Palestinian return truck waiting for passengers

PIC reported:

In the heart of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a 69-year-old Palestinian truck toured the city to commemorate the bitter anniversary of Nakba. Decorated by a Palestinian flag, the truck is fighting against time by keeping its old features until today, referring to a right that refuses to be forgotten by the passing of time.

During the central commemoration event of the Nakba in Nablus, the truck arrived near the main municipal compound, carrying the number 1941, the year it was manufactured, and a symbolic registration number.

The Harharah truck became one of the symbols of the commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba in Nablus and other West Bank cities, symbolizing the trucks that accompanied the displacement of Palestinians from their homes and later their scattering all over the world.

Abdelsalam Mahmoud Harharah, the current owner of the truck, whose family was displaced from Jaffa, said: “This truck has lived through the Nakba, and before it the British Mandate, then after it the arrival of Arab armies, the Jordanian rule, then the Israeli occupation, and now the Palestinian Authority, and it carries permits from every era.”

He added that the original owner of the truck was the late Atif Badran who was related to the Harharah family and who worked for decades as a driver between Palestinian cities and abroad, and was carrying brides to Jordan, returning to the West Bank loaded with gifts, trusts and parcels.

Today, the truck became a title for companies that seek to produce films about the Nakba and old times in Palestine. Years ago, it participated in a Palestinian film that took two years to shoot.

In response to a question about the possibility of selling it, Harharah said the truck is very old and is worthless, but its moral value is high, being a dear legacy, thus the family keeps it.

On the occasion of the Nakba, the truck draws photographers’ attention, being a symbol of the Palestinian identity, in all its details, and brings to mind the memories of the elders about the lives of their ancestors.

In order to maintain it, the truck is kept throughout the year in a family house in Askar refugee camp, to east of Nablus, where the Harharah family lives, and the family brings it out only during the Nakba commemoration anniversary.

Palestinians these days are commemorating the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, which was a tragic turning point in the lives of the Palestinian people after they had been robbed of their land, property, and wealth, and were subjected to systematic killings and displacement by Zionist gangs in 1948.