Talk:Musa Alami

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There is a quite lot about him in the book :

David Gilmour: Dispossessed. The Ordeal of the Palestinians. Sphere books, Great Britain, 1983, (first published in 1980)

-Gilmour inreviewed him in 1979, interesting stuff about his farm in Jerico. I will try to add it later. Regards, Huldra 12:56, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

-Also: the article refers to his autobiography (which I am not familiar with) -and which is referred to in Laqueur. Could somebody please name the title + publishing details of Alami´s autobiography? Thanks. Regards, Huldra 13:31, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

1958 riots[edit]

I guess it was in relation to the Sinai War. I'd like to know more about this, but Laqueur only mentions this in passing. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 10:23, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Humus; does Laqueur give any ref.? I don´t quite get it, though, the Suez Crisis was in 1956. I think you should probably give the ref. you have (ie, which page in Laqueur). I´m going to add some of the stuff from Gilmour. Regards, Huldra 10:40, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Furlonge, Geoffrey W., Palestine is My Country: The Story of Musa Alami (1969)[edit]

I have just gotten hold of the above book (They didn´t have it in any library in my country, but it is easy (and not expensive) to get it via abebooks.com) ..It more-or less confirm the 1958 riots...though it was a rather more complicated question than just riots against the English..hopefully I will have time to read/add more about it later. Just now I want to note the paragraph about :

"When Ben-Gurion suggested that the Zionists could provide significant help developing the region, Alami replied that he would prefer waiting one hundred years and leaving the land backward, as long as the Palestinians could do the job themselves.[2]"

Now, in the Furlonge -book it says quite clearly that this is what Ben-Gurion writes, not what Alami himself states. Furlonge also writes that although Ben-Gurions recollections are mostly right, it nontheless "contain a number of errors of fact." (p.231) So again, where does Laqueur source this? If it is only B-G, then I think we should say so. Regards, Huldra 12:58, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also; the article now says:

"In his autobiography, Alami described the political scene in Jerusalem after the establishment of Israel in 1948: "The new [Palestinian] leaders were a set of young men of some education, all of them in the traumatic condition induced by the consciousness of having suffered a resounding defeat at the hand of an enemy whom they had heartily despised."^[1]

Eh?? the reference to "autobiography"? When did Alami write an autobiography? (I cannot find any..) Ref. please! However, on page 161, in Furloges biography where this sentence is, it is clear that it is Furlonge who writes it. Sir Furlonge was former British ambassador, and had presumebly his own views. Again; quotes should be attributed to those who actually made them. Regards, Huldra 12:25, 30 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why[edit]

Why has this contribution of mine

After he discovered water ^[2]

^ Laqueur, Walter: Dying for Jerusalem: The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest City (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2006) ISBN 1-4022-0632-1. p. p.162)
^ Norman Vincent Peale in his book POWER OF THE PLUS FACTOR describes the story of Musa Alami digging for water in the desert with pick and shovel.(p.39 and 40)

been deleted?

Austerlitz -- 88.72.10.138 07:41, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Is this a technical problem?

Some more information[edit]

[1] by John A. Tvedtnes

"During the 1950s the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints had equipped the farm with a dairy and a starter herd and had sent dairy experts to operate that portion of the farm."

Something for Ammi Monday, Jul. 20, 1953
jericho - city with information about The Arab Development Society ( ADS )

"The Arab Development Society is the oldest continously operating non-governmental organization ( NGO ) in Palestine. It was established in 1945 by a resolution of the League of Arab States in support of a project proposed by Mr. Musa Alami, the then elected spokesman of Palestinians both at the League and other fori. In 1952 ADS was re-registered under Jordanian law, and with the Palestinian Authority in 1996."

[2]

"ARAB DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, GB 165-0324

Papers relating to the Arab Development Society set up by Musa Alami in 1949 near Jericho in which a farm was set up and the revenues used to help orphan children not supported by UNWRA, obituaries of Musa Alami. 1 box. Photographic collection."

Middle East Myths “The Myth of Palestine” Sound of the Trumpet, Institute for Hebraic-Christian Studies

"In an article entitled, "The Lesson of Palestine," printed in the Middle East Journal, October 1949, Arab activist, Musa Alami, wrote, "how can people struggle for their nation, when most of them do not know the meaning of the word? … The people are in great need of a "myth" of imagination. The myth of nationality would create "identity" and "self-respect."

[3] THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH Middle East Myths
There is a Musa Alami Foundation mentioned here.
[4] Jericho Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture

Austerlitz -- 88.72.16.231 13:01, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

some more still, look at p.6 and 7, story of Amer Salti, [5], [6], [7]

Austerlitz -- 88.72.16.231 13:14, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Photo taken from [8].

