All language subtitles for MyLand

I was born in France in 1969 to a Moroccan Muslim
father and a Jewish mother of Tunisian descent.

To the Jewish community surrounding me,

I was this odd child from a
marriage never accepted, nor understood.

In Morocco, I was the son
of the Jewish woman.

I dont think I suffered from the judgments,
from the things left unsaid or, whispers

because I chose not to pay attention.

I suffered from a conflict which fueled all conversations
which resonated constantly in both families.

A conflict in a far-away country among two people
were fighting over the same land.

This conflict has never left me.

It shaped my political consciousness,

awakend my ability to revolt.

Above all, it has defined most of the relations
I have with the world around me.

So, for along time, I boycotted Israel.

leven refused to listen
to Israeli views or learn their history.

To me, there was the aggressor and the aggressed.

Even today, I remain convinced that the palastininian people
suffer a great injustice.

But I decided to crosse over.

I met with ghosts,

with old Palestinian refugees who had to flee
their land in 1948

and who has been living in réfugee camps in
lebanon ever since:

I here are very few left.
But those who have remained told. me their story.

I wanted to make their story heard by
twenty-year- old Israelis

who live in the same places where the Palestinians
I had met once lived.

Young people who feel viscerally attached
to the land where they were born and where they grew up.

Young people who often have nationalistic and
political views... and who live in denial.

Young people who lack memory.

#unrecognized text#

I wasn't sure it would make a difference

or they they would want to visit this past they had ignored,
and yet so present around them,

I wanted to try anyway.

Most of all, I wanted to believe...

Most of all, I wanted to believe...

“Our house was two stories high.
It was by the sea

I would sit by the window and
look at the view.

Our house was beautiful. Haifa was beautiful,

We could walk among the flowers,
the trees and the gardens.

Here, there Is only garbage.

Still, we must consider ourselves lucky.

I laugh and cry at the same time.

Not too far from our house, there was a mulberry tree

Who knows? It may still be there.

There was a big shadow under it,
and the kids picked mulberries.

First the mulberries were red,
then they became black.

I remember every corner of our village.

The wheat storehouses, the spring, the vineyards.
I remember everything.

I think about it day and night.
Nobody forgets what they have.

If I go back, I could recognize the olive tree
where I picked olivies.

I could even recognize the stones of our house
which the Jews destroyed.

Thank God, my memory still works.

My father had lands, olive groves,
and even a thoroughbred.

We ran away without having had time
to press the olives.

After our departure, a woman told us that she had seen

oil drip like water in front of our house.

Then, the Jews came,

I remember...

fields, parties, weddings...

Weddings lasted three days, didnt they?

A week,

Weddings lasted a week.

~ Nowadays, weddings last two hours.
It was a week full of celebration.

There was a party every night from Monday to Sunday.

People were happy.

We gathered wood.

We made three piles.

Then set fire to them.

And people clapped and celebrated
around the fires.

We did not have electricity like today.

— But people were happy.
— Really?

Yes, people were happy.

They were happy because they were on
their land.

We were poor, we worked hard.
But we were happy.

As soon as we got home, we rested.
All tiredness disappeared.

To go to work in the morning, you need rest.
We went to sleep free of worries.

It was peaceful. There were no wars,
no conflicts. People were happy.

- Were you happy?
Yes, we were happy.

Here, we consider Shatila as our country
of substitution.

You cant replace Palestine.

No, I didn't mean replace...
Just a temporary place.

But nothing can replace Palestine.

In Palestine, we slept under olive trees...

It is impossible to replace Palestine.
Of course.

When you are in your village, your country,
with your people... you just need to sleep

or sit under an olive tree to feel good.

But we didnt become farmers.

- It depends on how lucky you are.
We're not lucky.

Yes, you arent lucky.

That's the way it is.

Our luck has run out.

Perhaps our kids will be lucky in the future.

We lived our first 25 years in heaven.

We led a happy life.

~ You, you have nothing.

My name is Shai, I'm from Saasaa.

I study music in Jeruslaem.

I'm 26.

You love this place?

You feel attached to the land?

Very much so.

I love this place.

