Ahmad laid between the rocks on top of the hill, on his belly, spying down on the surrounding area, bellow there was a road and fence, the border erected two years ago by the Israeli army, separating Palestine from Lebanon, Patrol jeeps passed by, stirring dust on the dirt road, he would wait until the night, it is safer to slip under the cover of the night he thought, that was his mistake the first time, he tried crossing the border during the day, he got caught and was dumped back across the border. The twilight fell, then was replaced by the soft light of a half moon, he started to make his way down the hill, navigating his way around rocks and bushes, cautious not to cause any sound, not to unsettle any stones, or cause any slides that might alert solders, who might be lurking somewhere bellow, he reached the fence, climbed over it and jumped to the other side, and crossed the patrol road, there was a little scare as he heard a patrol jeep approaching, and saw it's light from the distance, he had to further him self from the road and find a hiding place quickly, after the jeep passed and its humming noise started fading away, he took a deep sigh, wiped the cold sweat of his forehead and temples, and allowed him self a minute rest, before continuing his descend to the foot of the hill, were a wide plain spread far into the horizon, not far away he could see the lights of the towns of Tarshiha, but that is not his destination, he was heading to Shefa-Amr his home town, where he was born and had lived all his life, except for the last two years, where he lived in refugee camp in Lebanon, his family still lived in Shefa-Amr, he was separated from them during the war, not knowing what was there fate, he joined flocks of refugees heading for Lebanon, they all though it would be a temporary thing and they would all go back to their homes when the war ends, they could not be more wrong, Israel won the war, closed the border, and did not allow anyone of them to come back, even ignoring a UN decision obliging them to do so.
After a few days walking he had reached the outskirts of Shefa-Amr, he had his head and most of his face covered with a Hata (The traditional Arabic head cover for men), it is better that he would not be recognized he thought, he walked thought the dirt road towards his house, which was at the outskirt of the town, walking as far away as possible from other passers, and avoiding looking them straight in the eye, it was afternoon, he saw his family, his father, his brothers and sisters, they were all outside, under one of the olive trees in front of the house, he knew it was the olive harvest season, he had seen many families on his way picking olives, a tradition he missed for the last two years, as he got closer, his family members one by one stopped what they were doing, looking to see who was coming, he could see from there face expression that they had yet to recognize him, giving him curious and suspecting looks, as he got very close he removed his Hata, exposing his face, there was a lot of excitement, screams, one of his sisters fainting, his father and mother sprang forward to hug him and kiss him, followed by the some of his brother and sisters, while the others were distractedly trying to help the fainted one, the harvest work stopped, and preparations for a feast started to take place, a sheep sacrificed for the purpose, and for the next few hours he had to tell his family his story of the last two years, and they filled him in on the news of the last two years, who died, who stayed , who became refugees, and who was betraying his people and already cooperating with the new state, they told about the population census, and that anyway who was not registered during the census will not be allowed to register later nor will be allowed to stay, he will have to stay in hiding for a while, until they figure out what to do.
A few weeks had passed, his family consulted a lawyer, and were advised not to try a court request to be allowed to stay, which will certainly be denied, and he would have to reveal him self to the authorities, which will use the opportunity to apprehend and deport him, he would have to continue to keep a low profile, but for how long ? he thought, well he did not have to wait long, one night there were knocks on the door, policemen entered and apprehended him, he knew what was coming next, the interrogations, the beatings, he had been through it before, how did he caught him ? somebody must have tipped the police, it must be one of those traitors, doing for money or to gain a favour from the state.
After a couple of weeks of interrogations, beatings and being locked in a small cell, they decided to deport him, he was handed to the military, his hands were cuffed and he was put on a jeep, and driven towards the border, in the jeep were three solders, the driver, an officer setting next to the driver, and appeared to be the senior one, and a third young solder who sat with him in the back of the jeep, he could not help but listed to the conversation between the senior and the young solders, the senior one spoke fluent Hebrew, but he could notice the other younger solder struggled with his Hebrew, he had learned to speak Hebrew from his dealing with Jewish people in Haifa, the younger solder with the broken Hebrew, had a blondish hair, white skin and green eyes, he replied that he was from Romania when the first officer asked him, and that he had arrived two years ago, just after the state of Israel was established, and that some more of his family will be arriving soon, that he always felt like a refugee in Romania, but that now finally he feels at home here. when they arrived at the border he was taken down, and the two solders accompanied him to the other side, they removed the cuffs from his hands, the younger solder shoved him and he fell to the ground, the senior one then said, "I heard this is the second time you try to sneak back to the country, you better not try again", "Next time we dump your dead body here", said the younger solder, and added "Now get the hell away from here", as they turned away heading back to the border, Ahmad got up on his legs, stared at the two with look full disdain, "You have not seen the last of me yet", he said, when they were too far away to hear it, then he turned his back and walk the other way.
