All language subtitles for Gaza.Surf.Club.2016.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.x264-CMYK

This entire road is full of holes.

Why did you bring this?

Man, there's no sun.

What will we do?

We'll see.

Get the other one.

Take it Mahmoud.

Get changed!

Yeah ok

That's too much wax.　-Am I supposed to slip then?

Yeah, slip and break your neck.

Leave me some.

You put enough, leave me some.

Enough, Ibrahim!

Here...　-Great!

Let's go!

Get ready, come on boys!

I'm the oldest among them and the most experienced.

Because they're still young
and excited for this sport

this eagerness overcomes their logic.

Like a rocket!

I wanted to go to Tarek,
but the waves were going to kill us both.

They're all committing suicide.

During this war...　-The soldiers!

What should we do?

Did you add sugar?　-Two spoons.

Stop. Right here, stop. Ibrahim!

Go, go!

One day, I was sitting with my parents

and my mom told me about a girl

She is about two years younger than me.

She was still studying
and came for a visit from Qatar

I saw the girl, I liked her.

So what did I do?
I sent her an invite on Facebook.

But the girl wasn't convinced.

Someone meets a girl once
and proposes to her overnight?

She crossed my mind again one month later,
so I talked to her.

Hi, this is Ibrahim.　-"Hi back."

How are you?

Fine.

I said "I want to ask you something"
she said "go ahead"

I said "Why did you refuse the engagement?"

She replied one week later saying...

I'm sorry,
I refused because I don't want to live in Gaza.

Eventually I understood.

A country that is always facing war...
We have adapted to this.

But people like them...

They probably don't have power cuts for more
than a minute every five years.

They don't hear the sound of missiles and rockets.

Back in the days, when I was a child...

I thought about surfing

after watching a documentary
about surfers in Europe.

Teens and children were surfing

and had everything provided like real surfboards

that were designed for the waves
and not dangerous like ours.

They had the means.
The program showed how they train

and the different clubs they have...

so I dreamt of becoming like them
but the situation here is harsh.

...pull, pull!

Hey.　-Where have you been?

You were sick all this time?

I am 42 years old

my dreams are almost destroyed,
but I'm still hoping

to go abroad and to see the athletes, the people.

I've been working in this area for 42 years,
since I was born.

It's true, we're by the sea

but it feels like a prison.

For you it's easy to come here from Egypt,
Spain or Europe...

but we can't leave the country.

If this was for a couple of days,
even a year or two... no problem.

But from the moment you're born until you die

there is no hope.

We have no hope.

And if you think there is hope,

then please point it out so we can search for it.
Where is hope?

Tell us, where is hope?

I've been surfing for seven years,
my father taught us.

My friends are proud of me
when they see me surfing.

They like it and ask me to teach them.

so I teach them and they become surfers like me.

Not exactly like me of course...

you can say...

not quite as good.

When I'm in the sea I feel happy and free.

When I'm older and become a doctor

our community won't allow us to surf

because we will be adults
and it's considered shameful.

Sometimes, I ask my older sister to come
and watch me swim and surf.

She watches me from the shore
and I can see that she's sad.

I tell her "you wish to go back in time

..when you could surf and swim".

She's 16 years old.

She doesn't surf or swim.

That's nice.

The girls surfed when they were little
but now the situation changed.

When they'd go in the water,
people would rush to stare at them.

Once I took Shoruq and Sabah to the harbor.

We took the board and started surfing,
while the people were filming us.

Then the coast guard came and told me
to take my daughters and leave.

So I told him "You can keep your harbor".

When the girls were still surfing,
those were the best days.

We used to swim wherever we wanted
without anyone interfering.

Today it's different.

Today everyone is controlling us,
in the sea and in everything else.

They say that girls can't swim
because it's considered a sin, a disgrace.

This is Nadine.

Of course I'm going to teach her to swim and surf,
no question.

I'll put some floaters on her
and throw her in the sea...

like a sea turtle!

The worst thing is going
back to work after the beach.

Work is so exhausting.

We want this sport to develop in Gaza.

We want to be able to improve these kind of things.

