This film is about attempts to find a future for Lifta that is acceptable to both Israel and the previous residents of the village. The Arabs feel that Israel is an occupying force and must leave, while the Israelis feel that all of Israel is theirs. This film concentrates only on Lifta and stays away from the "refugee" issue.
The takeaway is that there will be no peace until the Arabs in Israeli territory accept the existence of Israel (or destroy Israel, or are expelled from Israel).
This movie was informative about the relationship between the Arabs and Israelis. Lifta is the last empty village from which Arabs were expelled. Those who lived there (and their descendants) want to rebuild the village, while the Israeli government plans to demolish what is left of the village and build homes and parks.
Important history was omitted from the movie. During the lead-up to Israeli independence, the Arab League nations dropped leaflets on every village saying that the Jews would kill all of the Arabs. They encouraged non-Jews to flee the land and villages in strategic locations to attack Zionist (later Israeli) vehicles, people, and infrastructure.
Lifta was on the main road into West Jerusalem from territory the UN assigned as Israel. Attacks from such a strategic location caused the Israelis to expel all of the residents of Lifta. The film does not mention that Arabs in villages that did not attack were allowed to remain in their homes and become Israeli citizens.
The main problem with the film is the attempt to compare the WWII Holocaust and the plight of those kicked out of Lifta. This is a mistake because there is no reasonable comparison. The people of Lifta were expelled in retaliation for attacks, while over 6,000,000 European Jews were killed in a genocide.
The film also does not give any background about why the residents of Lifta attacked Jewish settlers or the related issue of why Arabs left the region and became refugees.
The word Palestine is used in the film to refer to Israel before independence. However, Palestine includes Jordan. Jordan was designated by the League of Nations as the Palestinian Arab homeland in 1922.
The takeaway is that there will be no peace until the Arabs in Israeli territory accept the existence of Israel (or destroy Israel, or are expelled from Israel).
This movie was informative about the relationship between the Arabs and Israelis. Lifta is the last empty village from which Arabs were expelled. Those who lived there (and their descendants) want to rebuild the village, while the Israeli government plans to demolish what is left of the village and build homes and parks.
Important history was omitted from the movie. During the lead-up to Israeli independence, the Arab League nations dropped leaflets on every village saying that the Jews would kill all of the Arabs. They encouraged non-Jews to flee the land and villages in strategic locations to attack Zionist (later Israeli) vehicles, people, and infrastructure.
Lifta was on the main road into West Jerusalem from territory the UN assigned as Israel. Attacks from such a strategic location caused the Israelis to expel all of the residents of Lifta. The film does not mention that Arabs in villages that did not attack were allowed to remain in their homes and become Israeli citizens.
The main problem with the film is the attempt to compare the WWII Holocaust and the plight of those kicked out of Lifta. This is a mistake because there is no reasonable comparison. The people of Lifta were expelled in retaliation for attacks, while over 6,000,000 European Jews were killed in a genocide.
The film also does not give any background about why the residents of Lifta attacked Jewish settlers or the related issue of why Arabs left the region and became refugees.
The word Palestine is used in the film to refer to Israel before independence. However, Palestine includes Jordan. Jordan was designated by the League of Nations as the Palestinian Arab homeland in 1922.
