Salman Abu-Sitta

Salman H Abu Sitta (1938- ) is a Palestinian researcher and writes about Palestinian refugees and their right to return to their homes and land. [ [http://www.al-awda.org/abusitta.html al Awda] Back to Roots by Salman Abu Sitta address at Al-Awda’s 4th International Convention San Francisco, 14th - 16th July 2006]

Biography

Abu-Sitta was born in Beersheba (Bir al-Sabi), British Mandate of Palestine, in what is now the Southern District of Israel. After making a 40 kilometer journey to his home on foot from his boarding school, Abu-Sitta escaped a few days later with his family to Gaza and joined the first wave of Palestinian refugees. Abu-Sitta moved to the prestigious al-Saidiya secondary school in Cairo where he graduated with "excellence", 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. [ [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/690/profile.htm al Ahram] profile of Salman Abu-Sitta]

*Former member of Palestine National Council (20 years).
*Researcher on refugee affairs and author of over 200 papers on the subject.
*Director of international development and construction projects.
*Founder and President of the Palestine Land Society (PLS). [ [http://www.plands.org/pls.htm Palestine Land Society] ]
*General coordinator of "al-Awda" the Palestinian Right of Return Coalition

Documentation of al-Nakba

Abu-Sitta, has spent 40 years digging for any detail of information about, or related to, Palestine before, during and after the creation of Israel. Abu-Sitta’s self-imposed mission has encompassed not only documenting al-Nakba, but also ensuring that "the memories and identity of the occupied homeland are never lost". The documentation process began when he was 30 years-old, when he stumbled on the memoirs of the Turkish chief of Beersheba, when Palestine was under Ottoman rule. The document dated back to the early years of the last 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."

Published works

*"The Return Journey" (2007) Palestine Land Society ISBN 0954903412
*"Atlas of Palestine, 1948" Palestine Land Society (January 2004) ISBN 0954903404
*"The Palestinian Nakba 1948": The register of depopulated localities in Palestine (Occasional Return Centre studies) (1998 reprinted 2000) Palestinian Return Centre ISBN 1901924106

Articles

* [http://peacepalestine.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/salman-abu-sitta-traces-of-poison-israels-dark-history-revealed/ Peace Palestine] Traces of Poison: Israel’s Dark History Revealed
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3085472558702823511 Google video] Geography of Occupation
* [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Right-Of-Return/ Palestine Remembered] Palestine Right Of Return, Sacred, Legal, and Possible
* [http://www.jerusalemites.org/press_release/2005/7-6-2005.htm Jerusalemite] 7 June 2007 "Atlas of Palestine 1948: Reconstructing Palestine"

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.palestineremembered.com/index.html Palestine Remembered]
* [http://www.al-awda.org/ al-Awda]
* [http://www.plands.org/ Palestine Land Society]