So we thought of building another floor
on top of this place.

Here, in this corner...

this will be the maintenance section,
which will be a large room.

It will be closed off from the wind
in case we need to paint.

Paint boards and stuff.

And over here, we are going to build a room...

for a computer, a laptop,
other electronics like a TV.

And this section will be an open space

An open room with chairs, a place to meet.

If I can acquire the visa
we will save a lot of time

because this training that
I'll be getting is in Hawaii.

And they could teach me how they make these boards

how to fix them and ways of selling them.

It is forbidden to get these boards
into the Gaza Strip.

Second, we don't have a club in Gaza
that supports this sport.

We don't have a club
an organization or a federation.

They tried to form a federation

or join the Sailing and Water Sports Federation

but all attempts ended up failing.

Ibrahim suggested...

to travel from the Gaza Strip...

to Hawaii

to participate in a surfing workshop

and a training in the repairs of boards
that we use for surfing.

Back in the days, about 25 years ago...

the kids used to surf on wooden boards.

So, as kids we used to bring a piece of wood

from a closet or a table for example,
any piece of wood.

And Ahmad's brother was an experienced carpenter

so Ahmed and I thought of
making a wooden surf board.

We made this one but it didn't work out for us.

We found that it was dangerous
and it eventually broke.

It's heavy and dangerous

It's impossible to build a board in Gaza

because surfboards require
a special kind of foam and fiber

and these are not available in the Gaza Strip

We received 24 boards

via Israel from California.

From Matthew?　-Yes, from Matthew

but they were confiscated
for two years inside Israel

then they made arrangements
with the Red Cross and brought them in.

This board...

This board is very dear to my heart
because it's the first one I bought

second hand from Israel.

I trained on it for nine years
with Mohammed Abu Jayab.

We had only one board, so when Ahmed was surfing

and I'd see a wave coming
I'd have to wait my turn and vice versa.

so it was a mix of joy and suffering
because we didn't have enough surfboards.

Look! All this sea
and we only caught half a tin of sardines.

There is nothing left in the sea.

This is the border, see?

This is the border where the oil tankers are

The fishing zone used
to be 30 nautical miles, or 20

so we used to catch lots of big fish.

Then when it was three miles
and they expanded it to six

we caught lots of fish for a week,
then the fish disappeared again.

If they would expand it to 20 miles,
the catch would be great!

Abu Khalil, wait.

Khalil, did you take some?　-Yes

Hi, Ibrahim

Hi, Matthew, how are you?

Good, how are you?　-I'm fine

Trying to get my camera working

Hello　-How are you?

All these boards?!

Yeah, those are my boards in the background, yeah

Yours?

Yeah

Okay, nice　-For Hawaii...

you need different boards,
for big waves and for small waves

My big one,
I surfed it in very big waves and I broke it

but here, we can fix them easily

You can travel to the US

and you can study some English

and you can do your internship

you know, you can do your studying in the shops

and then you go back to Gaza
and build the clubhouse.

When Matthew came last year

we became close friends.

I told him that I have a place and...

and I'm thinking of bringing...

surf gear, wet suits... water sports gear...

He asked me why, I told him we could open a store.

But I don't know where
to buy these things from abroad

and I don't know their prices.

He said he'd support me
in this project on one condition

to call this place Gaza Surf Club

and it would be a guide for anyone
who comes to visit the youth of Gaza

and at the same time,
it would be a meeting place for the youth of Gaza.

When can I receive...

the visa?

I don't know, we have to see

the business in doing the schedule
is not from the embassy

they find another company to do it

the government is like this,
it has too many systems

even for me, this is very difficult.

I don't understand the system you know,
sign in, create...

how many accounts did we create for this?

we have now, like four accounts

with different companies, trying to make the visa

it's so stupid.

Hopefully, you'll get the information
for an appointment this week.

Inshallah (God willing)　-Keep checking your email.

Okay, don't worry, every 20...　-...all the time.

Every 20 minutes　-Yeah, okay.

Just sit in front of the computer like this,
waiting, waiting...

I don't come here all week

I work for three days in the hospital

and in the summer, I work as a life guard.

