Najib Sara, aged 90 from Bethlehem discussing the Ottoman period and World War I

Najib Sara (90 years old from Bethlehem) interviewed by Abeer Sabat on 1 April 1994. He discusses the following: during World War I the Ottoman army treated both Christians and Muslims very badly but especially Christians who were forced to convert to Islam and were raped if they refused; Christians weren’t allowed to wear crosses; relations between local Christians and Muslims were good, for example the Fawaghreh (Muslim clan) in Bethlehem; Christians and Muslims used to pray together in the Milk Grotto chapel in Bethlehem; discusses military conscription; the situation worsened with the locust plague and drought; Ottoman army took olive wood for train fuel; when the British arrived they provided people with food.

Original audio recording: cassette tape.Transcript: summary. In the original collection at Bethlehem University this cassette tape was categorised as File 11 of Box 12. This fileset exists as part of the Ottoman Empire and World War I collection within the Bethlehem University Oral History project of the Planet Bethlehem Archive.