Hope in the Holy Land (2021) - full transcript

- Excuse me, who do you think you are?
- I'm a refugee like you.

Why doesn't he have
any Palestinians with him?

I'm a human being telling you, listen,

I'm not working
for Israel or Palestine.

They are trying to show
the whole picture from both sides.

Somebody has come to show
your story and you kick him out?

If you recorded anything,
we will remove it.

It's an invading organization
that occupied Palestine

to make a state for Israel.

I pray every day, 3 times,
that God brings

the Spirit back to Zion.



This is for me, "Zionist."

Growing up in Jerusalem,
the only Israelis I ever met

were either settlers
with guns and soldiers.

I saw soldiers beat up children.

I was beaten up
at least once a week.

Most Palestinians have only seen
Israeli soldiers and settlers.

And I tell you,
they are not very friendly.

You don't have a future
to think about.

You have only to think
about conflict.

So the only thing
that you can see is death.

It's not a problem between
the Jewish and the Palestinians.

The problem is
between the governments.

The problem is in
the political situation here.

This is a community by itself.



You can find rich, poor, religious.

Everything in any community,
you can find it here.

You know, it's less than
one meter and a half.

Here you can see the noise.
Assume that someone was sleeping inside.

Or studying inside.

Even though we are in this situation,

it's even better than the Lebanese
and the Syrian ones.

Comparing to them,
it's like a high, fancy city.

Yeah, better jobs for those
who are working in Israel.

But according, even
to the working permits,

there are conditions
that you have to meet.

You have to be married,
you have to be over 25.

You have to have kids,
you have no security issues.

And the most important one,
you have to find someone

who wants to employ you
on the other side.

300.000 Palestinians
are unemployed

out of what?

Out of 2.2 million
or something like that.

The majority of us are youth.

I was born in Gaza.

In my society, Jihad is the most
privileged thing you can get into.

So I was hoping for the day
that I would become a shahid (martyr)

for the sake of the land.

I used to dance at my school
because some Jews are dying.

Even children.

I was with my 3 friends.

It was a party.

We wanted to dance.
Just to dance.

I was in the line
near the discotheque.

Liana enclosed me with her body.

So because of this...

she died and I did not.

21.

16, 15, 17.

Children.

All of them children.

I mean, this doesn't
fit the reality here.

Nothing ethnic here.

Every day enter to Israel

more than 30.000 Palestinians
that work in Israel.

Checkpoints are actually
controlling my daily life.

And restrict my right
of movement.

Even between
the Palestinian cities.

Because closing one checkpoint
means separating

the south and the north
of West Bank in one touch.

Each time I go across the checkpoint
and they didn't stop me, I ask myself,

"Are they crazy?
What if I was a terrorist?"

This checkpoint serves
the southern part of West Bank.

So people from Hebron
and Bethlehem cross from here.

2 or 3 minutes.

And in 5 minutes you'll be
crossing the checkpoint.

If it's not jammed.

This is jammed now.

There's no work here.

And the salaries, maybe...

less than half.

The life of these people
will be easier.

But we do not know exactly
how many violent attacks

we will witness
against the Israelis.

It's a kind of
paradoxical issue.

The facility of life, or the freedom
of movement and security.

You know why Arabic coffee
without sugar?

Because you're sweet enough.

There were clashes here.

One of their cousins
was pregnant.

And once she smelled
the tear gas,

it affected the baby.

So the baby came out,
in a way, disabled

due to the lack of oxygen.

The doctors
at Hadassah Hospital (Israel)

said he will not live long.

Is everything okay?

- Excuse me, who do you think you are?
- I'm a refugee like you.

Why doesn't he have
any Palestinians with him?

I'm a human being telling you, listen,

I'm not working
for Israel or Palestine.

They are trying to show
the whole picture from both sides.

Somebody has come to show
your story and you kick him out?

If you recorded anything,
we will remove it.

This is what I was
explaining to them!

