Summary
Palestinian from Damun who had crossed over and fought alongside the Jews in 1948, intervened with Haim Orbach to halt the Majd al-Krum massacre, and was then installed by the Israeli authorities in expelled Sha’b as its sole initial Arab resident, with his brother as mukhtar, to keep its original inhabitants out, in Manna’s account (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.17, 104-105, 168-172).
Details
- In the Preface and Chapter 2 Abu ‘Abdu arrives during the Majd al-Krum massacre and intervenes to stop the killing (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.17, 19, 104-105).
- After Sha’b was occupied and emptied, Abu ‘Abdu and relatives from the Buqay’i family of Damun were the first Arabs allowed to live in its vacant houses, tasked with preventing the original inhabitants returning; he was granted the right to cultivate Sha’b’s lands, and some returning plaintiffs worked for him on them (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.168-169, 171).
- Supreme Court judges in the eight Sha’b plaintiffs’ case called Abu ‘Abdu and his brother the mukhtar “well-connected with the government,” noted the ARA had condemned him to death and that he was released from Nazareth jail after the city fell, and recorded residents’ accusations that the brothers mistreated and extorted villagers and assaulted and underpaid workers; Abu ‘Abdu admitted registration in mid-1949 took place in his brother’s house and that not everyone who came was registered (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.171-172).
- Some members of the Fa’ur family, Abu ‘Abdu’s in-laws from Sha’b, were allowed to return despite the general policy, opening a door the state then could not fully close (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.170).