I work for a day... two, three days,
a week... it depends.

But when there are good waves,
that's it: I HAVE to go surfing.

because I can always go to work later

whereas good waves only
come once a week or even once a month.

Sometimes there are good waves all week,
and sometimes there's nothing for a month

so we seize any opportunity we get.

Matthew sent me an invitation to travel
to the embassy in Egypt.

They refused to give me a visa

because here, it's hard for a person
to get a visa from the first try.

Especially because I'm young.

So they rejected my visa 5 times

and I wasn't allowed to enter Egypt.

I am not even thinking of living abroad anymore.

I lost hope.

When I traveled to Egypt
I paid $ 2.000 to cross the border

just to get to Egypt and do the interview.

After my visa was rejected and I returned to Gaza

I didn't think about it much anymore

and I didn't try again.

But then Matthew...

and the people in Gaza told me to
try via the embassy in Jerusalem...

there's nothing to lose.

I tried. And if it works then great,
and if it doesn't... then that's ok too.

I like to drive a clean car not a dirty car,
you know?

I love cleanliness. I love it a lot!

When a car looks clean then so does the driver.

What?　-Looking good!

Dear Abu Mahmud!　-God bless you!

Thank you, God bless you!

All my friends and colleagues love me

and I love them all back.

If girls could compete in swimming tournaments

my girls would beat everyone for sure!

They swim so well, it's scary!

I'm proud to say that I'm the one who taught them...

Dad, open this please.

This is an islamic nail polish,
so when I put it on...

and go to school...

if the teacher scolds me, I remove it.

It's easy to remove and your nails
will go back to as they were before.

Once, I swam wearing the scarf
and it choked me underwater.

It was tied on my neck,

so I removed it and tied it around my waist
and swam without it.

My cousins asked me
why I'd swim without a head scarf

I told them it's my business
whether I wear it or not, don't interfere.

I don't like it when people interfere
in other people's business.

It's my personal decision.

They'd say that's forbidden, that's haram (a sin).

I know some little girls who used
to swim and participate in competitions

but had to stop when they got older.

Her father allowed her to do all that,
but her husband wouldn't allow it.

When she got married...

her husband disaproved of her participating.

Our tradition doesn't allow this.

It's not acceptable...

And we're fine with that.

The Qur'an says to teach your children,
but doesn't mention women.

Maybe by children, they mean boys and girls.

Hey Yousef, where are you?

What are you doing at home?

Goddamn... I'm not going to the sea,
I'm going back home!

I'm at the store and I've been waiting since 10 AM.

I ask about Ali, he's at home and you're at home!

Didn't we say 10:30?

I don't want to surf anymore, I'm going home. Bye!

Am I supposed to wait for each one of you?

You said you'd be here at 10 AM, right?

Ibrahim called and said we'd go, right?

I was with him just now

Okay, why doesn't he want to go?

...we repaired my leash.

Why doesn't he want to go?

His father won't let him...

He wants to come with us, but doesn't want to surf.

Whatever...

Call Ibrahim and ask him...　-Here

Ibrahim, where are you?

So, you can't go in the water?

What?

He said his father shouted at both of you?

No...

He called Ibrahim and asked "where are you"

Ibrahim said "I'm at the store"

His dad says: "don't you move,
I'll be there in a minute!"

Ibrahim's the one who motivated us
and now he's not joining, damn!

The sea is angry today!

What's up, where are you going?
-We're going to surf.

You're going to surf? Oh God.

Ali, what are you doing?

Why did you go to the fish store?

I thought...

I told you my father won't let me go if he sees you.

He didn't allow him...
-Do you know how my father found out?

When he saw you all coming in the van.

My uncle heard that I wanted to surf
and he started screaming on the phone.

Mahmoud came while we were arguing
and just stood there watching...

He said "I swear if I see anyone surfing,
I'll raise hell"

Look at the sea, the waves are so high!

People were leaving the beach...　-It's dangerous!

People were leaving and when they saw us...

they came back to watch us surf.

Even the harbor is whipped up by the waves.

What about this one?　-Just tie it like that.