It's my home. This landscape is irreplaceable.

I've visited many beautiful places in the world.

But nothing compares to a place
you know by heart, every hour, every season.

I dont think I could live
in another country.

Because...

This is my home.

The Zionist movement teaches you
that this place

is home to the Jews.

Even if you object to this or are skeptical
about this movement

you grow up considering that this is your land.

What do you know about the history of this place?

Did you already discuss about it
woth your family, at school or friends?

If we ever spoke about it at school,
it was when we were young.

And it was more in terms of anecdotes
than a real ethical or moral-account of the fact

that we settled in a former
Arab village.

We face this question.

But we do it alone

or sometimes during discussions
with friends from the kibbutz.

Recently I interviewed some refugees
from Sasa in the south of Lebanon

Nabil filmed Sasa refugees
in South Lebanon.

Would you like to hear them,
to see what I found?

Of course. It would nave been better
to organize a gathering...

Even if it's frightening.

Because they are the Victim

The victims of this story...

I feel I have no choice but to listen to them.

I'ts the least I can do.

I was born in 1931

in a village called Saasaa,
close to the Lebanese border. It was nighttime.

People were quietly asleep.
No one suspected anything.

Il think it was around December ‘48.

Suddenly, we heard houses explode.

13-14 houses exploded with
children and cattle inside.

They all died under the rubble.

It spread terror among all of us.

The conspirators put up posters,
asking us to leave and to come back 10 days later.

People fled the country
thinking they would be back 10 days later.

But we're still waiting... those 10 days.

turned into months

then years...

I'm Mika Gvirtzman from Moshav Tsipori.

Tsipori is my childhood home.
This is my land.

My family and friends are here.
I'm very attached to this place.

It's a symbol of my home,
the landscape of my childhood.

Εποικισμός Τσίπορι
Πρώην χωριό Σαφούρι (Βόρειο Ισραήλ)

Do you know the history of this place?

Up until '48, there was an Arab village called Safouri.

During the war of independence, the Israeli army
was busy on several fronts.

It declared that all northern villages
witch would not oppose it wouldn't be attacked.

But if they did resist, force would be used against them.

Safouri was among the villages that did resist.
That's why the Israeli army attacked it.

But that’s a story I was told.

My parents told it to me.

I did not check it in books.

I grew up with this story.
That's the reality I know.

I accepted it as it is.

People were afraid.

They sensed that it wouldn't be long before
the Jews came.

When the Jews arrived in Lubi or Safouri
or another village,

there was a call from the mosque, announcing
that the Jews had attacked Lubi

and that our brothers needed help.

And the villagers went to help.

There was no army in Palestine.

Personally, I couldn't do anything.
I had nothing to fight with.

I had to wait for my father’s return
to know what was happening.

When he came back, he said,
“The resistance is over.

We must leave, leave the country.”

So what did the Jews do?

They surrounded the villages,

leaving only one passage to Lebanon
for people to flee in that direction.

That's what happened.
We fled north and arrived in Lebanon.

My mother told me this story,

I went to see my neighbor to check if
the story was true.

After the war...
After the Israeli army conquered this place,

most Arabs fled,
but some stayed here.

- They deported them?
- Yes, they took them away.

Some Arabs from Nazareth have identity cards
saying they're from Tsipori.

So, I should I feel uncomfortable?

Well, it hurts me personally.

I shouldnt say this

but my family thinks we should
give them part of the land

to build a place for Arabs,
next to Tsipori.

We could call it Safouri.

They should have their place here
because we took their houses away.

When we left, his father...

was 18 months old. I held him in my arms.

I was pregnant, too.

I had a miscarriage and hid
the fetus in the bushes.

When the planes started bombing
and our village fell,

I took my son in my arms and ran to
the next village.

By the time I got to the Chaa family in the Bedouin village,

I had lost the 6 months-old baby
I was carrying.

It was a boy.

We got rid of him.
What else could we do?

Take him to a doctor?
Too late. It was over.

Abu Nabil Kurdieh
Από το χωριό Σουφσάφ.

Do you remember your house?

Yes, I remember it in detail,
as if I were there now.

The door opened to the East.

