Original subtitles

Summer 2002

Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khleifi

and Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan

embarked on a cinematographic journey through their country,

Palestine-Israel.

For this trip they traced a route on a roadmap.

They called it "Route 181", after Resolution 181

adopted by the United Nations.

This resolution from 1947 divided Palestine into two states,

56% of land for the Jewish minority,

43% for the Arab majority

and the rest, an international zone.

This theoretical line presented as a solution

caused the first Arab-Israeli war,

which is yet to end.

This journey along Route 181 followed this border

that has never existed.

A film by Michel KHLEIFI and Eyal SIVAN

Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel

The SOUTH

Albert good morning

What do you want? ... where from?

What do you want from me?

Hananaia, have you been here already?

MEDITERRANEAN BUILDING IN THE MARINA 4-5 ROOM APARTMENTS, PENTHOUSES

Wasn't it easier with Arab workers from Gaza?

Yes, but you can't count on them.

After a terrorist attack, there's closure.

One Arab worker is worth four Chinese.

- Do you communicate with them? - No... I mean yes, I do.

- It works? - Pretty much.

Some understand a bit, others don't.

How many workers do you have?

About 300.

Depends on their visas

We treat them well, they are human...

- Where were you born? - Kurdistan.

- And you? - Morocco. -Marakesh

- Were you born there? - yes

- Was it good back then? - Yes, it was.

I mean it was good 40-50 years ago?

- I mean for Jews it was good - It still is.

Nonsense! There's anti-Semites everywhere.

Everyone hates us.

Christians, Shiites... no one likes the Jews.

You say Arabs were better?

What?

No it was just easier, not that they were better.

There are no good Arabs, but it's easier.

They'd always go back home.

We didn't have to give transportation, lodging, hospitals...

They'd arrive in the morning and go home at night.

We always say a good Arab is a dead Arab.

Dead, he's OK. Alive, forget it...

We're waiting for these two clowns to finish marking the parcel.

They're Bedouins, Israeli Arabs, from here.

Do you know this land belongs to refugees in Gaza?

Forget that. What was here before?

We had land in Kurdistan too. Can I get it back?

They started a war, invaded and lost. End of story.

How many times 1, 2, 3, 4 times?

If they were decent they'd have stayed but they're animals, not human.

That's harsh - a man calling other human beings animals?

It's the truth, what can you do?

We gave them, everything taught them to build, repair cars...

What was in Gaza before the 1967 occupation?

Nothing. Just peasants!

Look now, roads, sewers... we did everything for them!

But they just want to kill us. That's it.

Killing soldiers, fine.

War, fighting for your land... I understand that.

But killing kids on a bus!

Why do they do that?

Why? They say it's their land.

That's why.

We're surrounded by millions don't they have space?

They've got enough desert!

Let an Arab country take them.

How many are there? 2 to 3 million?

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq have plenty of space.

They should give it to them.

There was a Palestinian town here.

I didn't know.

What?

Here? I didn't know.

I didn't know there were Palestinian lands here.

I don't care.

You really don't care?

Why should I?

- What was it called? - Nabi Yunis.

Nabi Yunis... Too bad.

This was Nabi Yunis.

These points indicate demolished villages.

Hang on a minute.

What happened to you?

In Eilabun, during the occupation,

they shot and killed 14 people for nothing.

Lined them up and shot them.

Their names are at the cemetery.

Some fled to Lebanon, others say:

""If ever we get Palestine back...""

Israel should at least leave them in peace.

Does a young guy like you

have a chance of going out with Israeli girls?

Plenty.

It's really easy.

With which girls is it easiest to get a date?

Russian girls.

Emigr�s.

Then Jewish girls.

Local girls, not foreigners

who have taken Israeli nationality.

The hardest are Arab girls.

They're scared of their parents.

They're really strict with them.

They're forbidden to do anything, talk to boys, go out...

In a couple of months, I'm leaving.

To the US.

Why?

My brother and sister live there.

- Foreman Hani's there. - Youngsters are leaving.

- What - they exchange you with Russians?

That's not the reason.

How do I put it in Arabic?

Speak in Arabic.

Speak to him in Arabic?

I know what I am here, I can't realize my ambition.

- Are you from Eilabun too? - Yes.

What does Palestine mean to you two?

For me, nothing.

The most important thing is to enjoy life.

Palestine, sure.

