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.

WELCOME TO THE LOD INTEGRATION CENTER

Hello, everyone.

Do you understand? Do you speak Hebrew?

Of course! Show us what you know!

Very well.

The integration center symbolizes the durability of Zionism.

The fact that it's in the heart of Israel,

5 minutes from the planes

that bring in new immigrants every week

clearly shows

the importance it has for us

and for the city of Lod.

We wish everyone

an end to their troubles and a very happy new year.

I'd like to invite

Mayor Maxime Levy, who will greet you.

I'd like to thank the people who truly put Zionism into practice,

by taking care of immigrants, integrating them,

and giving them a warm welcome.

I hope, God willing,

that Israel continues to integrate immigrants,

since that is the noble mission

of the Jewish people today.

I'd like to wish us all

a year of safety, peace and health.

Now, all together,

you and us,

let's open the bottles

and pour out the wine. Everyone.

The guest of honor, too.

If you don't have a cup, ask Tamar

and she'll give you one.

Do you all have wine?

Let's raise our glasses.

""Bless the vine " and the fruit of the vine,

"this great, good and beautiful country

""that You gave " to us and our forefathers,

""so that we may taste " its fruits and benefits."

Let's put down our glasses.

Dip the apple in the honey.

Everyone, quickly!

We say the blessing.

"If You so grant us, then today begins

"a good and sweet year for us."

FROM ETHIOPIATO ISRAEL

STOP ISRAELI OCCUPATION IN SRAEL

Brothers! Sisters!

Today our homes are threatened by destruction.

We claim only our rights, and that here in Lod

everyone be treated equally.

20 minutes from Tel-Aviv and 30 from Jerusalem,

apartheid has reigned for 50 years.

A so-called mixed town like Lod

is governed according to ethnic criteria

that make life impossible for the Arab population,

as it's ensured that Arabs do not exceed 20% of the population.

Since 1948, the number of Arabs in Lod has tripled.

They live in run-down ghettos.

The policy in Lod is purely and simply one of apartheid.

I say to our governors,

even if you put two cops on every Arab,

it will be of no use.

Give people space, respect them,

and we'll all live together, Jews and Arabs, "Ta'ayush".

Illegal construction is the bane of this town.

Mister Mayor,

this town is in danger. Policies must change

if we want the Jewish population to stay

and order re-established.

This is the pet subject of those who want to rouse people

against the Arab population and encourage discrimination.

I don't see this on the agenda.

He built without permission, that's all.

Tell me,

as you seem to know the answer,

where we can build legally in Arab districts.

You can demolish...

Arabs have gone

from 7% to 27% since 48. They inhabit new districts.

How many illegal buildings are there?

How many have you built?

They have the Mefunim district, 50% of Ramat Eshkol,

40% of Hashmonaim. They all have a roof.

No one is homeless.

You're not a victim.

- I didn't say I was. - You want our pity.

"The Arabs of Lod are in the street!"

- Carry on. - Tell him!

7% to 27%. Is that normal?

I'm not a victim.

I was born in Lod. It's my home.

I didn't come from Morocco.

Don't mention Morocco. Stick to the subject.

The State of Israel doesn't belong to you.

You speak as if the Arabs of this town were refugees.

Lod also belongs to us, we were born here.

Everyone is welcome,

There's no need to be rude.

The Arabs have the right to live here.

Like it or not, they're staying.

- Respect the law! - Let me finish!

You broke the law first.

You build homes without permission

and then come and play the victim.

It isn't fair. Have you nothing to say?

Hear what he dares to say?

Ensuring that the Arabs can't build legally

and demanding that they don't build is unrealistic.

They have to build. They need homes.

Not every Jew has one!

Young Jewish couples can't find homes.

That's enough now.

- Have you finished? - I'm being cut off.

Then hurry up and stop provoking everyone.

While they were building illegally,

he was in the town hall.

And where were you?

This is the third time I've called you to order.

Your behavior is unworthy of a town councilor!

Enough! I can raise my voice, too!

Don't be like that.

If you think we can progress

by pushing towards extremism

one side or the other, then you're wrong!

People whose aim is to poison

Jewish-Arab relations,

people putting up posters to demand Arab expulsion,

and people promoting anti-Jewish sentiment

won't solve anything.

This town needs good relations

between Jews and Arabs.

Who brought 600 officers from the army?

Not you, not them.

It was me, wasn't it?

We bought this house

to live in. We sought an extension permit.

