Exodus

EI

"There were bombings during that time. I used to look outside the window and see explosions coming from all directions. My daughters, one four years old, the other two years old, were very scared."

"On our way to Baghdad we saw many pick up trucks with Palestinian refugees in the back. They were coming from villages that had been massacred or destroyed, taken by Iraqi troops to Baghdad. They traveled all that way under the hot sun, with nothing above them to provide shade. I would see them throwing up out of the back of the trucks, getting sick from the heat. They were taken to 'Tobchee,' a neighborhood with government housing, and received assistance from the Iraqi government." Tata explained that these refugees, the ones that were able to resettle in Iraq, were the lucky ones.

Many Palestinians ended up in refugee camps in squalid circumstances, both "internally" in what came to be known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and externally in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Many Palestinian refugees faced hostility from their government hosts, but in some countries such as Lebanon, they held and still hold practically no rights amid systematic policies of discrimination towards refugees.

Naeim Giladi

Later I made my way to the new state of Israel, arriving in May, 1950. My passport had my name in Arabic and English, but the English couldn't capture the "kh" sound, so it was rendered simply as Klaski. At the border, the immigration people applied the English version, which had an Eastern European, Ashkenazi ring to it. In one way, this "mistake" was my key to discovering very soon just how the Israeli caste system worked.

They asked me where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. I was the son of a farmer; I knew all the problems of the farm, so I volunteered to go to Dafnah, a farming kibbutz in the high Galilee. I only lasted a few weeks. The new immigrants were given the worst of everything. The food was the same, but that was the only thing that everyone had in common. For the immigrants, bad cigarettes, even bad toothpaste. Everything. I left.

News in brief

Palestinian West Bank village under curfew

Hindi Mesleh, a resident of Nilin who spoke to reporters outside the town, said he had managed to evade the cordon and leave. He called the curfew "collective punishment" and said food and medical supplies were being kept out of the town. Another resident contacted by telephone inside the town, Mohammad Khawaja, said he had seen some 100 soldiers stopping villagers from leaving their homes. He said about 50 people were wounded by tear gas and rubber bullets during Sunday's clashes.

A palestinian boy of 13 was detained for two months and beaten says israeli human rights organisation B'tselem.

International human rights law requires separation of adult and minor prisoners and detainees. Israel meets the requirement with respect to Israeli adults and minors. In the case of Palestinians who are suspected of security offenses or have been convicted of security offenses, Israel breaches the requirement systematically.

UK plans to remove 11,ooo zimbabwean refugees according to refugee groups

A removal letter, sent at the end of May to an exiled London-based member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, states: 'The support that you have been provided with is to be discontinued ... You should note that there is no right to appeal against this decision ... You must now leave the United Kingdom.'

(see Refugee Council)

US kills wedding guests say witnesses. US says they were in fact Taliban fighters.

Witnesses said at least 20 civilians, travelling to the wedding in Nangarhar on Sunday, were killed. Women and children were among the dead and injured.

A spaniard narrowly beats a swiss at a game of tennis according to my TV set. No-one has yet disputed that fact.

6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7