Ramallah: Mahmoud Muali, 79, was born into a farming family in 1938 in Qarawat Ban Zaid village, 25 kilometres north of Ramallah.
His father spent time in Yemen and Istanbul with the Turkish army before returning to Palestine where he was an olive and wheat farmer.
Growing up, Muali helped his ageing father on the family farm where he was home schooled.
In 1954, he joined the Jordanian National Guards at the tender age of 16 where he was able to earn a modest 5 Jordanian dinars (Dh25.9 at today’s rates) a month.
Later, he was able to earn JD12.5 and medical insurance for his family when he shifted to the Jordanian army where he rose in rank to become the Head of Radio Communications.
As the Head of Radio Communications in the Jordanian Armed Forces, Muali was privy to sensitive information that enabled him to be aware of the situation on the ground, more so than other officers.
In 1962, Israeli tanks launched a surprise attack on West Bank town of Samou, near the Al Khan Al Ahmer military base where Muali was posted.
Jordanian tanks were dispatched to protect the town, but where destroyed by Israeli war planes.
Between 1961-1967 several clashes took place between the Jordanian and Israeli armed forces in Qalqilya, Samoua, Deir Sharaf, Naqura, and along the 650km-long border with 1948 areas where Israel had declared its state.
“It was a tense period, but we were under strict orders not to escalate the situation,” Muali told Gulf News. “We would only shoot at them if they shot first.”
But tensions were so palpable by 1967 that Palestinians started storing wheat, flour, sugar and tea fearing an imminent war.
During this time he received reports of Israeli tanks massing on the borders of the West Bank.
“Just a few weeks before the war I relayed an important telegram from Brigadier General Mohammad Ahmad Salim, the commander of the Jordanian Armed Forces in the West Bank, to King Hussain about suspicious Israeli movement,” he said.
Just days before the war the radio tower was extremely busy as reports surfaced on the ground of spreading violence.
“There were rumours that Jewish soldiers had killed some Palestinian girls,” he recalled. “We dispatched many radio announcements to the people to be on alert.”
Although they could hear the Israeli radio communications, none of the officers spoke Hebrew, so it was difficult to get the full picture of what was happening, he said.
“But by monitoring the ground situation it became clear by Friday, June 2 that there was going to be a war,” he said.
The Jordanian army in Ramallah held an emergency meeting and weapons were handed out. Reserve forces in Hebron and Nablus were also called up.
On June 5, Israel launched its surprise attack on Egyptian and Syrian forces, capturing and occupying the Sinai, Gaza and the Golan Heights.
On June 6, Jordan ordered its army to retreat and Muali learnt that Israel had grabbed control of the West Bank.
“Jordanian radio stations reported the Israeli seizure of the West Bank and advised Palestinian citizens to stay home and not take to the streets to protest,” he said.
But Muali did not retreat with the army. Instead, he left his rifle and uniform at the base and walked for two days back to his village to make sure his wife and four children were safe.
In his village, he burnt all photographs and evidence of his time in the Jordanian armed forces, in case the Israelis would come.
On June 8, Muali stood with the town’s 600 villagers and watched as 40 tanks rolled in through the main road.
“Many of the villagers had not yet accepted the idea of defeat. They thought Iraqi soldiers had come to rescue them until they heard them speaking Hebrew,” Muali said.
“Everyone was shocked. Even me,” he said. I had seen the Jews through my binoculars many times, but this was the first time I saw them face to face.”
Fearing atrocities at the hands of Israeli forces, hundreds of Palestinians packed up their belongings and immigrated to Jordan, including nearly half of his village.
Muali chose to stay in Palestine where he had six more children and raised them to be ardent Palestinian nationalists.
Even in his old age, he says the cause has never left his heart.
In his living room he points a huge framed picture of himself greeting the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 1996 when he arrived in Ramallah for the first time — he smiles proudly. “Resistance is in my blood.”
Muali’s sons followed in his footsteps. During the First Palestinian intifada (1987-1993) they resisted against Israeli forces- one of his sons was severely injured by a bullet.
Reflecting on the war, Muali believes the Arabs could have won if only they had coordinated their efforts more effectively.
He believes there was a strategic media campaign aimed at weakening the morale of the Jordanian army in order to get them to retreat.
“There were reports that the Israeli military forces were more powerful than them and they didn’t stand a chance,” he said.
In 1982 Muali visited Jordan for the first time following the 1967 war. He was asked to serve another 18 months at the Royal Defence in order to receive his complete pension. He refused to serve, fearing that the Israelis would not allow him to return to the West Bank.
He says the JAF promised him JD5,000 for his service, but he never received it.
Reflecting on the monumental historical events he witnessed during his lifetime, Muali remembers the Nakba when thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in 1948 after the creation of Israel.
“I was 10 years old and I remember displaced Palestinians arriving on foot to my village and camping out under our olive trees.”
Only three years before that, he had accompanied his father to Jaffa (1948 areas) to sell figs and olive oil.
He says he remembers there being Jews who mainly worked on Palestinian farms, but it was very peaceful.
“Even though I was very young, I still remember how beautiful it was. Little did I know, it would be my first and last visit”.