The above was not always easy to follow, but let me say this: Musa Alami was not from Lebanon, his father was mayor of Jerusalem for a while. He came from an old Jerusalem -family, according to the history they came with Salladin some 800 years ago, and settled in Jerusalem. Some of the land that was taken from them in Jerusalem in 1948 had been in the family for hundreds of years. The story about finding water is, as I recall it, more or less correct, it is taken from the biography.

When it comes to the "The Arab Development Society" (which he led): yes, there should should definitely be something about it; an important organization. Regards, Huldra (talk) 03:45, 24 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How he discovered water[edit]

What Norman Vincent Peale writes about it in his book Power of the Plus Factor: I am going to type it here.

Austerlitz -- 88.75.77.194 13:28, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I am not quite sure whether the first little section is part of Musa Alami's story, but I think it is.

Let's talk Norman Vincent Peale himself: "Sometimes we see people persevering in the face of what seem to be insuperable odds. When that happens, I can't help but think that through their Plus Factor information has been conveyed to them that even they are unaware of.

One of the most remarkable men I ever met was a native of Lebanon, Musa Alami. He had been educated in England, and his family had been quite well off until in one of the disturbances that periodically convulse Lebanon they lost everything. Musa Alami found his way to the bleak desert country of the Jordan River valley not far from Jericho.

This sun-scorched land had probably not changed much since the days of John the Baptist. No crops could grow because the lack of water. On one side of the valley the mountains of Judea shimmered in the heat waves; on the other side were the mountains of Moab. There were no funds or equipment to dam the River Jordan. But somehow Musa Alami, who had read of successfull irrigation in other areas using subsurface water, became convinced that there might be water underneath the burning sands. And he announced that he was going to dig for it.

Jeers and scornful laughter greeted this announcement. The old Bedouins of the area pointed out that the desert had been there from time immemorial. The water of the Dead Sea had once covered the region; the sand itself was full of salt. Musa Alami was a fool, or perhaps a madman. And it wasn't only the Bedouins who laughed. Government officials and scientists from abroad were equally scornful. No water was there. No water could be there.

Nevertheless, aided by a few poverty-stricken refugees from the nearby Jericho refugee camp, Musa Alami started to dig.

With well-drilling equipment? With steam shovel or earth removers? No. He and his motley crew dug by hand, with pick and shovel. Down they went under the blazing sun. Day after day. Deeper and deeper, while onlookers jeered. Down they went, this dauntless man and his ragged friends, week after week.

What kept them going? Hope kept them going. And with hope they had perseverance, just plain persistence.

I'm sure it came from the Plus Factor.

One day, six months after they had started digging, the sand became damp. And a little deeper it was wet. Finally water, fresh water, began to fill the hole. And Musa Alami and his friends did not laugh or shout or cheer. They wept. An ancient Bedouin man said, "Musa, now I can die. I've seen water come from the desert."

That's quite a story, isn't it? I know it's true because I knew Musa personally and saw the great stream of water gushing out of the parched heart of the desert, and Musa himself told the story to my wife, Ruth, and me. Today thousands of acres are yielding fruits and vegetables of all kinds...all because one persistent and determined man was convinced it could happen...convinced and sustained by his Plus Factor."

pages 39-41 Power of the Plus Factor

It would be nice to know more about the story of the farm. Is it still there?

Austerlitz -- 88.72.30.101 06:28, 13 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

An Oaktree[edit]

[9]
[10] Mussa Alami Crossings into Jordan
[11] "The oasis in Free Zone is actually a place where a Palestinian man, Mussa Alami, founded a farm orphanage for Palestinian refugee children after 1948. It's a place I remember reading about when I was 16 or 17. During its history, two attempts were made to burn it down, once by Palestinians, once by Israelis. I used the true story behind this farm to enrich the narrative of the film."
[12]

Let's see what to do with this within the article. also, there must be some more information on the digging and finding water story. Maybe it is mentioned in Sir Geoffrey Furlonge's book'

Austerlitz -- 88.75.213.180 (talk) 10:20, 11 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Arab Development Society[edit]

The ADS was formed in 1945, not 1952, though some technical change occurred in 1952 (see refs above, that I have not yet explored). I have a pretty good source up to about 1950: Cecil A. Hourani, Experimental Village in the Jordan Valley, MEJ 5:4 (1951) 497–501. According to a book review, the book The Heritage of the Desert by Harry Ellis (1956) has about 6 pages on it. Some political background is in Walid Khalidi, On Albert Hourani, the Arab Office, and the Anglo-American Committee of 1946, JPS 35:1 (2005) 60–79. Probably it is time to collect more sources and make an article on that organization. I'm missing good information past the mid 1950s. Zero^talk 00:34, 30 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Laqueur, Walter: Dying for Jerusalem: The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest City (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2006) ISBN 1-4022-0632-1. p. p.162)

[2] Norman Vincent Peale in his book POWER OF THE PLUS FACTOR describes the story of Musa Alami digging for water in the desert with pick and shovel.(p.39 and 40)

[1]

[2]