Those guys are just taking advantage
of this conflict in a way

that there are so many extremely
pro-Palestinian crowds

who are coming to these places

and they keep convincing those people,

"Hey, you have to keep mourning.
You are the refugees."

"Bash the occupation.
Bash Israel."

"We will give you money.
We'll support you."

He was telling the family
that you were going to meet today

that we are Israeli intelligence.

This is the conspiracy
that we're living in!

The biggest two denominations
of Christians are Catholic

and then Greek Orthodox.

Then you have smaller
mainstream Protestant churches,

then there are smaller
Evangelical churches.

Not very far from here,
just up the hill, is Deir Yassin.

The famous Palestinian village

where over 100 Palestinians
were slaughtered and killed.

The Zionist militias,
there was no Israel at that time,

they were going out
with speakers and saying,

"Leave your houses, or what happened
in Deir Yassin will happen to you."

Now we acknowledge that the Jews
are victims of the Holocaust,

but I refuse to be a victim
of a victim.

It's similar to the story of Exodus.

The saving of one people came
on the expense of another people.

There is a problem with this.

This is why I belong to the Palestinian
Liberation Theology movement.

We don't take the story of Exodus
as a liberating story.

When Jesus came to this land,
he was under occupation of Romans.

He was in a very unjust situation

but the Bible tells us
He was surrendered.

And gave up to the one
who judges by justice,

which is God.

And even in the Gospel of Luke,

when the Jewish came up to Jesus
and they were sharing about

how the Romans killed
some of the Jews from Galilee.

In my mind as a Palestinian,

I was waiting for such
a strong response by Jesus.

Telling them,
"This is an injustice!"

"This is an occupation!
We should fight it!"

And instead of this,
Jesus simply replied to them,

"If you don't repent,
your situation will be same."

He said I don't care
about politics.

About this social
and worldly justice.

I care about your heart.

This is how you read the Bible,

but this is not how the
Palestinian churches read the Bible.

You read it with a Western eye.

"If a Roman soldier asks you
to walk a mile,

walk for two miles."

We read it as resistance.

Roman law said that
a Roman soldier is only entitled

to let people carry his
heavy armor for one mile.

More than one mile,
they get punished.

You have to do the theological--

No, that's not tricky.

I don't want you to be
a friend of Palestine.

I don't want you to be
a friend of Israel.

I want you to be
faithful to Christ.

If Jesus was standing
with us right now,

and He is looking,
what would He preach?

"You powerful,
I have a message to tell you,

and you, the meek,
I have a message to tell you."

The more you walk,
the more you will hear stories.

If you ask any Palestinian,
"What are your dreams?"

You will figure out that his dreams
are actually his rights.

"I want some education for my kids."

"I want a dignified life
for me and my family."

They're not asking for the moon.

This is actually a symbol
of the Palestinian right of return.

When people fled their houses in 1948,

they took the keys of their houses.

These actually are for
Palestinian prisoners

who are spending life sentences
in the Israeli jails.

The Palestinian Authority's policy
created a kind of incitement

to commit violent attacks
against the Israelis.

Those who spend more than
five years in the Israel jails,

they will get a salary forever,
they will get health insurance.

They will get a scholarship
to study whatever they want

and not to mention the other
privileges their family will enjoy.

They will be perceived as
the family of the hero.

With the help of Allah,
every martyr will be in Heaven,

and every wounded
will get his reward.

Shoot! Shoot!
In the name of God.

The path of the martyrs
is above all.

I can easily go
and commit suicide.

We're happy our school is named
after a well-known martyr

who played a role and did
something great in the homeland.

Those stabbing
and running over Jews

bring dignity
to the Palestinians.

They're adopting
the Palestinian curriculum.

Can you imagine, as a child you grew up
in the Palestinian society,

all that has been heard
about the Jews?

"They want to kill us.
They want to drink our blood."

So what I felt is
full of bitterness. Full of hate.

Yeah this is the majority.
This is the flow in general.

We are going through a checkpoint

in the middle of the West Bank.

Yeah, it depends
on the situation.