In front, we had a very large pergola.

In the summer, we all sat there.

The inside of the house was very spacious.

While I'm sitting with you,
I can picture the fields of our village.

I can see the village mosque
which was near my house.

I see myself under the huge oak tree,

sitting on tiles, on stones,
on chairs... sitting, contemplating the place.

I can see the great square in front of the mosque.

I see it like I see you in front of me...
as if I was there.

This is an Arab house,
that was on our property when we received it.

We know that Arabs used to live here.

But we know nothing about the people whom it
belonged to.

But it's there. It's not renovated yet,
so not livable.

But we think we'll use it in the future.

Do you ever think about the people that used to live here,
που ήταν η ζωή τους;

Well, when someone asks you,
there's always something to say.

But when you live your life...

study for your exams, follow your routine,
handle your problems...

you don't think about it, unless it
really bothers you.

You don't think about it at all, unless it's something
that touches you personally.

It's away of protecting yourself.

You can't live in your house
with all of these conflicts hanging over your head.

Κιμπούτς Ramat-Yochanan
Κοντά στο πρώην Majd El Kroum (Βόρειο Ισραήλ)

My name is Noga Edry.

I'm 24.

I was born in the Ramat Yochanan Kibbutz.

It was great growing up here.

It's the best childhood one can ask for.

I really felt safe, no troubles,

and there was this sense of living in a community.

I'd like to live here in peace
without feeling this constant threat,

and constantly justifying why I'm here or
why I live here.

I don't think it should be that way.

The subject always comes up, as if we
always have to justify why we're here.

We don't need to justify ourselves. We're here, that’s it.

Do you know if there were any relations
between the Arabs and the settlers of the Kibbutz?

No... I don't know.
I don't think there were.

There was no conflict with the Jews. Never.

The village of Majd el Kroum was split into two.

There was a road in the middle of the village.

Everybody took it to get to Tsfat
or to the hills.

Jews and non-Jews alike. There was no conflict.

They were natives, like us.
One couldn't tell us apart.

Jews were like Arabs. We were the same.

They spoke Arabic, we had the same jobs,
there was no difference.

They were setting a trap.
They were getting you to trust them.

No, we never thought like that.

That... Jews wouldn't chase Arabs and kill them.

that was unthinkable. We lived together, side by side.

Would you be interested to know more about
what happened during this period of '48?

Listen, there was a war...
the war of independence.

All over the country,
not only in the Ramat Yohanan Kibbutz.

There was a partition plan for this land.
Two countries for two people.

The Arabs didnt accept this partition.

They rejected it.

All the countries voted for the creation of
a Jewish state.

We didn't decide it alone.

Not only did the Arabs reject it
but they attacked us on all fronts.

I try to imagine myself in that kind of situation...

I spoke about it witht my uncle.

He told me that women and children
were sent to safe places.

What I mean to say is that...

I think what happened was right.

The Jews didn't decide alone
to build a country on their own.

The world decided it.

And one of the two sides rejected that decision.

It was their right, but they have
to accept the consequences.

At sunrise, the Jews came to the village.

They killed everyone they found.

They killed sixty, seventy young men.

They scattered them on a large square.

They killed them in front of their mothers, their wives
their children...

They didn't care. They killed them and threw their
bodies away.

People fled and there was no one left,

Do you think we abandoned or forgot Palestine?

It's impossible to forget Palestine.
We'll never forget It.

A month before his death, my grandfather would
incessantly repeat

“Take me back home. Take me back home.’

He would sometimes go out late at night,
looking lost, and say:

“Let's go back home. I don’t want to stay here.
Let's go back home now!”

All he could think about was going back to Palestine,
back to his house.

Impossible.

Even our imaginations are locked up, ‘so they never get out.

Nothing can be done.

Why did we leave?

Oh, why did we leave...

We left because of the war.

The Jews came to the villages and slaughtered
all the young men.

What should people have stayed for?
They were afraid.

We had no arms or army to resist.

We were defeated.

lf you see a fire in front of you,
do you jump in?

It's...

not simple.

It's not simple to see that...

someone is paying the price
for me to live in this paradise.

I'm Efrat.

