WEST BANK: Palestinians visit a cemetery for Iraqi soldiers who fought Israel during the 1948 and 1967 wars

Record ID: 561738

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians visit a cemetery for Iraqi soldiers who fought Israel during the 1948 and 1967 wars
  • Date: 5th June 2007
  • Summary: MUSTAFA NAZAL HOLDING PICTURES OF TWO IRAQI SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) MUSTAFA NAZAL, 85-YEAR-OLD 1948 AND 1967 WAR VETERAN, SAYING: "They are Iraqi soldiers who fought in Palestine in 1948, (Q: Where did you get their photos from?) They gave them to me before returning to Iraq."
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: History,Obituaries
  • Reuters ID: LVABU1N9H2T174DSTDGR0B886M9R
  • Story Text: Eighty-five-year-old Mustafa Nazal is amongst old friends in the Iraqi cemetery in Qabatya in the West Bank. Many of the 100 men buried there fought alongside him in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars as part of Iraqi contingents to Palestine.
    "This is called the cemetery of the Iraqi soldiers, who died during the 1948 war, they came from Iraq to Palestine to fight for Palestine and Palestinian people," says Nazal.
    On the eve of the fortieth anniversary of the Six-Day War, Nazal visits the old cemetery to pay his respects to his fallen comrades-in-arms. He shows children gathered around him fading black and white photographs and tells them stories of hope, bravery and deception.
    "They are Iraqi soldiers who fought in Palestine in 1948," Nazal says. "They gave them to me before returning to Iraq."
    The town's mayor Issam Nazal says the small cemetery is maintained with the help of the municipality and local volunteers. They are even applying for funds to carry out some renovation work.
    "In addition to the efforts of the Qabatya municipality, volunteers from organisations and members of the community take care of the cemetery. Our cousin Muhammad Nazal is responsible, and as you see it is ready for renovation. We have submitted proposals to several organisations, including international ones, in order to renovate it."
    Forty years after fighting his last battle for Palestinian liberation, Mustafa and his old friends find themselves in occupied territory.
    The West Bank was annexed by Israel in 1967 -- along with Arab East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights.
    Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt under a 1979 peace treaty that followed a 1973 Middle East war, and signed a peace accord with Jordan in 1994.
    The Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem remain under Israeli occupation.
    Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Palestinians have established limited self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza under interim peace deals signed in the 1990s that envisage a final treaty creating a Palestinian state in both territories alongside a secure Israel.
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