So today it's peaceful.

Sometimes when they know, for instance,
that there is a person who's suspected,

the soldiers will be on high alert
and they will stop all the cars

and will start checking them
one by one.

We are heading
to Huwarah checkpoint.

When there is not any
violent waves,

it's quiet everywhere.

Sure.

They came to erase us
from existence,

control our region,
take over our country.

If we die or leave,
it doesn't matter.

All my life, I have observed
that Jews hate the people.

They hate Arabs and Muslims.

Their language is weapons
and using force.

They do not have conversations.
It is non-existent.

Only weapons.

All Palestinians do.

We don't hate Israel.
We hate what Israel is doing.

We are people who want
to live in peace and justice.

They all were the heads of the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

They were fighting here
in West Bank.

We don't have any problem
between the Palestinians or Jewish.

The problem is just
the Zionists. That's it.

Judaism is
a monotheistic religion

but Zionism is terrorism.

As a Palestinian, I don't believe in
or recognize the state of Israel.

I believe so. Maybe.

I think they are behind most of
the destruction around the world.

No.

This is a Zionist invention.

So they can make up
a justification for occupying us.

It didn't happen.

They exaggerate it so they can
get the entire world's sympathy.

and pretend they are oppressed.

You ask me If I am scared
to have my face on camera?

If I had 10 kids,

I would send them (to be martyrs)
for the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

We only do what is legitimate, legal.

They are the ones
doing illegal things.

We will go to Heaven.

And they, Allah willing,
will be prisoners in Hell.

You know, I'm not sad about getting
all the Jews from all the world here.

Because it's the start
of the end of them.

All of us here are Sunni.

We respect our religion, our Holy Koran,
our prophet Muhammad.

And we believe everything they say.

At the end of the world,
be sure about it,

when all the Jews
come here in this land--

You see this tree?

When a Jewish person
is hiding beside it,

this tree will talk to me.

It will tell me,
"My Muslim brother,

there is a Jewish person behind me.
come and finish him!"

Yeah.

Absolutely sure.

If I get a hold of a Zionist
or an Israeli,

I will beat him to death.

I hate them.
I do not like Israel.

Oh my brothers in the West Bank!

Stab them!

Stab!

They kill Palestinians.

If someone comes near
the soldiers who they suspect,

or maybe if they want
to have fun,

they shoot the person and
throw a knife next to the body.

Wow! What a shot! Yes!

Regardless of this conflict

for me, anyone who supports

the Palestinian Authority
in this situation

is supporting the dehumanization
of the Palestinians.

The corruption and the dictatorship
of the Palestinian Authority

makes this conflict
worse and worse.

I think that
they are really victims.

But not victims because
of what Israel does.

Victims because
of what their leaders do.

You hear every day
about financial support

that comes to you as a refugee
to make your life better.

But on the ground,
your life is not better anymore.

To some specific
people's pockets.

You are not allowed to speak.

We don't have
that right to criticize.

All the Arab communities
are honor-based communities.

So if you lost your reputation in
this community, you've lost everything.

If you were portrayed in your
community as a normalizer

trying to make good
and normal relations

with the enemy under
the current situation,

in addition to
losing your reputation,

you may lose your life as well.

What we think here
as a product to this culture,

that Israel is just the army.

But there is another part
that my culture

and my education system
and my Authority prevents me to see it,

The other part of Israel that
really opened my heart.

Away from the politics.
Away from the conflict.

Away from everything.
Human to human.

The reason why the Jewish have

kind of a protection now is
because they have a Jewish state.

If they don't have
a Jewish state.

They'll be persecuted
as they are all around the world.

I have equal rights,
I have a democratic state.

I don't care about what's
the religion of the state.

I don't think the people
hate Palestinians.

People don't want just to live.
They don't want to die.

Like many of the residents here,

I've always been dreaming of
doing some good things in this town.

And here came Neta with her idea
for a guest house in Jisr.

What does it matter
if she is Jewish,

Christian, French,

or anything else
for that matter?

