Reading and comprehension

Past history?

UNIT

6

1 Read the quotation. Then discuss the questions below in pairs or small groups.

‘That’s all past history. Let’s forget it and look towards the future.’

The phrase ‘(all) past history’ usually suggests something that is finished and not related to the present. Why do you think the title of this unit has a question mark? What does it say about the past and history?

2 Read the two texts about similar events. Then complete the tasks below.

Text A

As it turned out, the cease-fire didn’t last, and before long the bombing and shooting began again, worse than before. Our position was becoming very difficult. It was dangerous to go out to the shops or visit friends and family, and at night we couldn’t sleep. During the daytime, though, I remember I would go out with other boys collecting used bullets and pretending to be soldiers. We were making the best of a bad situation, as children often do.

Text B

In April 1948, the year after the fall of Haifa, Zionist gangs attacked and occupied the western areas of Jerusalem. Some families had already escaped, and those that remained did not have the weapons or leadership to offer organised resistance and defend their homes. In theory, British Mandate forces were there to protect them, but unfortunately they didn’t intervene. Many Palestinian families were forced into exile as a result.

1. Discuss the main difference(s) between the two texts.
2. Which phrasal verb at the beginning of Text A suggests that things didn’t happen as expected?

3 ‘… the cease-fire didn’t last, and before long the bombing and shooting began again …’

1. A cease-fire is

A the final end to a war or battle.

B an agreement to stop fighting for a time.

2. The phrase before long means

A soon afterwards.

B much later.

4. ‘I remember I would go out with other boys …’

In this sentence, the modal verb would means the same as

A used to.

B wanted to.

5. ⁦1 Which⁩ phrase in Text B suggests an intended idea that didn’t actually happen? ___

2. Do you know a similar phrase that means the opposite of this one? ___

6. ‘… they failed to intervene …’

The verb intervene means

A to have a personal interest in the result.

B to put yourself between two competing sides.

3 The words and phrases below are all connected with ways of telling what happened in the past. Match them with their meanings. Use a dictionary to help if necessary.

WORDS AND PHRASES MEANINGS

1. first person
2. third person
3. biography
4. autobiography
5. memoir
6. objective (adjective)
7. subjective (adjective)
8. eye-witness account
9. narrative (noun or adjective)

a story of someone else’s life

b I / me or we / us

c from a personal point of view

d story by someone who saw what happened

e story of the writer’s life

f telling a story

g personal recording of memories

h he / she / him / her or they / them i not including personal opinions

4. Arrange the words and phrases from Activity ⁦3 into⁩ two lists.

first person narrative third person narrative

5. Discuss the question in pairs or small groups.

If you want to know what happened in the past, what are the advantages of these three types of text?

• a memoir or autobiography looking back at the events
• an objective historical study
• an eye-witness account written or recorded at the time

1 Look at the map and discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1. What does the map show?
2. Do you have relatives who live outside Palestine? Where do they live, and where are their families originally from?

2 Read the text quickly. Then answer the questions.

1. What period is the text about? ___
2. Where was the writer living? ___

It’s estimated that, as a result of the Nakba, over ⁦700,000 Palestinians⁩ were forced to leave their homes in ⁦1948 and⁩ 1949 (about 80% of the original population), with more to follow. Today, there are more Palestinians living abroad than in Palestine itself, mostly in Jordan or other Arab states but also in the USA, Europe and other non-Arab countries.

At the time, I don’t think we completely realised the full scale of this Diaspora, but I do remember our home in New York became a meeting place for many displaced Palestinians, mostly young men. My aunt would cook them Palestinian food and it became a ‘home from home’ for them. In return, they would have to suffer her insistent questioning about their backgrounds. What town or village were they from? Who were their relatives?

These kinds of questions have always been part of normal conversation among Palestinians, but I now realise the deeper importance that they had after 1948. It was a way to reassure ourselves that these places had not disappeared, as if simply by naming them they could be preserved in reality. The constant discussions about people’s origins and backgrounds were a way of returning to their homeland, at least in imagination.