I live in Haifa.

I'm 22.

I grew up in a mixed society,
with Arabs and Jews.

And I was able to meet interesting people
among the Arab community.

Thanks to them, I know the story, my history,
the history of this land.

I think we have the right to be here.
A legitimate right.

Not a historical right and
not because we were here 2,000 years ago.

I even doubt that my own ancestors were here.

But we have a right to be here.
We were born here, we grew up here, we live here.

It's a human right and we don't need
to find excuses to be here.

We're here. That's the way it is.
And I don't think it's a bad thing.

I think that if we had managed to adapt,
we could have brought a lot to the table.

Because a place is always better
when there's diversity.

We were born here. Our orchards and olive
groves are here.

- This house is mine.
- No, it's mine.

That's the way it ts. It belongs to us now.
No need to talk about it.

There's nothing to talk about.

It can't be questioned.
I mean, what's there to question?

The houses are here. The village is here.
People live here.

The exiled must have found a new place by now.

I'm sure that the new generations
born there are attached to that place...

To the land, the places, their friends.

And if they came here?
What would they do?

In Lebanon, I don't have the right to buy
a house in my name.

I'd like to know why.

On television, I see people with passports,
they come and go freely...

But we have nothing. Just an ID card.
And what good is it?

It's useless. We have no value.
People which makes us feel that way.

Even for work, Palestinians in Lebanon
have no rights.

If strings hadn't been pulled for me to work in
a clothing shop,

I wouldn't have been hired.

Your only hope is to go abroad

And the chances to get there are slim.
You need someone to organize that trip.

It's the only hope. My family situation
is not really good.

Would you like to go back?

Ask all the guys my age
if they want to go back to Palestine.

They'll say,
"Yes, to see and visit, but not to live there."

They will all say, “What would I do there?”

My life is here, my work, my studies...
My whole life is here.

There, I'd have to start from scratch.

It's not easy.

Another side of Tsipori

Παλιά εκκλησία

Έχεις δει καμία μαρτυρία προσφύγων
στην τηλεόραση ή στις εφημερίδες;

No, never.

That's why this whole debate doesn't bother me.

I don't know anything about about it.
Nothing really.

Κινηματογράφησα κάποιους πρόσφυγες
από το Τσίπορι στο νότιο Λίβανο.

From Tsipori? Unbelievable.

It would be interesting to watch.

He'd like to show you a testimony he recorded.

I'd like to see it, of course.
It must be fascinating to listen to.

We'll see where this takes us...

Palestinians in Lebanon
only experienced hard labor.

Building, concrete, fields, scrapping and digging
the lands...

That's all they offered us.

In camps like Borj Al-Barajneh,

Ain-Al Helwa, Tyr, Baalbak and Borj Al-Shamali...

Do you know a life worse than this one?

How can I describe it?

A house here, a house there.

If you whisper, your neighbor can hear you.

Is there a life worse than this?

Why didnt you go back?

Why didnt I go back?

Where would I go back?

Where?

To our village? I don’t own anything there.

The Jews took it. What would I do there?

Even if I wanted to go back, they wouldn't let me.

They want to throw out those who are still there
and you think they'd let us go back home?

Those who stayed were killed,
their houses were sacked,

destroyed by bulldozers and totally demolished.

So you really think they would let us return
and give us our rights back?

On this hill

I imagine two villages...

or a shared village.

I hope we get there some day

And it's not such an easy proposal for
me to make.

Do you want them to come back?

Where?

Here.

No. I don't want the refugees to come back.

Because Israel is too small.

And it's the only place in the world
for the Jewish people.

Even today, in the modern world,

there is a great hatred towards Jews.

Yes, I'd like the refugees to come back.

I'd simply like us to live here together.

I believe discrimination comes from the fact
this state was proclaimed Jewish.

If you declare, you are a Jewish state

It automatically implies that non-Jews
are second-class citizens.

And that there isn't really any room for them.

I think there's room for them. Really.

And I think we can live together.

I really believe that.

Κάποιοι λένε ότι είναι μια πολύ μικρή χώρα για αυτό.

Είναι τόσο μικρή για δύο λαούς;

I dont think so.