3 years of non-stop bureaucracy.

I didn't give up despite the documents.

I even paid for a lawyer.

Eight of us live here.

The extension is now subject to demolition.

Those collaborators can build three floors.

And we have the right to a hole, a proper grave, without windows.

Isn't that right, Buthaina?

I built it for my brother who's homeless.

He sleeps in the street or the cemetery.

I don't want to lose my brothers.

If the government wants my death or my house,

I may as well die for my brothers.

We're refused the most basic rights.

Israeli Arabs are considered neither Palestinian nor Israeli.

What do you feel?

Palestinian. I was born in this land.

What if you were expelled?

Expelled?

They'll never expel me. They'll kill me first.

Then I'll be buried here beside my parents.

- You were in jail? - 6 and a half years.

I went blind. I'm infirm.

I can barely care for my children.

- Why jail? - Possessing a gun

and belonging to a prohibited organization.

My brother's in for life. There's no way out for him.

- Do you visit him? - I'm not allowed.

When did you last see him?

Long ago. Almost 5 years, I think.

Do they want an apology?

Apologize?

To people who made me go blind?

To who?

My family and I have paid dearly. I have no regrets.

I'm devoted to my children and to our home, that's all.

What if you apologized?

Why apologize? I paid with my life.

Apologize for what?

For my sick mother, my ill-reputed daughter,

my blindness? Apologize for that?

Were you tortured?

Do you think they spoil us? I'm nearly blind!

I have only 5-10% vision, according to the doctors.

What did they do to you?

I was beaten.

All the women were thoroughly beaten.

- Are you Myriam's neighbor? - Yes.

Since when?

Myriam's been here 5 years. Me, 13.

Do you get along well?

We have a chat every day.

We never sit at table together but we get along.

- Not ever? - No.

We're Jewish, they're not.

Is it forbidden to drink with them?

We're not of the same religion.

Were you born here?

No. I was born in Iraq.

I emigrated to Israel with my parents.

We lived on a moshav in Galilee.

We didn't like it so we came to Ramleh.

My kids are married, I live alone.

- They don't live here? - No.

They live outside Ramleh.

I stayed here alone.

There used to be only Jews in this street.

People are selling up.

It's always Arabs that buy.

The Jews move elsewhere, leave town.

No one wants to live in a mixed district anymore.

It's hard. The children go to the same school.

What do you teach them in, Arabic or Hebrew?

- What do you think? - Both.

They can try if they like.

Do you speak Arabic?

Not really.

A bit.

- How about your parents? - No.

I have no parents.

I'm all alone.

Any other questions?

Good health!

What's this district called?

The whole area is called the ghetto.

I've heard it called the ghetto since I was little.

What does "ghetto" mean?

It's an Arab district, right?

But the Jews called it the ghetto too.

You can't change the name of a district!

What did it used to be called?

The Old Town.

The Jews named it the ghetto.

- Why? - No idea.

How did you get in?

It was surrounded by a fence.

- Show me where the entrance was. - Come on then.

The gate was there.

The guard sat there.

There were old houses like that one.

There was an olive press

so you could make olive oil and soap.

And to get out?

The guard wouldn't let you.

You needed a special pass.

After a year, they took the fence down and we could go out.

You stayed in here a year?

No. I stayed until 1956.

- What did you live on? - We traded.

- Despite being enclosed? - We bought and sold.

- And money? - There was some.

When our savings ran out we traded with Red Cross parcels.

The bells were ringing. We were afraid.

The Arabs ran up there thinking it was safer.

The Jews came in.

- How? - Via the east district.

Where were you?

We were up there

when they arrived.

We were going to the church.

The next day, a plane bombarded Lod with leaflets.

They said, "Surrender!"

What day was it?

I remember it clearly.

It began on a Sunday, a little before ten.

We were coming from Askalan.

I was a kid. About 4 or 5.

The fence was still there

in the early 50s.

The Israeli army requisitioned a building.

The school.

In 48, I didn't finish the school year.

A thousand old folk stayed here.

I remember clearly, they stayed till 54.

Everyone helped them.

When my mother cooked, she'd give some to them.

We all gave them something.

50,000 refugees

from the Lod region were expelled to Jordan.

Ygal Alon wrote that the people of Lod emigrated or fled

of their own accord.

But in reality they were forcibly expelled.

General Alon's a liar.

His book is a whole web of lies.

He read the book and knows the facts.

It's all lies.

