This is the true story of Saf-Saf, a small village in the north of Palestine during the British Mandate. This is also a story of Afif, a boy who lived in Saf-Saf before 'al-Nakba', or 'the Catastrophe' as it is known throughout the world, befell the Palestinian Arabs in May 1948, and beyond, after the creation of the state of Israel.

Saf-Saf was a small village of 900 or so inhabitants, only a few kilometres south of the Lebanese border. As Afif recalls, the villagers had a large piece of fertile land, known as the 'bayader' in Arabic, where they would grow wheat. The villagers would cut and refine the wheat, and tie it to cows in long strands to transport it. Agriculture was a primary source of income for these simple villagers, and in addition to wheat, Saf-Saf grew olives (a staple of Palestine), grapes, figs and tobacco.

As Afif describes it, Saf-Saf for the most part produced enough to feed its own inhabitants, with the occasional trip being made to major Palestinian centres, such as Safad, to sell excess agricultural produce. Lacking much modern infrastructure at the time, excess produce of the village would be transported via donkeys, or simply carried there using clay pots. There was only one paved road that passed by Saf-Saf, where the occasional car would drive by. Since there was no plumbing either, the villagers would go to a spring in the bayader to collect cold fresh water.

Among his few childhood memories, Afif recalls having a wooden bicycle and playing with a ball in the bayader.

Read the rest of Riyadh's story in the Panorama Online Publication.