The heart is maybe too small,
but not the place.

I think that people are very afraid
of one another

and this fear is constantly kept alive.

It's the only barrier.
Everything is dictated by this fear.

And this fear can be killed.

Not as easily as men, but it can be killed.

I dream of going to Palestine.

I'd really like to live there.

Here, we have no life.

I'm married and I have a young son.
Why do you think I have children?

To have descendants.

And I'll teach them that Palestine
was entrusted to us.

His picture will get to Palestine.

If I don’t go back, my son will.
And if he doesnt go back, his son will.

If they were merciful,
they'd let us come back to our country.

And we could live together
like we did with the old Jews.

Why not?
We'd live well.

We used to live together with the Jews,
the Arab Jews.

We lived next to each other.

Our house here and theirs there.

One Saturday, one of my Jewish neighbors
called me to switch off the light.

"Why don’t you switch it off yourself?”

She replied, “I can't, it’s the Sabbath. “

When I switched it off, she gave me a piece to.
I told her: “l don't want candy.”

It would've been better
to get rid of them...

Why do you say that? You were just saying
you had good relations.

Because they brought us the Zionists.
Before, we didn't have them.

In fact, to this day, Arab Jews are still protesting
in Palestine.

It's the Zionists who've destroyed everything.

Κιμπούτς Σάσα
Πρώην χωριό Σάασαα(βόρειο Ισραήλ)

My name is Ashell Spiro.
I was born in the States.

I am now 84 years old
and I feel it.

I'm found finishing university at the time the first reports of the Holocaust and the

refugee camps and so on hit us and we were strongly affected by this. And so were many

groups that were Zionist groups and encouraged youth to emigrate to Palestine at the time.

Of course the whole idea was not merely to settle the land but that was exactly the

precisely the point to be a pioneer to help build the land. But we had thought that we

were going to the negative a vast empty region and certainly not an abandoned village.

Every morning when I wake up if it's a fairly not too cold a day, first cup of coffee I

get up to look at the plants and look at the see if the neighbors haven't moved.

But what does it make you how do you feel to live just so close from the border with Lebanon?

Well one of the reasons that we were asked to come here was precisely that. What that

is to like has been done all through the ages. Vulars send their inhabitants citizens to

live on the border to protect the borders. And if there was a village there beforehand

to settle the village and discourage the former inhabitants from returning. The army of course

was very interested because you have the this is a point where you have roads going in four

directions. It was a very difficult decision to agree to the suggestion that we settle this

hill which had been inhabited prior to our coming by Arabs. But of course this is a

tale and if you just start digging you realize that there has been one civilization after

another living here prior to the Arabs. There were the Turks prior to the Turks. There were

the Crusaders and you keep going you get down to the second or third century of this era.

And of course you have the Jewish settlement. And so it seems that is the history of man.

I regret the loss of life. I regret the loss of property, land. Yes it bothers me. Do I

regret settling here? It's very easy to say if not us it would have been us, anybody else,

a group would settle here. And so I think that I would say no. I would say that I am very proud

of our achievements. And I'm proud of our children, our grandchildren, our achievements both

agriculturally, socially, educationally.

I am Yoel Zilberman from Moshav Tsipori,
third generation on this land.

Lsly = All 00:47:49,559
*. . roe {
e ke I — —_— sk — Sa S s ate ee I ._ se — » SH 5
— ] ~~? * we

Around here,. there are many ruins from the Chazal
period and the Second |emple of Jerusalem.

ead 335 I uS was yo “LI

It makes me'feel close to this place and to Israel
in general.

_ Gul [as Ue + > isl spas |

A movement.older than the 60 years this country has
existede.

Cote '
Pra ne
wa te aR a

I lead.a Jewish life and it is important for me
that my kids be taught Jewish values.

ee al l-lay bs! igi Ls las
And that’s what ties me to this place.

Were in Sando,

It named the hill that
way as a tribute to my: grandfather.

All our livestock graves on this land
witch my father rents from the state.