At the end of the day,
we are all humans.

Compared to the Arab world,
we are living here in paradise.

The rights we receive here are not
received in the Arab world.

A Jew is a darling!
An Arab is a son of a bitch!

I served in the
Israeli Air Force

in the rescue
and help unit.

The pilots were departing
with the helicopters.

And many times
they would find themselves

in Palestinian areas,
helping Palestinian people.

Take them to Israeli hospitals.

In Palestinian Liberation Theology,

we do not take the Bible literally,

and we don't see God
as a real estate agent.

We see that all land
is the property of God

and we all have to be righteous
to live in it.

They are the cancer here.

We call them the rapists.

They're living on land
that does not belong to them.

This village is targeted
by the settlers always.

I'm looking at a settlement
as a place that takes the land.

On the other side,

I learned to understand how the Jewish
had the connection to this land.

To Judea and Samaria.

When I read the Bible, and I know
the Jews have been here

since more than 3000 years
in this land,

how could I believe the Jewish
have no history here?

One of our problems
with the settlements,

is distribution of water.

The Israelis give a percentage of water
to settlements that's more than they need,

and the consequences are that
we take less than we need.

I'm trying to see
the entire picture.

There are two sides.

One is the Israeli side,
the distribution of water.

The other side
is the Palestinians' fault.

Repairing or fixing
the infrastructure itself.

We've had these
infrastructures for decades.

They're supposed to do this,

but actually nobody knows
where the money goes.

We're driving into this ranch...

here in the Judean desert.

Oasis in the middle
of the desert.

These are all olive trees here.

Cultivating the desert.
Making the desert come to life.

Fulfilling the prophecies.

Are you thirsty?
Want some water?

He's a Jew from Ethiopia.

Yes.

No, Todd.

That's what the news tells you.
That's not reality.

I will give you one month
and you will be good.

This factory is ours.

I feel that this factory
is our home.

This factory is working 24 hours
a day for 6 days a week.

We know how to go
for vacation together.

And of course we know
how to work

and to make the company
a success together.

Nelson Mandela said,

"Enemies, when they will
work together

they will break
the wall between them."

And I believe on that.

Yes, I love working with Israelis.

Oh, there's a big difference.

5 times more.

I earn a living to
provide for my family.

I had 2 daughters in the university,
and they graduated.

The Palestinians would be the first
to suffer from such a closure.

We would lose our livelihood.

It happened in plants. They closed,
and the workers stayed home.

All around the world,
also in the Palestinian Authority,

they try to boycott my product.

The BDS tried destroy me.

I'm the solution,
I'm not the problem.

If we will build
more industrial areas

maybe we'll bring
more hope for the world.

More hope for people.

And maybe from us,
the peace will come.

As a Palestinian,

when we grow up
in a hateful society,

becoming a man of love
for the Jews

and sharing the love of God
that changed our hearts,

that could make an incredible work
for the people of Israel.

I believe the main responsibility
is on the Palestinian Christians.

I remember each day I would
cross the checkpoint, I was praying,

"God please allow them to stop me
that I will share the gospel with them."

Each time they would stop me and ask,
"Where are you from?"

I'd tell them, "I'm from Gaza."

They got shocked and scared because
most of the criminals came from Gaza.

I'd tell them how I used to hate them,

and God, Elohim, changed my heart.

And I started to love them.

They were weeping.

Soldiers meeting a guy from Gaza,

telling them how much
he loved them.

If we accept all of them,

if we get rid of the bitterness
and accept God's love,

we have a very powerful message.

It's my first time
that I try to surf...

really with a teacher
that knows how to surf good.

We will see if I will fall
a lot today

or make this good.

God looks on all the people the same.

If you are Arabic,
you start to look at Jewish people

that they're like you.
It's the same.

This is what God makes
in our hearts

when we start to
believe in Jesus.

I cannot stop telling the truth.

Some people are trying
to remain silent for fear.

But what God has put in our hearts
is not the spirit of fear.

This is what the Bible tells us.