What people sometimes forget is that for us, the idea of return was a very real one. ‘It’s our home,’ people would say, ‘so how is it possible that we won’t be going back soon? Surely the rest of the world can see how unfairly we’ve been treated, and won’t allow it to continue.’

Numbers of Palestinians in Diaspora

3 Replace the underlined parts of the sentences with words from the text. (The sentences are in the same order as the words in the text.)

1. He explained the real size of the problem we were facing. ___
2. As a result of the disaster, thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes.
3. It’s hard to refuse her because she’s very unlikely to give up or take no for an answer.
4. The President tried his best to make people stop worrying about the situation.
5. People think we have continuous and endless sunshine here, but it does rain sometimes.

4 Answer the questions.

1. ‘… over ⁦700,000 Palestinians⁩ were forced to leave their home ... with more to follow.’

What does more refer to?

2. ‘… it became a “home from home” for them.’

What does the writer mean by home from home?

3. ‘… about people’s origins and backgrounds …’

What is the difference between the meaning of origin and background?

4. ‘… the deeper importance that they had after 1948.’

What does they refer to?

5 Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1. Why does the writer begin by giving facts and numbers?
2. Roughly what period in history does the text look back to?
3. Why didn’t the writer and his family realise at the time how large the Diaspora was?
4. Why are names and backgrounds especially important at this time?

5 ‘Surely the rest of the world can see how unfairly we’ve been treated, and won’t allow it to continue.’

1. Looking back and knowing what happened later in the ⁦1950s⁩, ⁦60s⁩ and ⁦70s⁩, how does this view of the situation now sound?

A sad?

B foolish?

C moving?

2. Do you think the writer intends it to sound this way? Why?

1 Look at the title of the article and the picture. Then discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

1. What do you know about the famous event shown in the picture?
2. ⁦1 What⁩ do real bridges do?

2 What kind of bridges is the title referring to?

3. How do you think the title and the photo are connected?

2 Read the first part of the article (the second part is in Period 4). Then complete the tasks on page 89.

Building bridges to the world

After the ⁦1948 disaster⁩, over ⁦700,000 Palestinians⁩ lost everything and were forced into a Diaspora that spread round the planet. For many years afterwards, the Palestinian cause received little attention or understanding from the world.

That changed dramatically in 1974, when the late national leader, President Yassir Arafat, stepped onto the world’s political stage to speak to the United Nations. His famous words rang out: ‘Today, I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.’

This landmark speech showed the world two things: first that the Palestinian cause could not be forgotten, and secondly that there really could be a peaceful way forward. Arafat’s words also affected Palestinians deeply. They made many realise that it was necessary to build bridges between Palestine and the West. This was the way to create international understanding and, one day, a free and independent Palestine.

The years since the national leader President Arafat’s speech to the UN have not been easy, and there have been many setbacks. Yet there are also reasons for optimism. In recent years, as a result of the continuous diplomatic struggle of the present Palestinian leadership, under their representative President Mahmoud Abbas, more and more countries have officially recognised Palestine as an independent state, and in ⁦2012 the⁩ United Nations General Assembly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to that of a ‘non-member observer state’. There is hope that at last, thanks to the efforts of Palestinians around the world, the tide has finally turned.

5

10

15

1 Match the words and phrases from the text with their meanings.

WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE TEXT MEANINGS

1. cause
2. late
3. rang out
4. setbacks
5. diplomatic
6. struggle
7. representative
8. upgrade
9. status

a position

b raise to a higher or better level

c an idea people support or fight for

d be heard strongly and clearly

e no longer living

f connected with high-level discussions

g a fight or a difficult task

h problems that stop progress i person speaking or acting for others

2 Use the words in Part ⁦1 and⁩ phrases to complete the sentences.

1. He argued for a ___ solution to the problem rather than a military one.
2. It will be a long _ with many _ , but we will succeed in the end.
3. I need to my computer to a better model.
4. We need to bring our ___ to the world’s attention and get them to support it.
5. She wrote the book in memory of her ___ husband.
6. They are sending a ___ to the discussions to make their opinions known.
7. As a Professor, she has a high ___ at the university.
8. The noise of a shot suddenly ___ , making us all jump.