I sympathize with them, I think they're right.

They're oppressed, subjected to terrorism,

but we can't help them.

Arab countries could but they don't act,

they do nothing.

Arab politics are a total fiasco.

We'll never have peace here.

What about that massacre?

It's ancient history.

I live among Jews.

My mentality is closer to that of the Jews than of the Arabs.

Yours too?

- Did you do military service? - No. My brother did.

I'd like to, but I started studying in the Technion.

Also losing 3 years in the army...

Why did you want to do it?

To serve my country.

Military service is good.

It gives you pride, makes you a man.

So are Israelis manlier?

No. Because of the army? No way.

It's just fun in the army.

and I want to serve the country.

I live here, so I want to serve.

Hello? Okay, okay, yes. Me? No way... bye...

I've got to get back to work.

WE WAVE THE FLAG WE CONTINUE TO LIVE THE DREAM

What's that house over there?

An archeological site.

They did a dig not long ago.

It's the tomb of a sheik.

What did they find?

Bones, apparently. Skeletons.

Was there an Arab village here before?

Yes, there was.

This little point.

- Gan Yavneh. - Yes.

- Gedera. - And the Arab village Barka.

The village was here. and who had the houses?

As you say, "had".

They're gone now.

Not being able to go home as you please,

it isn't right. Everyone should be able to have his own home.

But it's not a problem we can solve.

Who are "we"?

We, the citizens. We can't solve it.

What if international law lets them back?

It wouldn't let them live here with the Israelis.

How do you feel?

It wouldn't bother me.

If we could live together in peace.

But it's not likely. How can there be peace?

We used to get on fine.

That's what my folks told me.

They arrived in 1948. I was born in 52.

They told me what life used to be like.

What did they say?

They had good relations with the Arab neighbors, a good life.

Do you feel closer to the Russians or the Arabs?

You can't generalize.

The Russians are Jews like me.

I'm not racist or anti-Semitic. I've lived with them,

but by nature I'm closer to Arabs.

But the Russians are Russian, the Arabs are Arab.

It's a different culture, another way of life.

I wouldn't say I prefer Arabs to Russians,

or vice versa.

Each lives his own life and his own culture.

They're all human beings.

- Hi. Do you live here? - Yes.

I'm an Arab, an Israeli and a Palestinian.

How old's this house?

80 or 90 years old.

Are there other Palestinians around here?

There were 3 families before.

- Where's Masmiye? - This whole area is Masmiye.

The whole region from Bnei Re'em to Kfar Harim.

- Were there many Arabs here? - Lots.

- Was the village razed? - After the war.

When the Muslims left, the Jews moved in.

Ashkenazi Jews,

Moroccan Jews, Yemeni Jews...

All kinds of Jews.

We lived together. Life was beautiful.

Today, they surround us.

- Why? - To build a road.

There's a housing project.

They're building over there.

They want to pay me to leave.

But if I leave,

where can I live?

In the town? Never!

And the road?

It will cross my parents' land,

which has been registered in our name since the Ottomans.

Do your neighbors help out?

They help each other.

Do you get along better with the Russians or the Yemenites?

They're as bad as each other.

Before, the State wasn't against me.

Now they're nervous about what's happening

and about the Muslims.

They even hate Israeli Arabs.

I'll sleep in a tent

if they destroy my home. A constitutional state

wouldn't do that.

Do they have no shame?

They came here and we welcomed them.

- Is your family gone? - All of them.

Only my father, brothers and sisters stayed.

Some live in Bethlehem, others in Jordan,

Egypt.

In Iraq. They've scattered everywhere.

- Do they come to visit? - No.

They're stuck where they are.

How would they get here?

Did you see the sign?

""Transfer means peace. " Palestinians to Jordan."

I don't pay attention anymore.

What do you think?

It's been going on so long I'm used to it.

Am I going to weep each time I see "Death to Arabs!"?

It's what they all think.

Write "Death to Jews!" once on the road to see what happens.

It would be all over the TV.

Death to Arabs.

They all think it.

They all write it.

They don't call this Masmiye, but Masmiah.

My address isn't Masmiye,

but Bnei Re'em.

They won't say Masmiye.

They change all the place names.

It's legal here.

Would you say the Jewish or Israeli people are inhuman?

Or that their laws are inhuman?

Are the people bad or just their laws?