There were people killed. We cremated the bodies.

300 people were shot down in the mosque,

and he buried them.

In 1948, I was 19.

They shot everyone in the mosque.

They locked them in one room...

and shot them all

through the windows.

Where could they run to?

Didn't they fight back?

They didn't even have food,

let alone arms. They were locked in a mosque!

They were packed in.

Just ordinary folk.

They had no guns. They were... how can I put it?

Civilians.

I brought the bodies out 2 weeks later.

They stayed in there until the army told us

to bury them, and we cremated them.

My hands are my witness.

How did you feel?

Look...

Bodies swell up after a few days.

I saw him when I came to get the keys.

He was carrying a corpse

and an arm dropped off it.

I saw it. The stench was unbearable.

We burned them.

- Burned them? - Right.

Many of those who fled died of thirst.

It was July 7 and scorching hot.

A heatwave.

They had all their belongings stolen.

The women had all their jewelry taken.

They were left with nothing.

Anyone who resisted was shot.

- Who stole things? - The army.

The Israeli army.

This State is built on... How can I put it?

What happened to your homes in the ghetto?

Confiscated.

They stayed empty for a while.

Then the Jews came and moved into them.

When they dismantled the ghetto,

we could go elsewhere.

But we stayed in the ghetto.

We were afraid to leave.

There were gangs pillaging everything.

Some took sewing-machines, others bathtubs.

Each had its specialty.

Poor Jews stole from poor Palestinians.

They took everything left in town.

They only left the fruit on the trees.

Were there rapes?

Many.

When we returned...

It happened in front of our house,

before the police came.

There was a young woman

with a 6 to 8-week-old baby.

Six men went into her home

and raped her.

She fled, leaving her baby all alone.

The army brought us the baby so we'd look after it.

The mother told us everything

when we saw her again.

She told us what had happened.

She couldn't bear to see her child anymore.

Not one, but six men raped her.

One poor woman.

- You witnessed it? - Yes.

We gave her the child back later.

Soldiers do what they like when no one's watching.

What memory pains you or angers you most?

That all the people we knew went away.

Life went with them.

Each demolished house is a memory lost forever.

Hello.

Gezer?

Turn right and follow the dirt track.

Past the hill you'll see the Gezer kibbutz.

It was Abu Shusha, right? El-Qubab?

Yes, opposite. There, on the hill...

With the fir trees.

That was Abu Shusha.

It's a lovely view. You should film it.

When did you move here?

14 years ago.

Where from? What's your origin?

Of undetermined origin.

Where are you from?

I used to live in Yehud.

And before that?

I didn't decide to come here.

I followed my parents.

If I'd had my way, I'd have said no.

- Where are you parents from? - Russia.

- Where's this? - Ein Yarka.

The Yarka spring.

- Is that its Arab name? - That's what we say in Arabic.

- Where was Ein Yarka? - The spring is up there.

Do you drink from it?

No. But hikers do.

The path leads there.

Was that an Arab village opposite?

I don't know, I'm new here.

The Jewish National Fund drops us, we graze, then go home.

It's a way of making a living.

Who are you?

- Did you do military service? - Next year, I hope.

As a border guard.

- So you can beat Arabs? - Arabs are dogs!

Why?

Because you're not of the same religion?

Or are you not an Arab?

Arabs and Jews are cousins.

It goes without saying.

The way I see it, they're both rotten.

They're all the same, raving mad!

Any friends or family in the army?

My brother's a border guard.

The sheep...

DANGER POTHOLES AND LANDSLIPS

"We thank You, Almighty God,

"creator of all in the world,

""for the beautiful trees " You make grow

"for man's pleasure."

We're looking for a place called Kfar Inan.

Where is it?

Juma, you know it?

Kufur Inan.

It rings a bell.

There was Abu Shusha.

The villages had different names.

It's totally unrealistic

for all those who lived here before to return.

Where there's a will there's a way

I've nothing against it in theory.

But is it possible in practice?

It's a discussion.

I'd like to keep the memory of the villages alive.

Palestinians have the right to return here

but rights can't always be honored.

You can't go back to the past.

Is it morally right for someone born in New York or Paris

to be on the land of another person

who can't be there?

I wouldn't say that.

This land doesn't belong to another person, but to me.

I'm Jewish,

and the Jewish people

have an eternal link with Israel.

We found these ancient stones.

You have to admire the stonemasons.

I cut stone,

but easy stuff.