3 What do these words, highlighted in the text, refer to?

1. That (line 3)
2. They (line 7)
3. This (line 8)

1. What is the symbolic meaning of the olive branch and gun that President Arafat said he was holding?
2. What choice was he offering to the world?
3. What did he mean when he said ‘Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand’?
4. How did the speech change the way many Palestinians thought about their relationship with the rest of the world?

1 Look at the pictures. Then answer the question in pairs or small groups.

What do you know about these people?

• where and when they were born
• what they did in their lives
• what connection there is between them

2 Read the second part of the article from Period 3. Then complete the tasks on page 91.

Along with President Arafat, other prominent representatives of this Palestinian generation in exile played a vital role in bringing the cause to the world’s attention. One of these was the great writer and academic Edward Said, originally from Jerusalem, who fought with all the strength of his great mind for freedom, equality and justice in general, and for the future of Palestine in particular. On his death, the poet Mahmoud Darwish, himself an important and well-known international figure, wrote: ‘I cannot say goodbye to Edward Said, so present is he among and within us, and so alive around the world.’

Another great Palestinian intellectual was Hisham Sharabi (1927–2005), originally from Jaffa, and later an important professor at Georgetown University near Washington. Like Said and other Palestinians, he worked all his life to improve western understanding of Arab and Palestinian issues. He was editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, and wrote many books, including his famous Introduction to the Study of Arab Society (1975). He also became well known for his television appearances and his journalism, as well as creating the Arab-American Cultural Foundation, which builds American understanding of Arab and Islamic culture, and setting up the Jerusalem Fund, a foundation that provides scholarships for students from Palestine.

Sharabi wrote about his ‘bitterness and anger’ when, in 1993, he returned to Jaffa, his home town, to make a documentary: ‘As I stood there, I could hear people speaking Russian, probably recent immigrants from the old Soviet Union. They were full citizens in my country, and I was there only on a limited Israeli tourist visa.’ However, he went on to say that the only way forward was a political compromise founded on justice and international law and UN Security Council resolutions. For him, this compromise had to include the Right of Return.

Sadly, none of these great Palestinians lived to see the end of the Diaspora. They did, however, inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps. Motivated by love of country and highly educated, they have risen, often from poor beginnings, to importance and success across the arts and sciences. Today, they continue to build bridges of understanding that will one day carry the Palestinian nation home.

20

Mahmoud Darwish Hisham Sharabi Edward Said/Saed

1 Replace the underlined parts of the sentences with words from the text. (The sentences are in the same order as the words in the text.)

1. He is a well known and important person in the country’s history. ___
2. When one side has all the advantages, there can be no fair balance. ___
3. They are convinced of the fairness of their demands. ___
4. He was both a politician and an intelligent, academic person. ___
5. There are many problems that need to be discussed before we can reach a solution.
6. The government is trying to control the number of people coming from other places to live in the country. ___
7. I’m sure we can reach some kind of acceptance that not all demands will be achieved.
8. My opinions are all based on the idea of human rights. ___
9. This book will give good ideas to anyone who wants to succeed in life. ___
10. She was encouraged to do something by her wish to help other people. ___

2 Explain in your own words why Mahmoud Darwish was unable to say goodbye to Edward Said.

3. Say what non-academic work Hisham Sharabi did to help the Palestinian cause.
4. What was the issue on which Sharabi refused to compromise?
5. Looking at the whole article (including the part that you read in Period 3), say what these dates refer to.

1948

The year when 1974

The year when 2012

The year when 1927

The year when 1975

The year when 1993

The year when