Refugee: We rejected Israeli peace offer in 1948, left and became refugees

Refugee Abu Amara: "The truth is that the Jews brought a mediator to us, a person we knew and who knew us. They gave us choices. The first choice was that you hand over your weapons and stay on your land and live the way you live. The second choice was that you leave if you don't want to hand over [your weapons]. If you don't want to leave and go away, prepare yourselves for battle. All three were hard."
PA TV reporter: "Especially handing over your weapon at the time."
Refugee: "First of all, for me, handing over my rifle at that time [was] actually like handing over my wife."
PA TV interviewer: “After you left [the ‎village of] Miska ‎, you went to Tira?”‎
Refugee: “We left for Tira, two ‎kilometers away… ‎Later, Tira surrendered in the Rhodes ‎Agreements (i.e., the 1949 Israel–‎Egypt Armistice Agreement). Of course, ‎afterwards the Jews came and we had no ‎choice, we were guests among the people ‎of Tira…‎ My father said: ‘What should we stay here ‎‎[in Tira] for? We have nothing here and ‎we won’t return to our village, so let’s ‎leave for Tulkarem.’ So we asked for ‎permission and left for Tulkarem…‎ Then, the agency [UNRWA] began to ‎establish the [refugee] camp in 1950 and ‎we were among the first to enter the ‎refugee camp.”‎