Mahmoud, this one also needs to be tied.

No man, it's just so they don't fly off,
we'll drive carefully.

Ali almost broke the fin...

I was standing there

suddenly a surfboard fell on me

imagine a surfboard flying towards you!

Bring some more　-No, no

Ibrahim, there's no coffee...

We don't have clubs or anything.

This right here is my club.
I'm proud of it and it's dear to me.

A metal shack, 1 x 2.5 meters

This is where I keep the surfboards.

I'm proud of it. We teach the youth

and we have fun at times
and sometimes we get bored.

Just like our lives.

Some waves require fast hand strokes.

Based on what?　-You look to the waves around you

If you see a fast wave, you speed up.

Children come to us to learn surfing

They are all friends, neighbors or our own kids

and we teach them what we can
with our limited resources.

More?

Yes, more.

My father was a fisherman for 50 years

he advised me before he died
to stay away from the sea

because it brings poverty

He said "find another job"

I tried to stay away from the sea,
but as I said before...

there is no hope.

So I came back to the sea.

I go from home to the sea and back home,
over and over again.

I spent my life by the sea, for 42 years.

And if I live long enough,
I'll stay this way until I die.

From home to the sea and back home again.

And my son will be the same.

Everyone has a goal or a dream in life.

I dream of traveling abroad,
and of being famous here in Gaza.

Like those actors in Egypt.

When they go out and people
ask for their autographs.

I dream of being like this
and girls asking me for my autograph.

To be honest, I wish I could travel.

Do you need a hand?

Push a little more.

Hi, Ibrahim.　-Matthew...

I want to talk to you about something.

Yeah, sure.

I got the visa today.

You got the...　-Visa

To go to the US?　-Yes.

Got approved?

Yeah, I went to the embassy.

Wow! That's great.　-Yes, yes.

I thought it will never happen! Wow! Good job!

Yes, thank you. Are you free or...?

Yeah, you should come as soon as you can

because there might be another war.　-Yeah.

Try to get out. If you have the visa now, come now.

Yes, I have to wait for one week
until they send me my passport.

Okay, great, you'll have a long flight to get here,

but just remember that at the end of the flight,
you will be in Hawaii.

Soon to Hawaii.　-Very good.

Give me a call in a couple of days...

Yes, I will call you.

Great, I'm so excited, Ibrahim.

Thank you, me too.

Come on, move!

Ibrahim! Ibrahim!

Get up, son.　-What time is it?

It's past seven!

Mom!

Good to see you

Great!

You made it!

How are you?　-I'm good.

How are you?

Let's give a hat to these guys.

These two guys, the lifeguards?
Let's give them a hat.

Matthew, what's this?

Coconut.

That's haram (a sin)　-Why?

Because it's not yours.

Give me.

Give me! That's right, exactly.

How do you say in Arabic?　-"Joz Hend"

Joz Hend　-Yeah, "Joz Hend".

It's a very complicated word.

Anyway, so in Hawaii, everybody has coconut trees

but nobody keeps the coconuts

because they worry about it falling on their heads

so they have a company like this,
they come and they cut them.

So it's very difficult to find some.

Khalil!

Yeah?　-Hawaii.

Hawaii, Abu Khalil.　-What?

What, Abed?　-Hawaii.

What?　-What does that mean?

Hello in Hawaiian.　-Oh...

Aloha!

I pray to God the tea will boil... in a year.

You can finish work and leave
and the tea still won't be done.

God willing...　-Were you cold yesterday?

Last night I covered myself with 25 blankets

I didn't feel warm until I added the 26th.

26 blankets! I only got warm
when I started to suffocate.

Ahmad is pretending like he wasn't freezing.

I swear I wasn't cold, if I was,
I would have told you.

How many?

Is this for me?　-Yeah for you, it's okay?

Taste test.

It's okay? Acceptable?　-Yes, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

One for me.

Get your face wet.

Wet first... no, with water first.

Get it wet.

Cold or warm or what...?　-Warm, yeah.

Warm, then put this

and then leave it for
like five minutes to make it soft.

There you go. I'll open this.