The people accept the laws. The State should be disbanded.

- Is there racism? - Every single day.

I have no Jewish friends anymore.

Isn't that racism?

There's not one Arab home here.

Where are our Jewish friends?

They hurt us without realizing.

Because basically, they don't treat us like human beings.

You do your 8 hours,

you share a joke and then you go home.

We know each other well.

Call this a life?

Palestinians lived simply, with bread and olives.

With a good and pure heart.

They helped everyone.

That's how Arabs lived.

All Jews seem to care about is work and money.

The State takes the bread from our mouths to give to the Jews.

That's not a life.

When I lived with them

I did them no harm, but they harm me.

I was here when Jews and Arabs lived together.

I treated my neighbors well.

If they fought, I stepped in and reconciled them.

Even today, I separated two Jews.

They wanted to fight. I stepped in

and the aggressor backed down.

Now they do me harm.

This plot of land where I live with my goats and cows...

They're taking it from me due to a so-called law

on the administration of land.

But it's registered in my name.

If they take it, where can I go?

Why are they building this wall

to separate them from Palestinians?

Can't they live among Palestinians?

They lived among Arabs for years in various countries.

The problem isn't between Jews and Arabs,

but between occupiers and occupied.

That's the problem.

They say, "Arabs hate us and want to throw us into the sea!"

But that hasn't happened in Yemen or Iraq.

Others threw them out, not us.

Arabs haven't done that. On the contrary.

I dreamed they took my land by trickery and force.

The very next day,

terrible rains fell

and the deluge destroyed everything.

Even the jeeps were washed away.

I said, "Go to hell and never come back!"

I took it out on them.

I want to live on my land, just the right distance from others.

I'm happy here.

I won't leave here, even if they demolish my house on top of me

or lay siege to me.

It won't do them any good.

I'm at my wits' end.

VARDA'S INN. KOSHER DISCOUNTS FOR SOLDIERS

Why so many war pictures?

That's life here. You think it's over? Never.

I don't feel like it's war,

I feel safe when I see them.

When I die, I'll have my favorite photos placed on my grave.

What is Masmiye?

It's the Arab name. Muslim.

In Hebrew it's called Re'em Junction.

It's in the Bible.

They come here looking for their old homes!

I hope they don't come for the restaurant one day

It was all Arabs here. Arab houses.

They should be demolished.

They shouldn't be left,

because the old people come looking.

Any Arabs living nearby?

There are two families.

They're not from here, they're squatters.

One of them was offered housing but wouldn't leave.

Several times.

- Do you have contact with them? - Me? With them?

Oh, I just love them so!

We should get rid of them.

Send them packing!

Pay them if necessary,

but rid this land of that cancer!

They all have to go.

Even the Israeli ones.

That's for sure.

Don't hold that against me.

I know that you side more with the Arabs.

All the media do.

But we need some censorship. It would be better.

We're too easy on them.

And they're... Arabs

If you're weak, you're done for.

I'm telling you You're still young.

The ones that will end up taking over the world

are the Muslims,

because everyone welcome them everywhere in the world.

- So, there'll never be peace? - Never.

Not as long as we're here.

JORDAN IS THE PALESTINIAN STATE

DEPORTATION = PEACE AND SECURITY

KASTINA

We came here in the 1950s.

It was just a transit camp, a few tents.

We were given iron beds.

We paid 2 liras for an iron bed and a mattress.

Made of straw!

We started working hard getting ahead.

- Where are you from? - Iraq.

Do you remember Iraq?

So... so... sure.

Tell us what you remember.

I was at school,

life trundled along,

until we went to Israel.

Why? What suddenly changed?

The creation of the State of Israel, Zionism and so on.

Everyone emigrated.

Was life good in Iraq?

You ask me that now?

It was ages ago.

We were kids. For us wherever... was good.

- What did you speak? - Arabic.

But now, only Hebrew.

Have you forgotten Arabic?

There's now Arabs who fled Iraq.

I can speak Iraqi Arabic like it was yesterday.

We learned it at school, it's hard to forget.

What's the origin of Qiryat Mal'achi?

When it started it was called Kastina.

It was an Arab name. All the names were Arab,

Masmiye, Kastina, among others.

Gradually the names changed.

Where did the Arabs of Kastina go?

They were taken to Gaza and other places

like Ramleh... They were moved.

