"Carnation and thorn" - Yahya Sinvar (short story, part six)

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We entered the school with a very wide area with tall trees. Dozens of rooms were located around the square, flowers were planted on both sides of the corridor at the entrance, and there was a pool of water next to it. My brother Muhammad introduced the school, saying that this is class "A", this is class "B", this is "Teacher's room", this is "Supervisor's room". The morning bell rang and the teachers came out to line up the students. The old ones lined up immediately, new students like us were scattered. They called us by name and gathered us in three rows. Then each class leader took his students to the classes with him. Our class leader was a scholar with a red cap on his head. This meant that he was educated in Azhari, that is Azhar Madrasah. I was admitted to the first "A" class. There, he divided us into three groups based on our height. They separated three children from each group and sat them on wooden desks, a little over a meter long, 40 cm wide, with a box for placing trays under them. A sitting chair was also connected to the desk, and it was the same length as the desk and 20 cm wide. There were three rows of such desks in each class, seven desks in each row, and three students sitting at each desk. There was a distance of about one and a half meters between the two rows, and at the beginning of the last row there was a desk for the teacher, and a large blackboard hung on the opposite wall.

Each student sat in his seat according to the instructions of our teacher, who introduced himself as Hasan. Then teacher Hasan started getting to know us one by one. Each student said his name, and teacher Hasan asked about his father, uncle, uncles, and grandfathers. During the introduction, we learned that the teacher is known to almost all of us, even our uncles. When he asked me, I realized for the first time that my full name is Ahmad Ibrahim Saleh. The teacher opened his hand in prayer and prayed, "May your parents return safely!" I said to myself, "So this teacher is aware that my father has disappeared and we don't know where he is."

During the introduction, school supplies such as books, notebooks, pencils and erasers were brought to the classroom. Our teacher distributed our share to each of us. The books we received were full of beautifully colored pictures with words we could not yet read. There was also a "account" book and a book with "Amma's bribe". In addition, he gave each of us five notebooks and five pencils with erasers. The cover of the notebooks is green and red, and the symbol of the UNESCO organization is placed on it. Then our teacher went to introduce the educational tools to us - "This is a textbook. This is an account book. And these are notebooks. Give three to your mother. We use one of the two notebooks for calculations, and the other for reading books. You bring "Amma's bribe", "Account book", two notebooks, one pen and an eraser with you every day. Do you understand?'

Then he wrote our names in each of our notebooks with his calligraphy skills.

That day's study was over, my brother Muhammad and Ibrahim held hands and returned home carrying our trays full of school supplies. Days went by, I started to learn to read and write like other children, I memorized small surahs. During recess, we would go out to play in the yard and eat the refried bean sandwiches that my mother had made. Our sandwich would have more jam. Sometimes we bought milk cream from aunts who sold skirts outside the school and spread it on the bread we brought with us. It couldn't be sweeter. The sour taste was especially pleasant. After returning home, we had lunch, went out to play, and then did the homework given by Hasan. When we didn't have time to prepare our lessons during the day, we would bring a circle at night, put a lamp on it and teach around it. Adults were sitting around us talking.

Not a week passed without hearing a quarantine announcement coming from the highway. When this is the case, we understand that some devotee has attacked the intruders. Whenever the raiders tried to enter the camp, they were beaten by the devotees and retreated. This continued throughout the year. Our neighbor Abu Yusuf was martyred only once. At that time, Abu Yusuf took two young men with him in order to organize an operation against the invaders. According to their plan, one of the young men had to throw a grenade at a military vehicle and escape in front of them. When they chased after them, Abu Yusuf and his partner had to meet them in an ambush. While the first guy is ambushing a military vehicle to complete his mission, they are ambushed from behind. As a result, the first young man was martyred there, and then Abu Yusuf was shot with his accomplice. All three were martyred immediately.

On this day, the invaders did not declare a quarantine. All the people in the camp came out, men and women, young and old. People were crying because of Abu Yusuf's death. An unprecedented number of people gathered for the funeral of the martyrs in the camps. The people followed him and said, "May our lives and blood be sacrificed, Abu Yusuf. May our lives and blood be sacrificed, Palestine!' , voices were heard repeatedly. With these accompanying sentences, the coffins were rolled around the streets of the camp several times, and then buried in the cemetery near the camp. That day, at the turn of the century, my grandfather led me to the place where people were sitting at the back of our yard. They sat there and discussed the latest events. In the end, you are not mistaken, the martyrdom of Abu Yusuf and his companions became the main topic. Everyone was horrified by what happened. A person in the meeting began: "They have fallen into the trick of the enemy." One of the sitters asked:

- How did this happen?

- As you heard. The enemy attacked them from behind. That is, they did not come from the side where the opponent was waiting, but from behind.

Then a third person joined the conversation and asked:

- What are you saying?

- As you heard!

