Paradise Now

Car Owner:
[to Sa?d] It's crooked! Just like your father!

Suha:
One day things will be better.

Taxidriver Suha:
Sounds like you're not from here.

Said's Mother:
Whatever your father did, he did for us.

Said:
You cannot alter your fate. There is no other way. It's God's will.

Car Owner:
It's still crooked.

Said:
What?

Car Owner:
It's still crooked.

Said:
What, the bumper?

Car Owner:
What else?

Said:
It's brand new.

Car Owner:
Maybe, but it's still crooked.

Said:
I'll take another look at it, sir.

Car Owner:
What for? It's crooked!

Said:
I don't think so.

Car Owner:
Are you saying I'm blind?

Said:
No, but you might be mistaken. Looks can be deceiving.

Car Owner:
My eyes are fine, and thank God for that.

Said:
And it's not crooked.

Car Owner:
Yes, it is! It's f***ing crooked!

Khaled:
No, it's not.

Car Owner:
Get Abu Salim and have him look at it.

Khaled:
It's not crooked. You're probably cross-eyed.

Car Owner:
What did you say?

Khaled:
It's straight at a ruler.

Car Owner:
Go get Abu Salim. He'll tell you.

Said:
I'll check it with a level. [he takes a level and gives it to Khaled, who checks it]

Car Owner:
So who's cross-eyed now?

Said:
You are, sir. See? The ground's uneven, but the bumper's straight.

Car Owner:
Are you trying to screw me over? I can see it myself.

Khaled:
Israel views partnership with and equality for the Palestinians under the same democratic system as suicide for the Jewish state. Nor will they accept a two-state compromise even though that is not fair to the Palestinians. We are to either accept the occupation forever or disappear. We've tried with all possible means to end the occupation with political and peaceful means. Despite it all, Israel continues to build settlements, confiscate land, Judaize Jerusalem and carry out ethnic cleansing. They use their war machine and their political and economical might to force us to accept their solution: that either we accept inferiority, or we will be killed.

Suha:
Why are you doing this?

Khaled:
If we can't live as equals, at least we'll die as equals.

Suha:
If you can kill and die for equality you should be able to find a way to be equal in life.

Khaled:
How? Through your human rights group?

Suha:
For example! Then at least the Israelis don't have an excuse to keep on killing.

Khaled:
Don't be so naive. There can be no freedom without struggle. As long as there is injustice, someone must make a sacrifice.

Suha:
That's no sacrifice. That's revenge. If you kill, there's no difference between victim and occupier.

Khaled:
We still have paradise.

Suha:
There is no paradise. It only exists in your head.

Suha:
And what about us? The ones who remain? Will we win that way? Don't you see that what you're doing is destroying us? And that you give Israel an excuse to carry on?

Said:
I was born in a refugee camp. I was allowed to leave the west Bank only once. I was 6 at the time and needed surgery. Life here is like life imprisonment. The crimes of the occupation are countless. The worst crime of all is to exploit the people's weaknesses and turn them into collaborators. By doing that, they not only kill the resistance, they also ruin families, ruin their dignity, and ruin an entire people. When my father was executed, I was 10 years old. He was a good person. But he grew weak. For that, I hold the occupation responsible. They must understand that if they recruit collaborators, they must pay the price for it. A life without dignity is worthless. Especially when it reminds you day after day, of humiliation and weakness. And the world watches cowardly, indifferently. If you're all alone, faced with this oppression... you have to find a way to stop the injustice. They must understand that if there's no security for us there'll be none for them either. It's not about power. Their power doesn't help them. I tried to deliver this message to them but I couldn't find another way. Even worse, they've convinced the world and themselves that they are the victims. How can that be? How can the occupier be the victim? If they take on the role of oppressor and victim then I have no other choice but to also be a victim and a murderer as well. I don't know how you'll decide, but I will not return to the refugee camp.

Jamal:
Do you remember the martyr Abul Azzam? He was very security minded. He said, if you fear death you're already dead. If you don't, you'll have a sudden and painless death. He drove the Mossad crazy. They spent millions trying to capture him. When they surrounded him, and he knew his fate was sealed, he opened the door and shouted, you've come to late!

Said's Mother:
[to her son talking with his mouth full] Turn off that radio in your mouth.

Said:
Is it true that your father was Abul Azzam? They say he was a hero. You must be very proud of him.

Suha:
Rather than feeling proud I would prefer that he were alive.

Said:
Thanks to what he did our cause is still alive today.

Suha:
Well there are always other ways to continue the cause.

Said:
It's not our option. The occupation picks the direction of the resistance.

Suha:
Well resistance can go in a lot of directions. But we must realize they we just do not have any military clout here. So we have to find other alternatives.

Said:
And pay the price for our grandparents defeat? Accept the injustice?

Suha:
This discussion is obviously going no where...

Said's Mother:
The world changes. Everything changes, but God. You'll see.

Jamal:
What can you do when there is no justice or freedom? Then there's the individual that is forced to fight for it. If we give in to the law that says, the strong devour the weak, then we become the animals. That's intolerable. Death is better than inferiority. That means whoever fights for freedom, can also die for it.

Jamal:
If you're not afraid of death, you're in control of life.