There was an Arab village 2 km away.

An abandoned village, a ghost town.

There were Arabs in the whole region.

I'd have happily lived with them and vice versa.

Who comes now?

People from the ex-USSR, not just Russians.

and some from Argentina.

They live better than I do, and I work!

I work hard. I'm self-employed.

Every month they go to the social services.

and get their check.

Will peace come?

We hope so. If we...

If our big people,

not you or l, but the big people on both sides -

want peace, they can do it.

You know who I mean?

Both sides. Us and them.

If they want peace.

Some people in this country - and tell me if I'm crazy -

possibly don't want peace.

They don't want peace.

Otherwise they'd have nothing to do,

nothing to get up in arms about.

We have people like that.

This co-operative village, the Shafir moshav, is Hungarian.

It was founded in 1949 by Hungarian Jews - one was my grandpa -

There were 2 waves of immigration, in 49 and in 57.

I continue the dynasty.

I work in hi-tech.

There are few farmers left here.

- Who works the land? - Mostly Thais.

Before the Intifada, Arabs mostly from Gaza did.

But now, with the lock-down, we can't count on that.

Did your grandpa buy the land?

No, they were given it.

There was an Arab village called Sawafir.

The name Shafir is mentioned in the Bible.

In the Book of Amos, if I'm not mistaken.

The ancient name of this place is Sawafir.

When we came here there were wells.

You could see the original lay-out.

But basically, they were destroyed

Why the flag?

The flag? Why not?

They gave them out in Kastina yesterday to boost morale.

Not that my morale is low.

I'm just proud to be Jewish and proud to wave my flag.

If we want to preserve the Jewish State.

Most people do.

At least 80% of Jews living in Israel.

If so, it'll be hard to give up...

to give the expelled Arabs the right of return.

Allowing them back here won't solve their problems.

It's not in the interests of the Jewish people.

The State would no longer be a Jewish State.

Palestinian problem or not, many people think

they should be expelled to an Arab country,

that once back they would start wanting more.

I'm against expulsion.

I just think it's not feasible.

Trouble is, the Jews are divided.

Some think this, others think that.

But essentially, there's no other realistic solution.

There's nothing we can do.

And that's that.

We have to live with it.

As best we can.

"Despite the siege,

"we prepared for attack.

"We had ten protected positions, like these.

"At night we evacuated children in Palmach armored cars

"to the kibbutz Ruhama kibbutz.

"The Egyptian infantry regiment that attacked us

"numbered 2500 men.

"They had heavy artillery, tanks,

"field artillery and two planes."

First we built a fence.

They didn't call it settlements then.

We just settled down somewhere.

We don't really like the settlements of today.

Today's settlements displace Arabs.

We didn't expel them, we came as neighbors.

There was an Arab village here,

another over there, and we settled in between.

Look - we built the buildings and planted trees.

There was nothing. It was empty.

We put that up in a single day.

- Where are you from? - From Poland, from Ukraine.

- When did you come here? - In 38, I was 22.

On an illegal boat.

I came here straight from the sea.

There was a big Arab village here 3000 inhabitants.

In 1948, they fled.

They became refugees in Gaza.

We didn't want them anymore.

All the Gaza refugees are from these villages.

There was a railway station

before the border, before Erez, was an Arab village.

This map shows how they decided

at the United Nations

to partition the country between Israel and an Arab State.

If the Arabs had been smart, they'd have founded

an Arab State where it was decided.

Here. The Arab State.

Yad Mordekhai should have been in the Arab State.

But they didn't want to.

They wanted to throw us into the sea.

But you ended up throwing them out.

Yes, we threw them out. They went to Gaza.

If they hadn't declared war, we wouldn't be here, but there.

But they wouldn't have it.

They fought and we sent them here and here.

That's the story.

Did you see people leave in 1948? Yes.

Did all Arabs take up arms against you?

Only the activists.

Not everybody,

most Arabs wanted to live peacefully farming their land.

The activists fought.

There used to be 1000 dunams here.

That's 400 hectares of vineyards.

It's all gone now. Can't make a living from grapes.

We don't work for sentiment we work for money.

It stayed while it was profitable.

In Poland my name was Katz.

Here I changed it to Katzir.

Why did you change your name?

All Israeli patriots take a Hebrew name.

I went to Cuba.