I have cream, no problem?

What kind... oh sun cream.

Yeah, sun cream.　-No problem.

Every time I go to Gaza,
when I go to get my hair cut

they ask me if they want me to shave with the razor,
the straight razor.

It's called straight razor,
the one you use in Gaza, this one.

Yes.　-Straight razor.

Straight means like straight line.　-Yes.

Straight, straight razor.

And always they ask me,
"do you want to shave?" and I'm afraid.

But in Gaza...

we have a lot of people who are very good.

They can do it with their eyes closed,
they're professionals.

Yes.　-Yeah, but I'm still...

I shave with one like this, a blade.

The color's OK for you sir?

Green, yeah, Hamas, I love Hamas.

Green from Gaza.　-I know what you're thinking.

Very good,
I wasn't thinking that, but that's very funny.

I think that's enough.　-I think it's good.

...after the machine.　-Yeah.

And then, they have here safety rooms as well

they have one, two two more

This is after the machine?

What the machine does...
so this is still the stringer

so we have to cut down the wood by hand

That's like 30 years old

So when we see the contours...

and you look, you can see the tones in the color,
and this is soft

so for us, we want the edges
a little softer here and as you go down

you see how it changes and the edge comes out so...

Yes.　-Yeah, if we were scaping outside

the light from the top was outside,
we can't see this.

Be careful.

Matthew, take my picture.　-Yeah.

But not...　-Not with the girls?

Ready? Ibrahim, smile.

No it's ok, they're behind you.

1, 2, 3, very good.

Here, on this little point here

is a very very good surfing spot
but only one day a year maybe

but it's unbelievable like a movie.

And here, you can surf here,
you see this at the end of the island?

But you need a boat.

When there's waves from the north...
this is the north here.

when there's waves
from the north you can surf there.

you take a boat out, you surf on this wave.

This is Rabbit Island

Rabbit is "arnab"　-Rabbit, yes.

My friends are not...

they know why I'm here

so of course they are thinking about...

that we will do something when I return

for this sport.

And I'm sad because some people are relying

on this thing working out.

But I don't know what will happen in the end.

Let's say they allowed us
to get surfboards into Gaza

will the people there appreciate them?
Will they afford them?

As long as the situation in Gaza doesn't change

it will be difficult no matter the price.

During the war I feared more
for the boards than for my children

because they can't be replaced.

You can have another child: you get married
and you have another child.

But there's no replacement for a surfboard,
we can't get them across the borders.

Why did you put them now?

Only the big ones.

Yes, put it there.

Give me that, habibi.

Put it here.

The fire is hot enough to cook a camel.

So, all I said was: I really thank you for coming

and sharing your "Ike", you know

what you see from inside.

And to join me in honoring us as people and our Gods

by drinking this water.

You're a friend forever because you drank the water.

This needs a little more time, more work, but...

It will be similar to this one.　-Not ready, yeah?

He will show you one that's ready.

You feel the weight?

The weight difference... to this?

Hi, nice to meet you.　-Hi.

What's your name?　-Ibrahim.

Ibrahim? That's good.

This is the stuff we use,
it looks almost like explosives really.

It's a two part epoxy like clay.　-Yeah.

And then... and then underneath here

When I go back to Gaza,

we'll try to get surfboards in.

If this doesn't work,
we'll try to work on the smaller boards.

These boards consist of a foam mold
which is available back home.

But the result won't be the same
because here they have machines

but we're going to try.

Yeah?　-Yeah, perfect.

Yeah, nice job.

Have fun, this is for you.　-Yes, thanks.

Thank you.　-Be safe. You gotta do this and then...

Okay.

How are you?

Hi, can I order a few pizzas to pick up, please?

Sure, what kind of pizza?　-Thank you. Does your...

the "loaded pizza" has sausage on it, right?

Sausage, pepperoni and the veggies

Okay, can I get it just veggie?

Just a veggie pizza? Yeah.　-Yeah, I'd like...

I'd like two veggie pizzas,
one cheese pizza and one pepperoni.

Okay.

Come here.

Do you like onions?

No.　-Me neither.

