Ana Arabia Page #4

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their aunt is dead,

their grandfather is dead,

their grandmother is dead,

they're left on their own,

why didn't they have to come here?

Her relatives

take half the spots at the graveyard.

I wish her good health.

After the war, all my family

ran to Galilea

during the war

They settled

in Kerem Maharal.

Igzim.

The town was called El-Ajour,

near Balad A-Sheikh, Hawasa.

Hawasa is now called Ben Dor

and Baland A-Sheikh

is now called Tel Hanan.

Many Bedouins lived there

in that area,

Al-Ajour, Nara, Nesher,

right where the Carmel park is now.

- Where the kibbutz Yagur is.

- Yea, I know the area.

There was no racism under the mandate.

People weren't saying:

"that one is Jewish, than one is an Arab,

that is a christian,

that one is a Bedouin."

- It didn't exist!

- There was respect back then.

- Isn't it true?

- Sure.

Our home was open to guests

all the time.

Just like patriarch Abraham's house.

There were no nationalistic discrimination.

Never.

The only thing that matters is respect.

For us,

respect, traditions,

come first.

But nowadays people

would sell father and mother

for money.

- That's true.

- Yea.

Just to say,

"Hey, I can..."

There were no

nationalistic discrimination.

But I'm not like that.

I would never go

and live in an apartment

and be without money

because of the rent

or to go shopping.

Troubles, no money...

Arguments with people, repossessions.

I'd prefer a tent or a hut.

During spring the water from the well,

and during winter, keep warm with a bonfire

- without all those troubles.

- That's the best thing.

I wouldn't even sell my family.

I'd tell them go to work,

to clean floors, to have

fresh water and electricity.

And say "I live here"

without being the owner.

- That's true.

- So what did I do?

What did I do here?

I wouldn't live

in a can of sardines or...

in a hen-house like others do.

Am I wrong?

- Yes or no?

- Sure.

Life is simple.

What do we want?

What do we want?

I want a woman

to take these sheep.

I will follow her

or she will follow me.

We'll have a little house

and we'll train pigeons,

we'll have a tree

that chickens will climb upon,

then I'll buy a donkey

and a cowboy hat

like in America.

You don't think they have

horses and donkeys in American?

Yes, but they have bigger chances.

Right?

I like the simple life I live here.

It's my dream.

- We live out of the what land gives us.

- Right.

- Everything grows on its own.

- The land, we already have it.

We only need the dream.

We have 4 sons, may they be blessed.

And where's your wife?

I divorced,

I got rid of that whore.

One day she brought home

a guy he met on the street.

She gave him the washing machine,

the dry machine,

all that we had.

And he bought everything new.

Understood?

Why would you buy new stuff?

It wasn't expensive, but it was new.

- She didn't like it.

- No.

I like to live a simple life.

I do everything with my hands,

even the laundry.

I like to like a simple life,

that's what I like.

- Where are your sons?

- Where are my sons?

She took them away

in the USA.

- You don't say.

- - Right..

Do they still live there?

Did you go visit them'

- No.

- Don't you see them?

I have no reason to go to America.

There's not a place

where you can live as well as here.

Look,

there's everything here,

good weather, everything is nice.

- We're not lacking anything.

- You're perfectly right.

What's there, in America?

There are lot of disasters

in America,

a lot of earthquakes.

I've seen it on TV.

The earth cracks open

and many fall inside, dying,

inside the earth.

That doesn't happen here.

- Why?

- Why?

Because we're in the Holy Land.

Something like that can't happen

in the Holy Land.

He preserves us.

That's true.

Why is everyone fighting for this land?

No one owns it,

it's His.

Only His.

In Africa, in Zimbabwe,

people die everyday.

Our life here is so simple.

Look how nice.

The earth opens its jaws

and many die there.

What do we lack here?

Nothing.

Yussef?

Why don't you find a nice job

well paid and take care of your teeth?

- Take care of yourself.

- It's time to.

Do I need the dentist?

Yes, you do.

- Just a little...

- Do I need the dentist?

Sure.

He's serious.

It's not severe, but you know...

I went to many dentists

but they didn't do anything.

Why?

- They didn't do anything.

- Why?

I don't have enough bone

to keep the tooth still.

- I have no gums.

- Don't be silly.

Healthy and strong,

they can do anything you need.

- I went to every...

- Have you tried the national health service?

- Have you?

- I went to Gaza, to Gerico.

- I went to Nablus...

- Tel Aviv

is a 5 minutes drive from the center,

go to the clinic

and tell them to fix your teeth.

I'm telling you that I went to Ramallah,

to Gerico, to Gaza,

to Nablus, to...

Out of 20 dentists

no one wanted to treat me.

- Well, then...

- He doesn't have the money.

You don't?

The national health service told me:

" Go to the hospital,

- we'll do fifty-fifty.

- Tell them you're gonna pay all of it by yourself.

No one will treat me

because I don't have enough money...

- Do you want me to help you?

- Honey,

my problem isn't about money,

it's about gums.

What?

Nowadays they take the bone of the knee

or the big toe's one

and they transplant it.

Where's the problem?

They put it in your mouth.

Do you want me to have

a bone of the foot in my mouth?

- What are you talking about?

- No big toes, no feet.

Just go there,

pay them,

and they will take care of it.

Are you crazy?

A bone of the foot in the mouth?

Never!

It's your finger, isn't it?

- I can't have a big toe in my mouth.

- Would you do it?

Take care of yourself

Alright, OK.

Just for you.

Alright.

Another coffee?

I must...

- Are you going already?

- It's getting late.

It has been nice.

Come visit us again.

Yael, is that your name?

"Gazelle"

Believe me,

if only I was younger,

I would have married you.

For your smile.

Will you come back?

Do I have to make you tea?

Why are you leaving? Stay.

- Can I?

- Please.

But the main thing is that,

I managed to stay afloat

all my life.

I've never got dirty.

I've never tripped over.

Never.

My mother didn't put me in the world

to get dirty,

she has put me in the world

so that I could become a lady.

And it hasn't been easy at all.

It hasn't been easy to stay afloat.

I've been dreaming of our home for a while.

In ruins.

There's wind, and...

webs,

like if it was about to crumble,

but it doesn't.

It's just a dream.

Yes.

When my mother was sick

I dreamed of her.

- Your mother?

- Yes.

I dreamed of her three times in a row,

she came visiting me during my dreams.

And she cleaned the room

with sodium hydroxide.

She looked like the doctor.

Her doctor.

Same physique,

same eye color.

All of a sudden, I couldn't tell

who my mother was,

the child who grew up in Poland

called Hanna Kilbanov...

That then came to Israel

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