Return to Palestine

Meet some of the Palestinians who have returned to the homes of their parents and grandparents, now in present-day Israel.

Halima Khaddash is an old woman living in a refugee camp in Ramallah whose family is from Ramla. She travels to the place, which brings back memories of being forced from the family home during the 1948 Nakba, the catastrophe.

Zeina Abu Meita’s family was originally from the Mediterranean port city of Acre. She makes a bittersweet visit to Acre with her father who was forced from the family home when he was six. Zeina and her father have Canadian passports. So, as foreigners, they are allowed to visit Israel. But they don’t have any rights of residency or permanent return.

The film Return to Palestine explores the idea of The Right of Return on the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, which refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the near-total erasure of Palestinian society.