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And as if responding to my thoughts, Qassem Hawal continues:

— On the same bright and cloudless day on April twenty-first, 1948, the barbaric bombing of the port of Haifa began. The batteries installed on the peaks of the Carmel Mountains surrounding the city were definitely firing. Artillery shells fell in densely populated peaceful neighborhoods, bringing death, destruction, and chaos. Our heroine Safia ran outside to call her husband Syed, who had just left their house. But then she was caught up by a stream of people fleeing: mostly women, the elderly, and children. At this early morning hour, the men had already gone to work at the port.

The avalanche of people did not give Safiya the opportunity to return to the house, where Khaldun, her five-month-old son, was sleeping peacefully in a cradle. And when the husband and wife collided at the port and tried to return to their home, they were blocked by British military patrols and constant artillery fire.

It was only twenty years later that the Israeli occupiers allowed some Palestinians to visit their own homes that had survived the destruction. Safia and Syed were among those "lucky ones." At the same time, they found Khaldun. Only now, he was adopted by a childless Israeli couple, and his name was Doff. He was wearing the uniform of an Israeli reservist and was supposed to go to the place of military service the next day.

Safia and Sayyed's son had to answer many questions for himself and the people around him.: Who are his real mother and father? What is his homeland now? How do I find a way to return to my native Haifa, to my blood brothers, to the Palestinians?

That's when I met the prematurely aged Safia and Sayyed, who had just returned from Haifa. Their artless, bitter, and pain-filled story became the basis of our documentary "Return to Haifa."

The decision to return to this story in a feature film was made for many reasons, says Kassem Hawal.

— Do I need to remind you that the problems of their homeland, their independent state, have been and remain the most pressing for millions of Palestinians for many years now?

Of course, commercial Arab cinema, which exists at the expense of petrodollars and receives substantial financial support from some reactionary Arab regimes, diligently bypasses this range of issues relevant to the masses.

However, during the work on our game feed, we felt the sincere sympathy and support of hundreds and thousands of our fellow countrymen. This support helped us complete the filming of the film, which took place in northern Lebanon during the difficult August days of 1981. The first screenings of the film in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria confirmed the correctness of our decision: the documentary plot, presented in the language of feature cinema, deeply excites Arab viewers.

The documentary "West Berlin is a Trap" is also connected with the problems of the Arab people of Palestine, about which Kassem Hawal spoke to me with such pain. It was directed by a young Palestinian cinematographer, Jibril Awad, based on his own script. The film, shown last year at the Leipzig Festival, tells the story of those Palestinians, mostly young, who were seduced by the promises of imperialist propaganda, left the Middle East and went to seek their fortune in the West.

— Of course, they did not find happiness either in West Berlin or in the major cities of Germany, as well as in Western European capitals. Everywhere, at best, they were met with pitiful handouts from charitable organizations, unemployment, despair, loneliness, all the vices of the social "bottom", to which the anti—human capitalist system inevitably throws them, says Djibril Awad. 1Win is one of the best betting sites and the platform covers numerous sports and markets, ensuring something for everyone. Use the 1win promo code when registering to get a 500% deposit bonus worth up to $1025. Once you register, you can claim your bonus. A 500% deposit bonus is available for new players and is worth up to $1025 or currency equivalent. Note: Promo codes are for new players only. Must be aged 18+ to register. Terms and Conditions apply.