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Marta Marychuk Reporter mmarychuk@oakvillebeaver.com New book describes journey from refugee to thriving professional by Marta Marychuk Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene 29 | Thursday September 7, 2017 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insidehalton.com "Connected to your Community" caused painful headaches when he was only two years old. She gave birth to Rahil blind and never saw what her baby looked like. Rahil's father married his wife's sister. His older brother and sister knew what happened to their mother, but Rahil was too young to understand. Rahil dreamed of becoming a doctor or dentist, but as a Palestinian he lost eight per cent of his grade point average. Instead he enrolled in the Faculty of Commerce. "I hated it." He later transferred to the School of Dentistry. In the meantime, his friends were continuing their education overseas. Some went to Germany, others to England or the United States. Rahil applied to the Canadian Embassy, although his family were against him. A plane ticket to Canada from Cairo cost a fortune. "I felt like a dog that could bark but not bite," Rahil says. The application to immigrate to Canada was accepted, and he arrived in Canada in 1964 at the age of 21 with only $45 in his pocket. He settled in Montreal, where he had a friend. In the years that followed, Rahil held down a string of jobs rst as shipping boy. At rst he was excited because he thought it meant working on The Love Boat. He was disappointed to learn it meant shipping boxes. He was then an accounting clerk. From 1965-68 he worked for a number of large and prosperous companies -- American Express, British Petroleum and Robin Hood Flower Mills. Became homesick Life was tough between 1964-68. Rahil missed his family and was homesick. But he knew that he couldn't return home and admit defeat. Then in 1968, Rahil accepted a teaching job in Chibougamau, an isolated mining town in Quebec, 800 kilometres north of Montreal. Rahil taught for four years. see Family on p.30 My Villa depicts how Oakville's Antoine Rahil built a life for himself in Canada. | photo submitted An Oakville man has written a memoir of his journey as an exile from Jerusalem and his turbulent path in becoming a prosperous professional in My Villa. "It was excellent therapy," said Antoine Rahil, 73, who wrote the book for his two daughters and grandchildren. Rahil, who holds a master's degree in psychology, says he felt a sense of relief, sharing and telling. In retrospect, Rahil said he wishes he had asked more questions about his own family to learn additional information about his heritage. Youngest of three children My Villa depicts how he built a life for himself in Canada -- through determination, tenacity and faith. "The more I wrote, the more I was in touch with my feelings and the signi cant others in my life -- the living and the dead," he says. Born in Jerusalem in 1943, Rahil was the youngest of three children who lived with his parents in an apartment on Mammilla Street outside the holy Wailing Wall. The area was the centre of an attack by Zionist groups and Rahil remembers the bombing creeping closer and closer every night to his home. "We were in danger," says Rahil, who was only four years old at the time. Rahil's father, who was a building inspector for the municipality of Jerusalem, decided to take his family on vacation for 10 days -- and away from the ghting. "Destiny had another vicious and cruel plan for my family," he says in the book. The family travelled to Cairo, Egypt to visit an aunt with only two suitcases of clothes. "I remember the suitcases -- one red and one black." After 10 days, the family received word from the Red Cross that it was not safe to re- Now I was a citizen of one of the best, richest and cleanest countries in the world: peaceful Canada. turn to Jerusalem. Ten days turned into 16 years. They had arrived in Cairo as tourists and were never registered as refugees. "We were stateless," Rahil says. The family was never allowed to go back, not even to pick up personal belongings. After living with his aunt for a year, Rahil's family moved into a small one-room apartment. Rahil studied at a private Roman Catholic school, run by an order of French nuns. "We were very poor," adds Rahil. Donations and chariAntoine Rahil ties were part of his life. During this time, Rahil also made a startling discovery -- his biological mother died from a brain tumour that made her blind and Big Movies, Small Prices! 171 Speers Road (at Kerr) Oakville general: $8.50 Children (3-13): $6.50 Seniors (65+): $6.50 tuesdays: $5.00 905-338-6397 www.film.ca facebook.com/filmca @FilmCaCinemas It (18A) September 8tH Home AgAIn (pg) September 8tH KIngSmAn: tHe golDen lego nInjAgo movIe (StC) CIrCle (StC) September 22nD September 22nD AmerICAn mADe (StC) September 29tH