My grandfather also joined the conversation:

- Do you want to say that someone betrayed? I mean, there is a traitor among us, am I right? - he said. The first person who started the conversation, getting to a point, answered:

- I know. I have a feeling who can do this.

Meanwhile, another member of the assembly said: "Unbelievable!" Why...! Ex... Abu Yusuf... May God have mercy on you! Let someone like you come in your place, my god!" he cried.

It's been a few days. We were playing in the street near sunset, when the quarantine period was about to start. At one point, a group of armed fighters from the devotees entered and settled down at different points of the avenue. Among them, Abu Hatim dragged one of the camp residents by the ear. Abu Hatim had a stick in one hand and a rifle slung over his shoulder. All the children stopped playing after seeing the scene. Immediately people gathered around them. The dragged person was trying to cover his face with his hands. The noise of the people was interrupted by the following speech of Abu Hatim:

- Hey people! You all know the bravery of Abu Yusuf, who contributed to raising our bowed heads in our country. You all recognized that he was a hero who taught the aggressors a good lesson and made our weak people breathe freely. Now, get to know this bastard well. It was in collusion with these Jews that he stalked Abu Yusuf and provided all the information about him to the Jews.

There was a commotion among the people. It was impossible to understand what they were saying because everyone was talking the same. Abu Hatim raised his stick in his hand, people fell silent. Then he looked at that spy and said, "Speak up, no one, what's the matter?" Tell me everything!" he said. And he was stuttering and saying unintelligible words in a low voice, Abu Hatim hit him several times with a stick in his hand. He crouched on his knees and covered his head with both hands.

- Get up. Tell me what you did, idiot!

The spy confessed that he had bribed Abu Yusuf and his friends against the Jews for a pittance. He added that he did not know that the Jews would kill them. Abu Hatim continued to beat him with a stick. People say, "May God humiliate you!" They shouted insulting words like "Stupid spy". Abu Hatim raised his stick in the air again, everyone fell silent.

- Hey people! The Jews invaded our land and drove us out of our homes. He finds our honors. He killed our men. Even so, there are those among us who are ready to collude with the Jews against our devotees who are carrying their lives in the face of the enemy! Tell yourselves, what kind of punishment is inevitable for such a traitor?

People were shouting "Death!", "He must be killed", "His punishment is death". Then Abu Hatim took the gun from his shoulder and pointed it at that spy. At that time, they covered my eyes with their hands so that my mother would not see this scene. But I heard the sound of shots being fired, people shouting "Death to the traitors, "Death to the messenger of the Jews".

The next day, in order to avenge Abu Yusuf, the devotees ambushed the invaders and shot several soldiers. Their auxiliary forces came and surrounded the area, and began to beat, shake and drag people out of their homes. He made the men line up against the wall and put their rifles on them. Then the officer in charge of that region came in a Jeep and sat down with the door open. The men were led to him one by one by a soldier with a rifle. He asked each of them dozens and hundreds of questions. He was trying to get even a little information about the devotees. But no one gave a damn about them.

A few days later, the heavily controlled quarantine was lifted again. I started attending school as usual. When I went outside during recess, a bunch of kids were hanging out on a low wall and talking to the people below. I also went and climbed the wall. I saw that the other side was a group of students studying in a higher class than us. My cousin Hasan studied in this department. The children studying there were taller than us. On this day, I saw my cousin Hasan, ten meters away from us, among the hundreds of students who filled the street with my brother Muhammad. Schoolgirls and boys kept passing by. I felt that my brother Hasan was holding something in his hand and was constantly putting it in his mouth. Is this tobacco?! When I looked, he lowered his hand and blew smoke out of his mouth. As usual, my brothers Muhammad grabbed my hand, and Hadeb scolded me saying, "Go, what are you doing?" I tried to point my eyes towards my brother Hasan, but I couldn't explain. He noticed us before I said "Hasan akam" and dropped the one in his hand.

People from my bride's side consulted with my grandfather and persuaded my bride to marry. Since then, my cousins have been living with us.

I went quietly, thinking that if I came home and put flowers again, I would not be afraid of my brother Hasan. One day I told my mother about what I saw, and she looked at me with a sharp look and told me that I might be mistaken and ordered me not to tell anyone about it. I shook my head and left without saying a word. But that day, I saw my mother questioning my brothers in the yard, and my brothers bowed their heads, I could not hear their conversation. A few days later, when I returned from school, I saw my brother Mahmoud talking to my mother about my brother Hasan's absence from school. My mother looked worried. My grandfather and mother called my brother Hasan and started putting him down. He did not stop justifying himself. My grandfather threatened to tie him to a pole and beat him if he truant again. A few days later, while washing my brother Hasan's clothes, my mother found some money and tobacco in her pocket. He was taken out and shown to my grandfather who was sitting in the yard, and my grandfather was horrified. "Where did this boy get the money?"