I didn't want to be Katz there nor be asked if I was Jewish.

I just wanted to be Israeli.

20% of Israel's current population is Arab.

In 20 years, it will be 50% and there'll be no State of Israel.

What's the problem?

The problem is,

they have many kids.

We have two per family. They have eight.

So we need Jewish immigration.

Even American Jews could come.

- When? - We'd have to ask them.

If life's good for them, they won't want to come.

If Israel is strong, there won't be war.

This is a border. It's supposed to block.

It's our invention.

It's unloaded from a truck.

It's a method that we've patented.

We're the only producers in the world.

The Army has already bought huge quantities

and we're about to receive an order for 120 km more.

This barbed wire is used for borders

and in prisons.

In South Africa they fence their homes with it.

Israel has launched a huge operation

to close off the whole demarcation line.

The first section is 120 km.

The next two are optional,

allowing for a total of 390 km.

This fence has particularly large blades.

Other armies don't use it. Maybe for humanitarian reasons.

It's mostly used in prisons and for property fences.

In the US, it's used to protect industrial yards

and car yards.

But not at borders, for humanitarian reasons.

The blades are particularly long

and cut deep.

I think that's why it's not used for borders.

And yet, it's an uncrossable barrier.

It's very effective.

Maybe international law forbids it.

Today, the main use is in Gaza,

where soldiers can't go

or stay in the open too long to lay classic barbed wire.

They use armored vehicles

with trailers loaded with pyramids like these.

They place it on the ground, cut the bindings,

start the vehicle, step on it, and it unwinds.

The State has bought enough for 120 km of border,

at 600 million shekels.

That's 5 million per km,

not including electronic protection,

which would cost another 5 million per km,

if not more.

This factory was facing closure in 95 or 96

after the peace agreement.

There are fences for for peacetime

But the factory was almost shut down.

In the present climate this product brings business.

NIR AM RESERVOIR

GAZA NIR AM

Our avocado farm is that green strip.

Erez is next to it, the checkpoint's there.

You get water from here? Is there enough for everyone?

We fight over it.

After the Oslo Accords

The Palestinian Authority built a lot here

They had to house officers who came from Algeria.

They also planned to re-house the refugees in these homes.

In the Beit Hanun area, close to the Erez checkpoint.

The Gaza Strip was full of skyscrapers back then.

They stopped building since the Intifada.

They're out of money.

Lovely fresh air!

NIR AM KIBBUTZ, NEGEV MUSEM OF WATER AND SECURITY

You're on the border.

The orchards on the coastal strip belong to the Arab village

Beit Hanun.

The low houses are Beit Hanun.

The higher buildings are Jebalyia.

The floor is in reinforced glass.

You can see water running under your feet.

It stresses the fact that the museum is dedicated to water.

We settled here in 1943.

I was the officer in charge of this place, which was secret then.

The Effendi of Beit Hanun dug a well here.

He found water at 130 m.

An Arab from Beit Hanun!

He planted an orange orchard.

But the digging was done by some Jews.

They did a botched job. There was continual rubbing

and it wore out the pump.

The Effendi had to have it repaired five times.

In Tel-Aviv.

It would work a few weeks, then break again.

Repaired five times!

Meanwhile the orange trees dried up.

He sold the land to our Jewish National Fund.

Our national fund.

They told us, "Move there, the bore will be fixed

and you'll have water.

""It's a capital national mission.""

because the British decided...

This is Lord Peel's partition,

17% of the land for the Jews, the rest for the Arabs.

The red area between Jerusalem and Jaffa,

was to remain under British control.

That's when our land was bought and we settled here.

The Negev was to go to the Arabs

and the north to the Jews.

The 17%, as you saw.

Was it to ensure the Peel Commission failed?

Yes, because of its partition proposal.

We wanted it otherwise.

We wanted a Jewish State like the one we have.

And we got it. We fought for it.

- You were soldiers? - No.

We were underground, in the Hagana.

Underground, but we founded settlements.

I was an officer

in charge of armaments, but I also planted vegetables.

We created 11 in one night throughout the Negev.

We bought land in the Negev up to Eilat.

We knew what we wanted.

How much land did the Jewish National Fund buy?

Listen! Ask questions when I'm done!

The British got fed up and left

and the UN arrived.

The UN created a special committee

composed of 11 members from neutral countries

and presided over by a Swedish judge, Sandstrom.

