The story Akbara’s destruction is unusual. In other Palestinian villages the army blew up the homes either during the 1948 war or shortly afterwards. Israel, however, decided to use Akbara as a dumping ground for Palestinians from four nearby villages who had collaborated with its forces during the war. Most were eventually moved on. But villagers originally from Qaddita stayed there until the late 1970s when they were resettled in a new village – also called Akabara – close by. They were supposed to destroy the homes in the old Akbara themselves, which may account for why the job was done so poorly. (December 2002)