This precision is remarkable.

These very hard stones

were hand-cut with very rudimentary tools.

Generation after generation of stone-cutters worked here.

I'm just one of them.

A link in a long chain of stone-cutters,

working on the same stone.

Here's the result.

The old map shows Qubab and Abu Shusha.

- El Qubab and Abu Shusha. - Where are they?

Geographically speaking?

El Qubab was the village north of here.

Abu Shusha was to the south.

Where Karmei Yossef is today.

The people known as the refugees of 48...

were replaced by other refugees.

But we're getting onto politics.

In Israel, it's the same all over.

It's the same story everywhere.

It's better to forget politics and focus on achievements.

My place is an example.

I'm neither talented nor an expert in any field.

Imagine what experts could have done.

I'm a pure product of Zionism,

the son of European refugees,

who came empty-handed with nothing but motivation.

There was nothing here, no civilization.

We started with nothing.

The hell my mother experienced as a 10-year-old

when she lived in Europe, hiding in cellars...

She had to be sweet with the local police officer

so he'd turn a blind eye.

She never spoke of it. I found out after she died.

Her friends...

told me about it... Excuse me.

It's not like me.

I discovered what my mother had been through.

It makes her achievements here even greater.

Thinking of the life my children and I have,

Bottom line she won big time.

It makes our hold on this land even more valid.

If anyone comes here...

I'm sorry if I'm already onto politics.

But if anyone thinks they can come here

and do something to move us off this land,

they're wrong.

Let's not worry about borders.

Earlier,

we spoke about your traumas

and what your folks went through.

My folks' traumas are always with me.

They shape my life.

It won't happen again.

I'm aware of that.

The Shoah has totally shaped the way I think.

Does it help you to understand the trauma

of those from the two villages that disappeared?

Let's just say...

my conscience is clear.

I don't feel the slightest guilt.

Besides, many Jews who came here were chased out of Arab countries.

So I have no problems with my conscience.

No problems at all.

The Jewish National Fund

- Keren Kayemet Le'Israel -

collected money for the Zionist movement

to prepare land for the future State.

It bought the land where we are now, for example.

After World War 1,

the Fund continued buying land

and collecting money for the Zionist movement.

It also took other action, like planting trees.

For agricultural, ecological and political reasons.

To materialize ownership of the land

destined for Jewish settlement

and to show the land belonged to the Jewish people.

Building and settlement were paid for by donors.

A Jew who had fought in the War of Independence

financed the building of this house.

Factories were also built with the donations.

Likewise, universities and public buildings

which have plaques to remind us

who the donors were.

I now suggest we go in

to see inside

Nothing here

is authentic.

Nearby was the old railway

linking Jaffa to Jerusalem.

It dates from 1892.

The idea was to build Jewish settlements up to Jerusalem.

They built all along,

wherever it was possible.

The aim was to increase Jewish presence in the region.

The Jewish National Fund obtained money

from collection boxes, selling stamps and donations

to buy as much land as possible.

Then they would find ways to create Jewish settlements

and extend Jewish ownership through the country

until the creation of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948.

How much land did the Fund buy before 48?

No idea. I'd have to check.

I don't have the figure in my head.

So I don't make a mistake, I'll check.

The first institution to buy land

was APAC, the Anglo-Palestinian Company.

It was a kind of bank for the Zionist movement.

In 1907, APAC sold land to the Jewish National Fund.

- Who did they buy from? - The Arab inhabitants

of the neighboring village Kfar Huldeh.

There was an Arab village here before 1948 called Kfar Huldeh.

It hasn't existed since the War of Independence.

You want to know where this land came from?

It was the land of Arab villages.

After the conquest, they fled or were chased out.

The State took over the land.

Part of it became the Hulda kibbutz

and the rest settlements after independence.

The land was legally bought and paid for in hard cash.

Abraham himself bought the Cave of Machpelah

and paid a good price.

I'd go as far as saying an exorbitant price.

But let's leave all that...

How far back in history can you go?

You just went back 3000 years.

You brought up Abraham.

But that doesn't mean... There's a limit you have to...

It's politics.

Maybe there'll be a day...

Rabin said he'd like to wake up one day

to find Gaza engulfed by the sea.

He was criticized for that remark.

It wasn't politically correct.

But if ever such a miracle were to happen,

I don't think I'd be sorry.

On a human level, I would, but not on a national level.

It would get rid of a serious problem.

One that preoccupies us.

