined with high levels of poverty and unemployment
have forced some members of the African community, particularly the younger
generation, to look for residence outside the Old City. Many have moved to areas
like Beit Hanina or Shuafat because it is extremely difficult to accommodate a growing
family in the Old City.
This problem is faced by all Palestinians in the Old City. But one problem unique to
African-Palestinians is that unlike most Palestinians in Jerusalem many of them
do not have a Jordanian passport.
My father carried a French passport which he gave up following Chads independence
in 1960, said Mahmoud Jiddah. When he applied for a Jordanian passport since
Jerusalem was under Jordanian rule then it took him more than four years to
receive it But even the fact that my father carried a Jordanian passport doesnt mean
that I could automatically attain one. Ive only received a temporary passport a couple
of years ago and its about to expire.
Jiddah added that he has a list of 50 African-Palestinians from Jerusalem who are
banned from receiving a Jordanian passport. He explained that this Jordanian policy
of refusing to give passports to African-Palestinians has to do with considering them
strangers.
He said: Imagine weve been living here for our entire lives and weve sacrificed
everything for Jerusalem and the Jordanian authorities consider us strangers. But
when they ruled over Jerusalem in 1948, they suddenly became the kings.
African-Palestinians are forced to travel using a laissez-passer, which means they are
not allowed to visit Arab countries with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.
Alternatively they are left with the option of applying for a Palestinian Authority or
international passport which could jeopardize their residency status in Jerusalem. The

other option left is to apply for an Israeli passport, which the community strongly
rejects.

Microcosm
In a sense, the African community in Jerusalem is a microcosm of the challenges
Palestinians in Jerusalem face, and of the resilience they maintain.
Jiddah was arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 5 September 1968, along with his
brother Abdullah and their cousin and comrade in the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine, Ali Jiddah.
Mahmoud was sentenced to 25 years in jail, while Ali was sentenced to 20 for planting
bombs. Both of them were released in 20 May 1985 in a prisoner exchange between
Israel and the splinter group PFLP-GC.
A self-proclaimed Palestinian, African and socialist, Mahmoud, like his cousin, refused
all pressure to deport him from Jerusalem. The men preferred to spend most of their
lives in jail over leaving Jerusalem.
Mahmouds brother Abdullah, though, was deported in 1970, and was separated from
his family and city.
The first time I saw my brother was in Switzerland in 1993 when I got an invitation to
a human rights conference in Geneva. I will never forget that moment, Jiddah said.
The second time we met after that was in Jordan in 2012, which only makes me
wonder: do I still have 20 years left in my life to see my brother again?
Mahmoud Jiddah is as old as the Nakba. His community embodies the Palestinian
narrative of uprooting, defiance and survival in all of its details.
Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian blogger and law graduate based in Jerusalem.
Blog:budourhassan.wordpress.com. Twitter: @Budour48
Posted by Thavam