If you like them, I'll put them in front of you.

Get out of here are you trying to teach me?

You're annoying, get out of here.

You're so talented!

Can you wash the dishes like this?

I'm not very good in English.

My Arabic is really bad too.

Sorry!　-Don't worry.

But welcome to Hawaii.

Not sure how much you do know about Waikiki,

but Waikiki has a lot of history with surfing

If little Waikiki beach can help you know that's...

we're honored to help.

Share... share the Aloha, share the knowledge...

share what we can...

the ocean and through Matt

You worked hard to get here, so good job, you know.

This is just the beginning.

Ibrahim, now this is your first time to Hawaii?

Yes.　-And where are you from?

Gaza, Palestine.

Now over this summer,
there was a lot of violence in Gaza,

did you have to stop surfing?　-Where?

This last summer with the war in Gaza?

Yeah, but I went surfing.

You went to surf anyway?

There was five days of...

Ceasefire...

Ceasefire, yeah.

But not while there were actually bombs falling.

No, two days before...

they killed children on the beach

Yeah, the beach was targeted heavily

in the last campaign...　-The Bakr family

And are there any girls that are surfing in Gaza?

Now?　-Yeah.

No, that's difficult

but there were some little girls

they learned a little about surfing

but now, they don't surf.

Because they are women, not men.

Because they're too old?
-Yeah, the girls grew up so...

They grew up, now they're married
and not allowed to surf, okay.

Move a bit to the side.

Prepare for the 'land assault' !

Say: with the grace of Allah.

Just remove it, it's ok.

Do you want to remove it?

Or wear it in the water?

Wear it.

How far do you swim?

As much as you like.

Three meters?

Ok, then we will go together to "chalet" and swim.

Okay, let's do that.

In which club did you learn to swim?

Here on the beach.

Are you wearing a suit?

That's the suit.　-What's it for?

Sabah, come and explain it to them.

I imagined Hawaii was going to be just nature

just the sea and trees...

But I discovered it's also...

No matter what you imagine something to be like

as long as you've never seen it,
you will always be surprised.

The many things they wear...

The people's appearances.

The tattoos and what the girls look like.

Not all of them, of course, but...

Covered in tattoos...
They are like that, it's their nature

but to each his point of view.

In the past 10 days, I haven't seen...

I haven't seen a single girl
wearing all of her clothes.

four or five days ago, I saw one girl

and I took a picture of her

There are girls wearing veils in Hawaii?

People are so nice to each other over here.

In Palestine,
maybe because people are always under pressure

maybe that's the reason but nevertheless...

each country has its problems.

Here, people are good to one another.

Maybe that's why this island is so successful.

They take good care of it.

Once upon a time today

I was feeling lost like everyone does

Wave after wave chasing one another

We are both walking
in a valley in different directions

One valley has a glowing sun,

the other an idle water-wheel

My surfboard is my son and my daughter.

My blood and my soul.

I don't know much besides the board.

Because surfing...

is what makes me forget everything.

In the waves, I'm in a different place

a different world.

Waiting for a wave that will shake the world

and lift the cloud of worries.

Waiting for the wave, every day

holding on to the dream

But the most beautiful beach
in the whole world Abu Mohammed...

The shores of Gaza.

The shores of Palestine.

There's no sand in
the whole world like that of Palestine.

The truth was simple, clear and

innocent to the one who can see it.

They love the sea and they love to play.

You can't live and be happy without playing

This is life in Gaza.

Waiting for a wave that will shake the world

and lift the cloud of worries.

Waiting every day for the wave

holding on to the dream

Waiting for a wave that will shake the world

and lift the cloud of worries.

Waiting every day for the wave

holding on to the dream

Gaza is nothing without the beach

It's the only escape for the people

despite the siege and the blockade,
it's their only escape.

Waiting every day for the wave

holding on to the dream

Once, Gaza was one of the best places in the world.

And now it's one of the worst,

but this situation won't last forever.

It will change one day for sure
and be better than before.

They say "nobody can sit forever nor stand forever.

The world keeps turning."

(KJ:Gaza Surf Club)