Family Cemetery
Today I visited the Rafeedie family cemetery and mausoleum in Al-Bireh, directly next to Ramallah. My family has lived in the West Bank for at least 300 years. They have lived in Al-Bireh for at least that long after migrating there from the town of Rafeedia, which is now part of Nablus.
One thing on my list of things to do on my whirlwind 10-day trip was to visit this cemetery, which is only a 5 minute walk from cousin’s house, as well my uncle and several other family members. It was amazing. It was cool to see how the Rafeedie family had and still has such a prominent part of the city of Al-Bireh.
It gave me a great sense of pride and connection to visit the graves of my grandpas, my grandma and several other family members whose names I recognized and children and grandchildren I know.
The Rafeedies in Palestine have been fortunate to live in the West Bank all these years, escaping the plight of the refugees of 1948 who had their villages destroyed and remaining homes and properties seized. That said, it’s still sad to see my family history, and family members in Palestine and around the world affected so much by the trouble in that region, especially being under direct and indirect occupation of Israel.
