Ana Arabia

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1

Hello, it's Yael.

Is Itzik there?

Tell him I'm in Giaffa.

I'm going to Siam Hassan's house.

The Holocaust survivor

who converted to Islam, died...

Exactly.

Yes, could be interesting...

I'll check the story

and let you know.

Sure.

Thanks. Bye.

Good morning.

Can we help you?

My name Yael,

I'm doing a piece on Siam.

May her memory be blessed.

I am Yussef.

I'm Siam's husband.

Welcome. Nice to meet you.

Thanks...

for everything.

Do you live here?

Yes, anything wrong with it?

We won't leave.

Isn't it beautiful here?

- Wonderful.

We're having problems sometimes.

Since you're here...

Sometimes

they don't let us...

Don't talk too much.

She's a journalist.

Shut up,

don't say silly stuff.

Stop it.

- Come with me.

I'm sorry.

- No problem.

I feel good here.

I go out just to work.

I found a job...

so I can buy food,

cigarettes, clothes.

I don't need much else.

If I have a shekel,

I buy food.

Otherwise, I have my garden.

But the district

wants to throw me out.

I told them

that I won't go anywhere.

I won't leave.

What's your job?

I retrieve wood, iron,

aluminum,

copper.

Blocks.

Waste building material,

that's all.

Did you think

I worked in an office?

I earn 30 shekels a day.

Thank God.

May Allah be blessed.

Where are you from?

Where were you born?

Lady, we're from here.

I don't know where my family is.

I heard at the radio

that my father is dead.

My grandfather as well.

I haven't heard anything

about my uncles.

Maybe they are...

in Kuwait, or in Iraq or in Syria.

In Jordan,

in Turkey

I have no idea.

Is this all yours?

- Yea.

- All of it?

There was my grandfather's

carpentry shop here, too.

If they would give me back

my grandfather's carpentry shop...

Those who do not study remain asses.

I had to learn on my own

what was good and what was evil.

To help the ones who help me,

to do good.

I didn't learn it at school.

That was what my father

used to always tell me.

He used to say:

"If you have a guest,

doesn't matter what happens,

don't ever

be angry with him.

Even if he slaps you,

even if you're bleeding.

You have to smile,

welcome him.

Treat him well.

Be welcoming, give him

everything he wants."

This is what I learned.

And this is what I taught to my wife,

may she rest in peace.

I told her

if they're looking for me,

whether I'm at home or not,

welcome them well,

let them in,

"Have a seat, please",

give them what they ask for.

Those who do not study remain asses.

Do you have any children?

I have...

a son, Jihad,

Walid,

and a daughter called Miriam.

Do you smoke?

Yes, but I smoked

before coming here, thanks.

Do you want me

to introduce you to my daughter?

Sure, I would be pleased.

Please.

After you.

Windy.

My daughter Miriam.

They say love

is stronger than death.

That's what people say.

Those who love

cannot control themselves.

My parents relationship

was like positive and negative.

Like the electric current.

Love controlled them,

that's why

they couldn't split up.

People were telling her:

"He's not good for you."

They were bound.

Love decided for them.

There was nothing here.

There were only rocks

and garbage, filth everywhere.

My mother arrived,

decided to remove the rocks

and create some flower beds.

I helped her,

to fill the empty spots

with terrain,

to plant trees.

This way it would have been green,

not yellow.

She thought that by giving

people what they lacked

maybe they would have loved us.

But it was no use,

they didn't accept her.

Treating her like an enemy.

Wasn't she afraid?

No, my mother always said:

"Whoever enters Auschwitz

as a coward, will leave a coward.?

"who comes in as a liar

will come out as a liar."

I learned to never be afraid.

Life has many paths.

Everyone tries alternative ones.

Not everyone

stays on the main one,

because we get fed up.

But we want to know

where the path will take us.

Out of curiosity.

Every day is a surprise.

A gift.

We don't think about it,

we just walk.

Man creates his own path.

He faces the

obstacles...

and goes on.

Some people say

"he's a Jew, he's Arab",

they discriminate.

A lot of people

used to ask my wife,

may she rest in peace,

"How can you live with an Arab?"

But she didn't listen to them.

It's true, she didn't listen.

Miriam, where are the cigarettes?

You didn't ask for them.

I'll go to the market then.

No, go to Ibrahim.

People used to talk about it,

then they got used to it.

It was hard at the start,

but those who knew us

got used to it.

But in the Fifties and Sixties...

we were attacked often.

- Who did?

Friends.

What were they saying?

Her friends.

They used to tell her:

"Your husband is an Arab?

We will kill him."

They were saying that

everyday.

Every time we went to the harbor

I thought she'd run away.

But she didn't.

No, she didn't.

Do you know why?

Why?

Let me tell you a story,

an old one.

The story of Antar.

Antar was a hero,

like the ones in stories,

like in the Bible, like Samson,

every population has its own heroes.

We Arabs have Antar.

Antar was Shaddad's son.

Shaddad was...

the tribe's sheik.

Do you know what is it?

- Kinda like a king?

- More or less.

His father, Shaddad,

fell in love with a black slave.

Antar was a black slave,

no one knew he was a hero,

until one day

every man went to war

and he stayed at home with the women.

Some foreigners arrived,

singed the house, attacked him,

he fought alone,

and drove them away.

He became a hero.

- Why?

- Why?

Because he loved Abla.

Abla was a free white woman

and he was a black slave.

- Nice story.

- Nice story.

Come, I'll introduce you to Sara.

Sara is my son Jihad's wife.

- Good morning.

- Good morning.

Are you wondering

if the story is real, aren't you?

I'm still trying to understand it.

When she was born

her mother succeeded in hiding her.

And after the war they came here,

they survived,

and after some years

they gave them an apartment.

There were some Arabic workers

on the construction site, obviously,

she fell in love with Yussef

and ran away with him.

She was 15.

The police came and took her away

and she ran away again.

In the end she stayed.

I imagine she had no choice,

she had a family, children...

She gave them everything

because she loved them.

Gave them everything.

Except the color of their skin.

Come, let her be.

Did he tell you about Antar?

I heard about that.

Are you his son?

I'm Walid.

Yael.

Good morning.

I used to be a fisherman.

But the times have changed,

Boats are back at the harbor.

Not even the bigger ships

are going out fishing.

But we keep on looking for the black gold.

Careful.

Oil.

There have been some explosions.

They happened this morning.

All the fishes are dying

because of their explosions.

The sea is really sick.

The sea is sick...

They just pour naphtha and oil in it,

garbage, wastes, everything.

And now the explosions...

It hurts.

But what can I do?

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