Khalil Attallah, Abdullah Hamdan and Hanya Teyah discussing the Ottoman period and World War I

Khalil Attallah, Abdullah Hamdan and Hanya Teyah interviewed by Fared Yousef. They discuss the following: Ottoman rule in Bethlehem during World War I; Palestinian economic situation couldn’t handle the war; Ottoman authorities stole from the people; trade and industry declined; when the Ottomans entered the war the situation worsened; spread of disease and the locust plague destroyed all the food; forced military conscription – Arabs who were recruited were treated badly and some ran away but those who were caught were killed; Ottomans used to cut down the trees to use as fuel for the trains – this worsened the starvation; when the locusts came people used to bury their food in a hole in the ground; when there was a lack of water diseases spread more quickly; drought of 1916 caused great unrest as people were demanding bread; people used to share their food with those who didn’t have enough to eat. Original audio: 2 cassette tapes. Transcript: summary. In the original collection at Bethlehem University these cassette tapes were categorised as File 7a and 7b of Box 1. 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.

由法里德·优素福（Fared Yousef）采访哈利勒·阿塔拉（Khalil Attallah）、阿卜杜拉·哈姆丹（Abdullah Hamdan）与哈尼亚·泰亚赫（Hanya Teyah），三人围绕以下议题展开讨论：一战时期奥斯曼帝国（Ottoman Empire）对伯利恒的统治；巴勒斯坦地区的经济状况无力支撑战争；奥斯曼当局对民众实施掠夺；商贸与工业陷入衰退；奥斯曼帝国参战进一步恶化了当地局势；疾病蔓延与蝗灾彻底摧毁了当地粮食储备；强制征兵——被征召的阿拉伯士兵遭受严苛对待，部分人员逃亡，被捕者则被处决；奥斯曼当局砍伐树木用作火车燃料，进一步加剧了饥荒；蝗灾爆发时民众会将粮食掩埋于地下储存；水资源匮乏加速了疾病的传播；1916年的旱灾引发大规模社会动荡，民众因迫切需要面包发起诉求；民众会主动将食物分发给缺粮者。原始音频为2盘盒式录音带（cassette tapes），转录内容为摘要文本。该批录音带作为伯利恒大学（Bethlehem University）馆藏的一部分，被归类为第1号档案盒下的7a与7b号文件。此档案集隶属于行星伯利恒档案馆（Planet Bethlehem Archive）旗下伯利恒大学口述历史项目中的「奥斯曼帝国与一战」馆藏系列。