Ihree years ago, my father told us
he had to complarn to the police

because a Bedouin family was trying
to make him leave the land.

a “ ~“L) - ~ - \
re u > XU

2 Tt Ie Ot oss

While doing my military service,
I started guarding the land with the help of friends

to prevent the Bedouin family from taking it.

Cas ogdll J) SbGd! obs seal

We understood that if it didn't become clear
to ourselves and to others

gadis Lod) Ss YI oy
that this territory was ours, we would lose it.

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at

“os 7 5 pe L: Sy al _ pe js

po yep LK Jos J Je Lesls os an
Yes, I've already talked about their feelings.

ts ow “IS « Ss slg Ss s ls

Leible Syl, - oN +24
told me-her family says

they still have the key to their
apartment in Jaffa.

It's the same record people
keep playing all their lives.

yl - [Sos 8 5 Leb, = bh o Uige

They keep on singing the same old tune.

ol 53 Cg td as
They live.in the past,

“They did this,.they took that.”
They choose to play victim.

Our ancestors who knew the old Palestine
lived really well.

But all we've got are worries

Weve come to love the simple things.

When our grandparents would tell us
how they lived,

we felt a part of their universe.

At first, we thought,
“listen to these old guys again.

But we came to love what they told us.

When I was a child, I would come down here
to see my grandfather at night.

He would sit down and tell me how it used to be.
Then my grandmother would join us.

Ihey're beautiful memories.

. . J . ,
How Is life witheut Palestine?
wa

Life?

It's a life which replaced death.

It's not a life.

It would've been better to die in Palestine
than to leave it.

-_— “#

You're right.
But you left and our life became miserable.

We didn't choose to.
It was the will of God. It's your destiny.

Do you think we left lightheartedly?

o oso

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s

Yes,

“TaeS ly: cals o ‘I gun Ss
Dic it ever happenite yeu?

Yes, but it only Fappens
when they think we are tresitant about tt.

If yourare convinced that this is your home,
no one Will Say otherwise

But if you're confused and question
your attachment to tls land,

omthers will have the guts to come and
claim your house.

Theihouses were here,but theyre not anymore.
So we dont know what's thue or Nol.

Their houses were here,but theyre not anymore.
So we don't know what's true or not.

True, there's the suffering and the stories
of the Arab people. I'm aware of this suffering.

Reality brings. back painful things.
So. lost friends during the war and it hurts.

But my friends wife died knew
they died for their country, and I know it, too.

That's why there’S no confusion.
That's why I know that this is myhome.

People can come and say what they want,
but its not enough.

It’sin@t enough to make. us forget who has
aright to this land.

vol dau mul» Las
It's obvious who has the right.

aK, ve, oa pads Y |
He says he cant forget.

The fact he’s unable to forget is a problem...
even if I dont expect him to.

Ga 3) 9.25

‘Ah

But the solution is to move on and not cling onto the
past .

It's impossible to live in the past
because reality has changed.

ligll Sle gm ol ches Sls sl
There is no way of going backwards.

This view 1s problematic
because it prevents dialogue.

I see the Jews as being weak.

They re good with weapons and technology,
but they have no will.

gs CL,
oS rah are

Weapons, yes,
but neither heart nor will.

And any man who doesn't have these qualities
will always be a coward,

even If he fights or whatever he does.

His policy would be based on killings
like the massacre of the Israelis.

It's a proof of weakness.

Their army has no will,

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and their country does not belong to them.

Sure, they've won battles but
certainly not the war.

One generation after the other,

‘we'll keep on fighting.

If they think they can get rid of
Palestinians and their cause,

they re dreaming.

History will tell.

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AY <¥¢

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My name is Shimon Paryante.
I was born in Israel.

I ght (49 gues Ss eh Cease. |

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I really feel attached to this place, to the air,
the landscape, the people.

My soul is here,

, us os
con 30
aulis he
re,

Basically, I know that Arabs used
to live here.

Se! Ls JS las
That’s all I know.

toe commas a! s 3 yw _ Saw ~~

fooaas Ghs La Ils
They were here for a_ hile before us.

They lived in Arab houses, and
some of them are Still here.

ptt lad Sail Say
We cant dey it.

_ Just before completing my three-yéar long
military service, I was injured.

