Written by Rima Saifi
“Return to Haifa ” tells the story of Saeed S, who fled Haifa after the proclamation of the independent Jewish state of Israel in 1948 with his wife Safieh, leaving their 5 month old baby Khaldoon behind in their apartment amidst their confusion and fear. In 1967 after the Israeli occupation of the west bank Saeed S. and his wife decide to go back and visit their old home and ask about their Khaldoon. To find out that Khaldoon now Dove was adopted by Afret and Mariam (Polish Holocaust survivors ) who occupied the Palestinian couple’s old home. Dove is now an Israeli soldier and a practicing Jew. He couldn’t relate to his biological parents and would kill his brother if he had to, to defend his new country. “A man is not just blood and flesh. A man is a cause,” Dove told his biological parents. Saeed and Safieh broken down and left Haifa again leaving Khaldoon behind.
The play captivated the audience at Jafra Cafe, Downtown. Where the characters of Ghassan Kanafani’s Play “Returning to Haifa” were brilliantly performed by the committed Jordanian Actor Ghanam Ghanam and the play was directed By Dr. Yehya Bishtawi, with music by Murad Demrejian.
I was also mesmerized by the play, the words, the music, the actor’s performance, and “Jafra” the place. The play and the audience’s interaction to it, made it clear to me that places like Jafra are there to reserve and reflect the city’s conscious, and that after all these years we are still seeking closure.
We need to reflect on our reality, we need an ending and we need an active reaction to the daily Israeli’s aggressions on Palestinians. It’s been over a year now since the Gaza Massacre and almost 62 years of Israeli Occupation and Arab’s humiliation. We need to realize our cause.
My original intent was to write an article to talk about the play, the excellent performance of the actor Ghanam Ghanam, his colleagues, the music, and Jafra. But I found myself drifting and forgetting all about being objective. I think that the biggest testimony that the play was good and the purpose of Jafra is being achieved is that the play made the audience return to the reality and that one could not be moved, and that one couldn’t help but be bias.
“Khaled my son who joined the resistance didn’t know the Palestine we knew, so what is he fighting for? I often asked myself.. At the end of the journey I realized that he was fighting for his Palestine. ‘The Palestine of the future’” said Saeed, “Khaled also knew that man is a cause,” he added.
