Visiting Gaza Strip as a Palestinian | DW Documentary

all i can think about is seeing my family again the next war is coming to gaza if something happens to them before i can see them that would destroy me you won't let me out nobody's locking you up with an invalid passport turn off the camera i'm so frustrated [Music] god made his dream come true his own cafe in berlin his cafe is a favorite among artists in berlin locals and foreigners alike nidal has been living in the german capital for eight years he became a german citizen two years ago nidal was born in palestine and grew up in the gaza strip but that's not possible with the situation as it is there i didn't know my life would take me to berlin but now here's bullboy which means nightingale nadal worked hard to make a new home for himself in berlin but the situation in gaza has him increasingly concerned i think all i can think about is seeing my family again the next war is coming to gaza if something happens to them before i can see them that would destroy me i can tell that my family isn't doing well they need me and my strength i want to spend time with my family and be there for them out of worry for his family nidal made a dramatic decision from one day to the next he sold his cafe all he wants to do now is see his family in gaza what a shame but you'll come back one day right he's got kind of some day let me give you a hug over the past 10 years nidal's parents and 10 siblings lived through three wars in the gaza strip now the next conflict seems to lie ahead [Music] in 2007 nidal lost a leg as a result of the conflict between israel and the palestinians he was working as a cameraman when his car was struck presumably by an israeli rocket the car veered off a hill and his right leg was shattered [Music] the accident happened at 10 in the morning they sent me to the hadassah medical center in jerusalem i needed surgery right away and that wasn't possible in gaza at the time nadal worked for an international news agency they organised his treatment at the israeli hospital i'll never forget how the head doctor explained my options or i could have my leg amputated and then use a prosthetic it was entirely my decision i was struck speechless i was lying in bed i heard everything so i told him the second option i don't feel like i have limitations i enjoy my life more than most people i mean look at it it's pretty cool i wanted to be able to stand on my own two feet and lead my life that wouldn't have been possible in gaza so i came to germany that was in 2010 a fellowship allowed nadal to start a new life in germany i put a lot of time and energy into understanding the mentality of people here berlin is now my second home now nidal is saying goodbye to his second home he's not sure if and when he'll be back but that's the best way to fall when i fall on this knee i don't get hurt he doesn't know how long he'll be away three weeks three months three years anything's possible he sold his cafe but he's only sublet his apartment for a few weeks [Music] the next morning he takes a taxi to the airport [Music] my heart in theory only a few hours of travel time separate nidal from his family in gaza the shortest route from germany to gaza is to fly into tel aviv and then drive to the ares crossing after the palestinian uprisings began new regulations were imposed in 2000. now palestinians need a special permit to cross the checkpoint and they're nearly impossible to get that's why nadal is flying to oman jordan from there he plans to cross into the west bank then continue through israel until he reaches gaza welcome to queen ali international airport in amman where the local time it's 5 pm at the outside there's no problem in jordan he enters with his german passport then he goes to buy a few gifts for his family [Music] then he heads to the border with israel [Music] he'll first need to pass through the jordanian and then the israeli border control so blue skies [Music] nidal has a german passport will israel recognize it and let him pass or since he's palestinian by birth will they require a special permit to travel through israel he applied for a permit just in case [Music] on the jordanian side there's no problem they let him through with his german passport then he takes a short bus ride through the no man's land to get to the israeli side the lights of the city of jericho in the west bank flicker in the distance but first he has to pass through israel's border control after a wait of three hours he's told that israel won't recognize his german passport and the israeli authorities say they never received his application for a permit to pass through the country [Music] nedal has to go back to jordan i just don't [Music] back in oman friends take him in from there he tries to obtain permission to travel to gaza things are looking good but no one can guarantee that he'll be allowed back out they're all saying you're returning that means he might find himself stuck in gaza indefinitely i have two choices i can sacrifice my freedom in my entire life or i can choose [Music] those are my two choices [Music] a short time later nidal receives word that israel has cleared him for entry he's told to go to the border when i presented my german passport yesterday they stamped it and wrote in my palestinian id number that means i could never enter this region as a german [Music] it's absurd in europe when you want to visit your family the only decision is do you want to fly or travel by rail yes now i have this passport which i worked really hard for i pay my taxes it upsets me [Music] he's back at the border crossing as he was told israel has given him permission to transit but they want him to board a bus directly to gaza they want us to get on this bus but i won't so i won't enter he's afraid that if he boards the bus he won't be allowed to leave gaza he'd be stuck far away from his life in berlin no one here can or will give him a guarantee that he'll be permitted to leave gaza again nadar's conversation with israel's border control gets a bit hated at times [Music] one of the border officers is also from germany he's only in israel to complete his military service you have to understand you have to understand me too i heard you you won't let me out no one's locking you up yes you are turn off the camera i'm so frustrated nidal returns to oman jordan in germany he'd already suspected that visiting his family in gaza wouldn't be easy but he wasn't prepared for how upset he'd be [Music] what's israel so afraid what is so dangerous about me that i'm not allowed to go to my own territory i've been in germany for eight years i'm just coming back to visit my family and i should be able to do that freely i can't understand that from israel's point of view they have good reason for their stance [Music] grisha yakubovic was the former head of the civilian branch of koget an idf unit that's responsible for issuing travel permits for palestinians through israel let's not forget the gaza strip is controlled by a terror organization hamas okay it changes all the reality for us as israelis and for palestinians also i understand that the people are caused in between and unfortunately at the end they are the ones who are paying the price of terror on one hand and israeli policy against that terror entity if he is inside he is traveling in gaza do you know what he is doing there can we know what he is doing what what he's doing there okay that's why it takes time to understand uh that somebody from terror organizations in gaza like hamas islamic jihad isis al-qaeda that are already in gaza somebody met him somebody is trying to convince him to do something somebody is trying to use him so to check those things it takes a little bit time there's a lot of mistrust on both sides and that doesn't look set to change anytime soon things that might be commonplace under other circumstances like visiting your family become an insurmountable hurdle nidal's parents don't know yet that his visit won't take place [Music] there are only two ways into gaza one is through the rafa border crossing in egypt that's usually closed the other is through the israeli crossing it aires journalists diplomats aid organisation staff and palestinians with a special permit are allowed to enter once it becomes clear that nidal won't be able to visit our camera team continues without him that way nadal's family will at least get the gifts he purchased even if he can't be there himself around 2 million people live in gaza and life is difficult here in 2007 the militant islamist hamas group took control of gaza israel and egypt established an economic blockade corruption and mismanagement on the palestinian side have exacerbated the situation about half the palestinian people rely on united nations food deliveries [Music] nidal's family live in a quiet area to the south of gaza city [Music] his parents anwar and mahabal have six sons five daughters and eighteen grandchildren they'd been looking forward to nadal's visit [Music] but instead of a homecoming they have to make do with a telephone call foreign for years and we were so happy when he said he'd visit he checked in with me every day and told me he was going to visit maybe today maybe tomorrow it's so painful to lose his life in germany and also he didn't want to lose his life in gaza there is no choice in this point there is no choice we hope in in the future [Music] the conditions may be easy and he can enter and live [Music] the gifts are a welcome surprise nidal's older brother jamal has two children the youngest is a year and a half old nidal has only ever seen him in pictures dalia is nidale's younger sister she's the only one who isn't married yet and lives with her parents out of nadal's ten brothers and sisters seven have university degrees but none of them have an income this sense of futility about the future is one reason why so many people want to leave gaza [Music] loves our food in gaza he especially loves it when i cook he doesn't like it when the plates are empty nadal's mother is the only member of the family who's been given a permit to visit him in berlin nadal offered to sponsor her permanently but she told him an old tree can't be uprooted dahlia is just finishing school i dream to go outside just to leave gaza the situation here is so difficult you can't move freely no business no study no well good study in education and every few years there is another war it was a good thing that he wasn't here away of the bad things around the world i love to see him achieving his dreams and do the things what he wants and yeah everything you want you just do we miss him [Music] that's how jamal nadal's oldest brother sees things too why my brother didn't come to visit us you maybe know the present it's enough instead the seeing him no the presence the gift the money all of thing it's as a gift not being as or used to instead to seeing him we miss him three years ago really it's sad sad sad sad do you know mother's feeling puzzle feeling what we can do [Music] many dream of leaving and seeing the world but only a handful do for most of the residents of gaza the reality is that they are stuck here the only way out is a permit from israel or egypt those permits can be applied for here at the palestinian civil committee after an initial review they pass on selected applications to israel ordinary applications are processed on the first floor urgent cases for people who need medical treatment go upstairs whenever tensions rise between israel and hamas fewer permits to travel outside gaza are approved [Music] ismael khateb is deputy head of the palestinian agency he has access to nidal's file we received a permit for him to return but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to leave gaza so he stayed in jordan in principle it's possible to get an exit permit but it's very difficult entering isn't easy either once you're in gaza you can't get out until the israeli security forces clear you nobody knows how long that will take it could be a month three months or maybe you'll never get an exit permit [Music] israel says the lengthy process is necessary to ensure security [Music] for israel it's all a question of security for the bull bull family it's a deeply personal matter they just want to be able to see nadal he's now returned to berlin [Music] my family also told me not to come they didn't want me to be trapped there they wanted me to be able to return to berlin he wanted us to hurt without incomes i won't give up hope i'm going to see my family soon

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 1,100,541

Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, documentaries, DW documentary, DW documentary 2019, full documentary, documentary 2019, DW, Deutsche Welle, Deutsche Welle Documentary, Nidal, Gaza, Israel, Middle East conflict, Hamas, migration, Nidal Bulbul, risky

Id: aJYS6Gf3hgY

Length: 25min 56sec (1556 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 13 2019