If we had done in 1948

as the Americans did to the Indians,

then for everyone it'd be...

One lot would be gone and couldn't complain,

and the others, us, would be living in peace.

It would have been better.

But it was different and we must live with it.

But now let's get back to the Zionist view,

to our memorial.

""According to the Defense Minister, " the killing of Salah Shehade

"has prevented many deaths from Hamas attacks.

"This morning, Hezbollah fired

"anti-aircraft missiles in the north.

"There were no victims or damage.

""The police and the government " want to organize expulsion

of foreign workers without papers.

""Exports decreased by 2.5% " in the second quarter.

"The dollar is presently

"at 4.66 shekels..."

CRUSH PALESTINIANS END THE WAR

Hey!

Really? I thought you had to say "please".

Don't shout out "Hey!" Who are you?

- I own this checkpoint. - You "own" it?

- Show me your permit. - What permit?

Call an officer and tell him you said, "Hey."

Tell him you call dogs with "Hey!" not people.

- Papers! - "Papers, please."

- Please. Happy now? - "Your papers, please."

You're teaching me Hebrew? Papers!

I said please.

Say "Please show my your papers"

No need for good manners here.

Oh yes there is.

- show your ID - Show me your ID card, please.

Stop filming.

Your papers, please.

How's that?

Thank you.

Was that so hard?

Was that so hard to say please?

If you were at this checkpoint for a year like me

you'd be fed up.

- You chose it. - No, I didn't. It wasn't me.

Who then?

Is there a brain under that helmet?

I do what the army tells me.

That's how I serve my country.

That's what soldiers who commit atrocities say.

Do you ever think about what you do?

I'm not doing any harm.

- No harm? - I didn't insult you.

I said "Hey" because I didn't know you.

Otherwise I'd have used your name.

I respect the reporters I know.

Like that Karl from American TV.

Isn't your job to respect people?

I do respect them. Did you see me do any harm?

You being here hurts does harm.

Really?

I'm protecting my country from terrorists.

The attacks are due to the occupation.

Would you always like to be controlled at checkpoints?

So why them? I don't like attacks either.

I didn't ask about attacks. I did.

Love thy neighbour I don't want attacks.

You're not filming me?

The occupation started before.

Young men, as regards you,

we'll finish today.

- Completely? - If your parents come.

- Wael! - That's me.

There are other witnesses and we're not done.

You know the witnesses?

Yes, but not the last four statements.

- You didn't get them? - No.

I'll go over it with you as you have a heavy caseload.

- Are there suicide bombers? - A few.

Come in and we'll see.

No touching.

What did we agreed?

Jihad, you're a man, keep your head up, dear.

Go sit down.

He's not allowed to touch her!

Prison doesn't mean the end, Jihad.

No touching.

Don't cry.

How are you, Abdallah?

Let me get close to him.

She can shake his hand, can't she?

You're going too far.

They can't touch. Period!

You can speak to each other.

Now sit down.

No touching.

Don't touch him.

Talk without touching.

It's his kid brother.

No touching allowed.

God be with you, sweetie.

Everyone back!

Where are you going with that cart?

Go round.

Do you hear me? I've been here 2 hours.

See, I'm in order.

Come.

Put the camera down. It's annoying me.

There, that's better.

Where are you from?

So you speak Hebrew?

Not as well as me, but still...

That's the problem.

- Hey budy, go a way - whay

I said so

So tart moving

I've a press card.

Don't give a fuck. Scram!

- Why? - Because I said so.

Is this a military zone?

Can I see your orders?

My presence is enough.

Reporter or not...

- Fly away - Whay I can't film?

I don't want you to film.

- I'm telling you nicely. - But why not?

- I just don't want to - why?

I didn't spruce myself up today.

A reporter with a card has the right to film.

In Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem maybe, but not here.

I have army permission.

Just turn around.

Pull his camera down

Camera off, please.

- Stop kidding! - Are you a couple?

What if we are?

- When's the wedding? - When I'm de-mobbed.

If it's a boy we'll name him Ram a girl - Kalandia

- Are you Arab? - Jewish, from Yemen.

There are Jewish Arabs, Christian Arabs and Muslim Arabs.

If so, I'm a Jewish Arab from Yemen.

- Do you have a piercing? - No.

- Why not? - It's forbidden in the army.

But you have one.

Show us.

We've both got one.

We've got work to do. People are waiting. Old people.

This map shows the UN partition.