Today, I am 60% disabled.

Sh dbs 8 dyke! al

But I took part in some unpleasant events
where we had to stop protests.

But it wasn't for me.
I didnt like doing, that.

It’s difficult for me to, fight people
who Im not in no position to judge.

Sap sl SG ye sal Ol sluas
. \ 7 .
I degided to leave that unit.

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wea?

that the army is one of
the most immoral institutions I know,

leas dasluall J duc) Y's
and I didn't want to be involved.

I dont feel like fighting for the
existence of Isracl.

If I don't feel the need for this state,
why should I “defend” it?

—

lam very atta@hed to this place.
It's very dear to me.

tk OW. & jas iS} lis Vals

sul . aalg La cS

dys wit}! Leake
I look around and...

I don't think anyone here is a criminal
or that It's anybody's fault.

I just think that people are
full of bad feelings.

I don't think about the hardships or the sorrows
of other people because my people have their own.

65 years ago in Europe, my grandmother
Was treated like a dog.

They spat on her. They hit her
and humiliated her in the street.

_I finally feel safe in my country,
and I should be convinced it's not mine?

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ee ad
’

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Not really.
It was before my, time.

ro IL yhls saat oj) ble SIS bas,
I should have studied history more closely.

I think that if they stayed in Israel, they'd be living
in good conditions.

J ospill Les sie YoY
Because here, there's 'no room for misery.

roti ob Jol!
Israel is a good.country.

I don’t remember having heard of famine
inthis country.

When we got here, it wasn't easy
for us either.

But we survived. So I imagine they
Survived as well despite all the difficulties.

For instance,
nobody cared about Moshav.

‘eel os TUS GaasUl ot at atu

I believe so. Yes, I think so.

Ga ) 3S gt bgbae Ss5iSuus
And if ‘they stayed, they're lucky.

ae

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I'd like to.

_ Me) ne “5 Reo lan .
we ~ wv . ; * ae

It's also important to tell our children
the history of this land.

“cad 5 & ~ wd y - eo

It can make you grow, learn
what you should or shouldn't do.

A story can help you feel close
to other people.

J lel LAS,
But it's not something that will...

pes le SL rs) el a YT
It's not going to make me question anything .

Their army and their government
are not composed of Palestinian Jews.

They're all foreigners.

The Jews of Palestine,
who still live there,

want us to come back and live
together. 'm sure of it.

But the foreign Jews who committed massacres
to create the State of Israel

dont want Muslims.

“Se

Imagine... we had our belongings, our land,
our olive trees... We lived in abundance

and we end up here...

oan aes
9 O0 vhs nem

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in this pitiful state,

‘ t ve
Yate) nee Hee

Safouri no longer exists today.

There are Jews there. There are murderers.

There's no way for us to go back.

That's life. It's our destiny.

After all these years,
I dont have much longer to live it's over.

adisle Saas cal! I ed val
ae ae a se ~ —* we

When I leave my bicycle here,
I dont feel guilty.

It's a house on my property ,
and I use It.

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OOP +
This past haunts me ina way.

, L, PG a4 " 2s

" + jst se In UJ I : Yoda

My father didn't want to leave.
He said that if we left, we wouldn't come back.

I .
He was told that staying there was too dangerous.

But he answered: “I'll only leave in my coffin.”

When things got worse, he was forced to leave
and joined us in Tsidon where he died of grief.

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on” Mees e mE

BN pe Ter Vay $x)
av NG, CoO.

He said the future held some dark days ahead for us.

oh: Mo a whe My |
a (.

I “
We wondered what he meant.

He asked us, “ you know what a carob bear is?
The days to'come will be even darker than that. ”

He said that one day the Jews would throw us out
and that we'd never come back. |

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You left by sea?

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go~*

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Yes, by sea. &

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ay! wal

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si

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-‘Had you ever taken a boat before?
- No. It was my first emigration.

My first,en ‘gration...

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ay
5 Me
ao”
Na

Kee.

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I don't really know what to say...

a

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Light...

APM
pot as
ay oep ne, ele a
. “

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e. Ry ok 7
RSE 443 fh wy

Gas jac 3
Shallow.

