The uprooted refugees of Haifa are my people and their tragedy is part of the formative story of the entire Palestinian people

On Thursday, Nakba Day was marked in Haifa, the city where I was born and have lived all my life. When I walk the streets of Haifa, I can’t help but think of the people who once lived in the abandoned houses, my Aunt Fathiya among them. On April 22, 1948, the conquest of the city was completed. Tens of thousands of Haifa’s people became refugees in Lebanon and other countries, while others scattered throughout Israel, and to this day not one of them has been permitted to return to their home. On the morning of April 23, out of the 70,000 Palestinian Arab residents of Haifa, only 2,900 remained.