The Jews built Greater Jerusalem

in contravention of the 1947 resolution.

They were given land more to the west.

But Israel wanted to spread towards the east and divide

the West Bank,

isolating Ramallah from Bethlehem.

They didn't want refugee camps in Greater Jerusalem.

They wanted to clear Jerusalem of its Arab population

and have Arabs at 22% maximum.

Their border

is wherever the latest settlement is.

That's their policy.

The goal of intensified Israeli colonization

is to prevent the dividing up of historic Palestine,

to make it impossible.

A city usually grows in concentric circles,

from the inside out.

But they began, as early as 1914,

building settlements to the north of Jerusalem,

and from 1925 in Nabi Yacub and Ma'aleh Adomim in the east.

Their strategy consisted of extending these settlements

until they met and joined others.

The first settlement

dates from 1850.

Jewish colonization started along the old Jaffa road

linking Jerusalem to Jaffa.

That's where they were centered.

They took advantage of the financial crisis

of the Orthodox Church, which sold them its land.

That was the first thing.

Besides, the British Mandate

helped the Jews to acquire land.

But it was mainly in the corridor

linking Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv

that they built settlements and razed Arab homes.

Sharon has adopted a new strategy

of the security line in the west to control water.

It involves widening the bottleneck

between Qalqilia and Netanya,

widening this narrow strip and controlling water,

assuring security at the vital main airport of Lod

and in the Jordan Valley.

Since the Gulf War, due to the missiles,

notions of security have changed.

But Israel's major problem remains the Palestinian population.

In 1948, they expelled

a large number of Palestinians

and destroyed 425 Palestinian towns and villages.

But in 1967, the Palestinians

remained where they were, posing a problem for Israel.

There are two solutions,

either a federal state for the whole country,

which the Jews would refuse, or an exchange,

a compromise on the rights of the return of refugees.

They won't want that.

There's no other solution.

Today, by building the Separation Wall,

they find themselves stuck with Palestinians

with whom they don't know what to do.

Israel has worsened its population problem

by wanting to protect settlements.

- Do you know the way? - Not at all.

Do you have room?

Is this your house?

It's a relation's.

- What relation? - A distant cousin's.

- How distant? - Well, my cousin.

THEY WON'T DESTROY OUR DETERMINATION

- When did they come? - At night.

We had 15 minutes to leave.

We salvaged what we could.

We took the kids out asleep.

15 children,

big and small.

- Do you work? - No.

70% of Palestinians are unemployed.

We're broke. But better to die here

than to go and be humiliated in Arab countries.

Our son didn't die a martyr for money.

All the oil isn't worth a hair on his head.

The death of a son is dreadful, a catastrophe.

The most noble of all things is life.

A human being, not a house.

Are you the father of a martyr?

His uncle. My son's also a martyr,

as are my father and my three uncles.

Under which regime did it happen? Israel's?

Which regime? Israel's. It's terrible.

Sharon has killed us since 1948.

Like at Deir Yassin.

Why? Suicide bombers don't kill themselves for fun.

l, an old woman, would do it if I could.

I'd put on a belt and boom!

Who can accept their son carrying out a suicide bombing?

Would you want your son to die?

Of course not.

Humiliation pushes them into it.

I was sick, and at the roadblock

the guard mistreated me in public for no reason.

Where do we live?

Sick and repressed.

My son's wife is expecting.

We don't know if there is a road open to us to get her to hospital.

What can we do?

We're poor people, with no tanks or planes.

They have tanks, guns, missiles, planes...

They bombard us from land, sea and sky.

And us? Frustrated and humiliated sons

who blow themselves up!

The demolitions are a collective punishment.

This week they demolished six houses.

The guilty party should be judged if he breaks the law.

Others shouldn't be tried in absentia

or punished collectively.

I fight for human rights.

International law, the 4th Geneva Convention

and the United Nations all condemn the occupation

and legitimize the fight against the occupation.

What's been happening for the past two years

is the collective rape of an entire population.

There's no way this is self-defense, as Israel claims.

The shortest path to a solution

is to end the occupation.

Do you speak to Israelis?

Last night I spoke to his Jewish boss.

He has stayed with us.

He worked with them.

But when he puts on his two-starred uniform

and wears his braid, he's unrecognizable.

In jail, he'd soon beat you.

Here, every soldier is a little boss unto himself.

They say

that we send our children to die

What about their military service?

They have an army.

We have neither a state nor an army.

We're not given the possibility to have one.

Who will come and defend us? Nobody.

There's occupation, colonization.

Youngsters today, the generation of the first Intifada,

won't let themselves be thrown onto buses and expelled.

We'd rather die than leave.

The events of 1948 and 1967

won't be repeated.

In the partition plan, Abu Dis is part of Jerusalem.

We're from Jerusalem, from the East Gate.

In the partition plan,

Abu Dis streches as far as Al-Fashkha and the Dead Sea.

Israel claims that this land

belongs to their state.

But each family still possesses its property deeds.

All the surrounding settlements

are built on land

bought, according to them, from Abu Dis Palestinians.

Under a pretext of security,

the Israelis summoned people and got them to sign

a conditional freedom slip stipulating the sale of their land.

All these Israeli documents were forged.

I have 500 dunams - 50 hectares - in Abu Dis.

I can't farm a single dunam.

Who sold them my land?

I neither signed nor sold. Who did it for me?

WE'RE ON THE MAPTO STAY

Nothing comes through even with authorization.

Everything's closed off.

You, back the tractor up!

I want to say something for TV.

We're Jews. We're merciful.

But since the attacks began, forget it.

Today there was an attack in Jerusalem, yesterday in Itamar.

It can't go on.

So our job is to stop Arabs circulating.

It's not fair, trying to show us as cruel.

Jews, Israelis, aren't cruel.

We're merciful, unlike the Arabs.

Look, I have a nice gun.

I don't fire it on innocent people

but on those who attack me.

You say that without being asked.

I want you to know.

No interviews!

You need authorization.

When is it on TV?

- I'm driving my mother. - What's wrong with her?

I have to get her to hospital.

Wait here.

What did you say?

Turn around and leave. I don't want trouble.

Imagine being shut in for a month.

Shut indoors? I'd love it.

I'd think.

I'd love to be shut in for a month with twenty good books.

I'd gladly read "The Trial" again. Have you read it?

It corresponds well to the present situation

in the world and in Israel.

Our world is Kafkaesque.

And "Before the Law"?

Have you read it?

It's about a man who confronts a guard

of a door that exists only for him.

Kafka's a giant, one of the greatest.

He waits at the door.

He waits until he's about to die and the guard says

that the door is for him alone

and that he must break the law to enter.

But there is no law.

It's important being here. Being a Zionist

means being a soldier.

Descartes...

Greek philosophers...

19th century philosophy...

Not very consistent.

20th-century philosophy, Levinas,

Buber...

You know Buber?

Did they call us?

What else?

I'm religious, I read a lot on these subjects.

Maimonides...

all those who speak of that.

That's all.

You know "The Banality of Evil"?

Who's it by? Is it a book or a concept?

The concept of the banality of evil.

Who said that? In what context?

- Hannah Arendt. - Never heard of her.

The banality of evil is when normal people,

people who read philosophy,

- commit acts... - That are extreme.

- No. - What then?

A series of small acts that add up to great evil.

What kind of acts?

What acts?

Stay in your car, this place is forbidden.

I was just told you couldn't pass.

"And here's the news.

"In Ramallah, 20 Palestinians

"surrendered to the Army

""after being encircled " in the Mouqata'a.

""An officer of the Presidential Guard " was killed.

"Suspects are being arrested.

"The curfew ..."

- Is it a wedding? - Yes, at the Everest Hotel.

How will you get there?

On this dirt track.

Across mounds of sand.

Through roadblocks.

- Is it forbidden to come here? - Yes.

- Are you from Beit Jala? - From Bethlehem.

The only way out of Zone A

is to walk through the dust.

What if the Israelis catch you?

Nothing. They'll keep us a couple of hours

or arrest us, depending on the mood of the guard.

- You're not allowed to be here? - No.

Sometimes they let you pass, other times no.

There's a big military base near here.

It's where they keep their reinforcements.

It's on land expropriated from Beit Jala.

Some guests won't make it

because of the road

and the exclusion zone.

Can the Occupation spoil your parties?

No way.

We'll still go out despite the occupation and exclusion zone.

See, we do it right under the army's nose.

We continue celebrating despite the occupation.

Welcome!

Welcome, honorable friends!

They confiscated our ID cards.

Sorry for the trouble getting here.

We would have walked here.

We all made it here.

The bride's here.

She's leaving a noble house for another, equally noble.

I am entrusting you with my daughter

May God multiply your wealth and your children.