PF ONG I * S

red gat Le ant Y Tag

It's annoying to always hear,
“Im miserable, and they've done this to me.”

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Why can’t she say the truth:
“I chose to leave.”

There's nothing to be done.
That's the way it is now.

¢

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Why always dwell on their history?
What about ours?

Be:

wy an A Sosy py

The country belongs to the Jewish people.
We have to acknowledge that.

What do you dream about?

Even if |m old, I dream of going back,
even for the last day of my life.

hats my dream.

I dream of seeing my land, my house...
even if its been destroyed by the Jews.

We were happy, We lacked nothing.

They threw us-‘out and we became
refugees.

What @«an we @o about it?

We're exiles, and obviously, we want to
go back home to Palestine.

If I could, 'd go now.
I swear, I'd go by foot.

I'd allow all your cameras to film me
going to Palestine.

And when my feet would get tired,
I'd walk on my hands.

There's no need to
think it over. It's my country.

There's nothing more precious than
Palestine.

gt py al
It didn't affect me...

I think that...

N3 I abs

53 533 sical! i] I iss
the Jewish people and our nation.

ste sl JI SI els
It made me feel just how much...

is Lagas 8 dygltl SIs Toe n3

pds ss ‘ls . i s RL ps ~

I still think that it can change,

but the present generation
just wants us to go back to our past misery...

Wether it be in Europe, South Africa,
Asia, or elsewhere.

+4 ero og she
I'm sad that it’s like this .

ppusslasl. pg al pel g
But I feel at home here. It's such a privilege.

“ J , AL) 4
wi i: we —_ “

My only desire...

What I want more than anything in the world

is to go back to my country and reclaim
what was taken away from me 61 years agol...

Ask the old generation of Jews

if they can deny this right to the Palestinians?

If they can negate the existence of entire villages

like Saasaa, Sufsaf and others.

woe whe 9 <. Lee. Ld 3 >» al A

SE SE SG IAS

Arabs are confronted with the same problems
as |am but ina different Way.

I don't feel guilty. I feel close to them.

Really close.

And strangely enough,
I feel we share the same destiny.

Everything, @lases. up aroud the man, He is a prisoner.
All.doo@rs are shut aroud him.

But if there is a window which brings light...
if there is a way out,

an opening, a good omen,

he can then hope and tell himself, “It will get
better. if not today, than the next.”

He keeps on hoping that he will go home.

But were locked up ina prison.

How e@ould we ever find the hope of returning?

JS (8 Sl asks oll geal
I'm very moved after having watched this.

. jas Ma Lt: SALLI al
I had never seen this before...

eo. 8 =) 8 asttl wo

Libs Lis IlS agit
about how they were here before us,

and that may be they were expelled.

It's sad to see that some of them
feel expelled.

wats Uns cpl! I pect g
I imagine that it's a feeling that haunts them.

Ar SP AAS TL

A pest Le adel I oe

AG dee DG) a Saad

isi _- oye tan Sux ae, oe “
We're talking about human lives, about generations.

we

ae A

SA ENA,
+e

NA,
~ Se
avert

& Oy

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& ey

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itive

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a Se

yee Weta,

wrest Wit,

ht

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& te

sagt
CoA

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GPE EIA,
engreee ENN ARAAR

QA

& ey

ete SATE
, wares AA AAARRAN

dn ey ¢

4 te ¢ \
oe otet SEA

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Jab!

That we ll grow older.

It could help resolve many problems
in this world.

I get the feeling that something
is wrong witht fumans.

. eatin) ao! a ws

— > eV ORY Mp oa

so that our actions don't have to lbe dictated anymore
by fear, distrust

a ~%) ac ol

pe Noel Fetes ant) Qh fone

Some memories haunt me,
especially at night,,

I think of the land...

the vineyards, the olives,
the figs,

the pears, the apples.

I think of the mountains,
the breeze that caressed us,

I havent forgotten anything about Palestine.

Not even the name of the lands.

Because lands have names, just like humans.

© Alia’ Paeieetinns / Les Films dy Rowen Mounds / Brand Gommenica Plims - 2000