Antoine Raffoul, who left Haifa as a child in 1948 with his family, said they believed their departure would be temporary but were never able to return. He described how hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced during the events surrounding the establishment of Israel and how many families lost access to their homes and land. Raffoul, now in his eighties and living in the United Kingdom, said he later built a career in architecture while maintaining his connection to Palestinian history through activism, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Ajansı.
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He said his work has included campaigns against settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and efforts to preserve depopulated Palestinian villages, including Lifta near Jerusalem. Raffoul also said he has prepared plans for rebuilding Gaza following the ongoing war, while expressing that he will not return to Palestine as long as Israeli authorities remain in control of border crossings.
