The Ruins of Lifta

The story told in THE RUINS OF LIFTA revolves around the conflict's underpinnings: the Holocaust and the Nakba (the Palestinian exile of 1948). It begins with filmmaker Menachem Daum's parents' devastating Holocaust experiences. Their perspective (as seen in the film Hiding and Seeking) deeply influenced Menachem's views of non-Jews, the Polish people, and Palestinians. An Orthodox Jew who grew up among Holocaust Survivors, Menachem Daum began questioning the narrow views of his community. He sets out to examine those views by establishing a personal relationship with a Palestinian. The first Palestinian he meets is Yacoub Odeh, who was expelled from Lifta in 1948 and now leads the struggle to save the haunting ruins of his village from Israeli plans to build luxury villas on the site. When Menachem learns that Lifta was once a place where Jews and Palestinians got along, and that his revered uncle might have been involved in Jewish militia attacks on Lifta, he seeks out family members as well as Israeli and Palestinian witnesses and historians. These include Benny Morris, Hillel Cohen and Palestinian lawyer Sami Arshid. