William Sawalha's Family
The Sawalha family are one of many branches of the Uzeizat Tribe.
They (Uzeizat) originally came from Iraq region and the many branches settled in many towns in this region, Kerak first and later Madaba. William can trace his family back by 5 generations. The family is Christian and has been always so, although there is a branch of the Sawalha who converted to Islam many centuries previously.
William > Ibrahim > Yacob > Giries > Issa > Saleh
1936 1911 1880's 1850's 1820's 1790's
All above are approx. dates of birth apart from William. Williams' branch of the Sawalha family came from Kerak but during Yacob's lifetime the family were "shamed into departing" as one of the girl's was kidnapped and raped. They all left to join other members of the family in Madaba, which became then the main base of the Sawalha family. During the 1920's many of the male members of the Sawalha family made their way to South America where they were known as " Turku ". To escape the bandits at night they slept in the graveyards, having no fear of ghosts and spirits as the locals did. In S. America they made money and most returned to then set up businesses here in farming and trading. However, tragedy struck and all the sheep they bought died. So they had nothing to their names, except the "dish dashas they stood up in!" One member started a hotel so they helped the others that were also interested and they have been hoteliers since that time. Room payment guarantee? There were no credit cards then... guarantee of payment was by depositing your "flip flops and sandals" with the hotel owner! At the start of WW2 the "family" had many hotels in Haifa, (St. George, Petra Hotel, Park Hotel, to name a few...), not to mention Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and Jaffa...and Mafraq (Jordan). The hotels in Palestine were used by the British Army, mainly the Scottish regiments. Much "night time entertainment" was had watching them get into fights with their allies, running out of money and "borrowing" carpets and fixtures from the hotels to pay for their entertainment. One of the main night time interests was the local "House of ill Repute", conveniently located across the street. On hot nights, the education of the local boys in the neighbourhood was much enhanced, sitting on the roofs and peering across into the open windows across the street!! The war brought hardship but many stories...! After the war, there were continued hostilities in the region, as immigrant Jews fought to gain a land of their own. To avoid the troubles and the killings, many local Arab residents left their houses to escape the troubles, thinking to return when all the fuss had died down. They never dreamt that when they closed their doors, they would never open them again. It is also true that many still have their House Keys from their homes in Palestine. William's family also closed their hotel and left for Madaba. During this period William was at boarding school in Jerusalem and at the age of 9 yrs made his way, on foot, on his own, with just a few pennies in his pocket, all the way from Jerusalem to Madaba, through all the areas where fighting was going on. He arrived unscathed in Madaba. In 1995 he went back to Haifa, yes there had been changes, but on "Kingsway Street", now called Independence Street, the buildings were still there. His Father's hotel was now occupied by ZIM Shipping as was the "House of Ill Repute". His uncle's hotel was also offices, but the original lift was still in use. Wandering around the vegetable market, he found that little else had changed. William is still in the hotel business, as are most of his Sawalha contemporaries. The family's home base is still in Madaba. Weddings and funerals still take place in the City and it is probably now the only time when all of the family get together including the extended family connections of the other branches of the Uzeizat. Madaba is one of the first cities mentioned in the Old Testament that is still in existence as city today. It has many magnificent mosaics, perhaps most famous being that in the church of St George, showing a map of the region around the Dead Sea including Jerusalem and with the fish swimming away from the Dead Sea up the River Jordan.