They arrived in July 1947.

We took them to the Negev. Imagine!

The middle of the desert!

Mitzpe Revivim in the middle of the desert!

There was a Jew, who still lives there.

He grew gladioli.

Sandstrom said, "You're having me on."

"These are artificial."

The guy came over with some shears and said,

Sir, would you like a bunch?

Look, that's the Swedish judge.

He's holding his gladiola.

The Swedish judge,

the Yugoslavian delegate, and me in between.

Recognize me?

You don't?

The ladies always recognize me immediately.

Do you know how?

My ears!

My ears stick out a bit.

They voted.

Some were for, some against.

They finally decided...

the Negev would go to the Jews.

On top of the 17% the British gave,

another 16% for Israel.

But what happened then?

The US President Harry Truman decided

the Negev wouldn't go to the Jewish State.

What did they do?

The head of the World Zionist Organization,

Dr Chaim Weizmann, went to Washington

to try to explain to Truman how important it was

for the UN to stick to its committee's decision.

But he wasn't seen.

He waited a day, a week, ten days...

So they contacted a Jew

who had done business with Harry Truman

and who called him sometimes, Harry, how're things?

They explained to him

and he phoned Harry Truman, saying, "Hi, Harry, how're things?

""The head of the " World Zionist Organization,

"representing the world's Jews,

"has been waiting 10 days

""for you to give him 15 minutes. " Shame on you!"

And he hung up.

Truman thought, then told his secretary

to fix up a meeting with Chaim Weizmann.

A meeting was fixed.

30 minutes after meeting Weizmann,

Truman called the US delegation at the UN.

He said,

""The UN is meeting in 10 days " on November 29.

""Do all you can to ensure " that those who are against

""vote for the committee's decision " to be adopted.

""The UN must vote for the Negev " to go to the Jews."

That's how the decision got voted.

The great story of the Negev.

Then the war started and shook everything up.

The Jewish State wasn't formed according to UN partition.

The war helped us.

Palestine disappeared.

Why Palestine and not Eretz Yisrael?

We bought the land from its owners.

We paid good money for it.

But they didn't know you had plans to form a State.

When they sold? just business.

Normally if you sell you can stay.

We didn't declare war.

Who invaded Israel on May 15?

You asked a question. Here's the answer!

Who invaded whom?

Sorry, where's the Mefalsim kibbutz?

What? not here?

Take the main road, it goes to Mefalsim.

How far along is it? What?

After Nir Am, you get to Mefalsim.

OK, thanks.

Can you tell us about Gaza?

What for? Why?

Go and see for yourself.

Why should I tell you?

Gaza was already a big city when we settled here.

A big Arab city.

Is there water in Gaza Strip?

All along the coast.

There's water at 20 to 50 meters deep.

Hence the Jewish settlements?

Yes, we've started settling in the north,

and along the coastal strip.

Wherever there's water, until it runs out.

The Jewish settlements get water and then it runs out.

There are no Jewish settlements. Not in the Gaza Strip.

- None? - Some, but they're negligible.

Like Nir Am was in 1943?

That's negligible.

Netzarim, Dugit, Hofit, Eilei-Sinai

They're on water sources.

Where there's water...

We don't want to expel Arabs.

But we already did in 48.

No, they'll stay.

In 48, we chased them out and razed their villages.

You keep saying that nonsense.

I explain and you keep repeating that nonsense!

- Isn't it true? - Listen to me!

The Arab neighbors need to understand

that in the war against Israel they will not taste victory.

Okay? They will not win.

It will only lead to Arab extermination.

much worse than any previous ones.

Then there'll be peace.

This is the amphitheater.

There'll be benches all along these rows of trees.

Behind this tree,

there's a small well.

They bore down to 800 m looking for oil and found water.

I have a dream of doing something like this.

I saw it in Buchart Gardens in Canada.

There was a great water jet.

If I ever got hold of a million dollars...

the water would fall back down into a swimming pool.

Is that you with Ariel Sharon?

No, this is Ariel Sharon.

Inside the museum.

- With you? - Yes.

We have lots of albums with photos of Arik Sharon.

I need a million dollars for this project.

It would be grand.

If a Jewish community or donor were to give it

It would be named after the donor.

""A million dollars for a geyser " to be named after me."

Over there, a hot-water swimming pool.

Yes, a pool!

The water would be recycled to fish farms

then to olive orchards.

It's a vast project.

And if I find the money to do it

it'll be magnificent.

If I find a million for this

my dream will come true.

"Give us water We haven't drunk yet"

""Give us water " And some newly-pressed wine..."

Send me a tape?

God knows how you'll turn this into a film!

You can't film here.

Why not?

We don't want pictures, of this base

getting into the wrong hands.

But go further along, you can film there.

That's the border.

Further down you can see the homes that were built

for the officers of Force 17.

That's Jebaliya to the north-west.

See that white line?

It's an electronic fence.

It runs along the whole strip.

It's open to the sea but closed inland.

The Gaza Strip is cut into zones.

The Netzarim Zone, the North Zone and the Central Zone.

Here to the sea is a 5 to 7-minute drive.

Is this the international border?

There's no international border.

There's no border as there's no State.

What's Israel?

There's no Palestinian State.

NO ENTRANCE BORDER

We've been settling Israeli land for 100 years.

Since the Age of the Patriarchs.

It has never been a wilderness. The Middle-East was never empty.

It's always been inhabited.

I don't deny the original place names.

Kids used to call this the White House.

I call it Khirbet Naim,

after the family that lived here before 1948,

members of the Abu Sita tribe.

Their grandchildren live in Khan Yunes.

We should keep calling it Khirbet Naim.

This house belonged to a sheik.

The Army occupied it.

I want to make it an art gallery.

I offered people from Gaza to come to work here.

They said no, but they might change their minds.

Works of art, paintings, sculptures...

Next to the world's biggest ghetto?

What then? Leave?

Should we flee?

What would it do for the ghetto?

Would a humanitarian gesture ease my conscience?

No.

I can't change people's minds, their politics.

It's difficult.

It's become extremely difficult.

Do you have contact with them?

Palestinians?

I did. With two guys from Gaza

who worked at for us.

We'd speak on the phone.

What can I say?

You can't turn back time.

You have to think of the future not the past.

I don't get it.

Living together is the future, not the past.

Depends what you mean.

Living together with territorial or financial compensations?

How do we do it? What does "living together" mean?

Who's closer to you?

A Palestinian from Galilee, or a Belgian or Dutchman?

It's a different type of closeness.

My own identity and cultural background,

are western.

I can be good friends with an Arab from Galilee,

but he has a different culture I must respect.

I don't know if I do,

since I'm totally ignorant of his culture.

But the roots of my culture are western.

- It's a paradox. - Yes, what can I do?

Go to Paris and go fishing...

Cacti mark the edge of the village.

There's the well. It's still usable.

The water's a bit salty, but drinkable.

See our sorting chain? At the end is the border.

South Africa is the settler's model.

A white minority dominates a black majority.

Here, it's the Arabs, who have no rights.

They'll be well treated as long as they don't rise up.

They'll have water and we won't beat them.

But no civic rights. And that's the moderates' view!

The Army felled all the trees.

We're coming to a point... Let's go that way instead.

I don't want to cross the tree-line.

Otherwise... See, they're already here.

They fired on a patrol here.

The Army don't like trees. They fell them.

The driver was killed, so they felled the trees.

They call it "stripping".

Arabs lived here.

The British dug the Bir Gara'a well.

Across there is Hourza'a. It was inhabited here.

Look. People lived here.

Or lower.

I suppose it was in this little pocket.

There was no fence

when the Egyptians were in Gaza.

Just a 10-cm ditch

and every 2 km, a sentry box with blue-berets completely stoned.

But no fence. We passed sacks of wheat

to guys from Khuza'a. There was no fence.

The fence is the ultimate absurdity.

Take the fence -

The settlements there were, the more we built.

As they got more settled the fence goes up.

From a little fence,

to a big one, then barbed, then double, then electronic,

and so on.

The fence is the symbol.

The fence is Zionism.

"We will hear in the hills of Judea

"And in the streets of Jerusalem

""The cries of joy " and the cheers of elation

""The voice of the groom " and the voice of the bride"

Each happy event is an occasion

to pray for Jerusalem to rise up in our time

and for us to say like the exiles of Babylon...

""If I forget, Jerusalem, " may my right hand shrivel,

""may my tongue stick " to my palette,

"if I forget, Jerusalem,

"that you are my greatest joy."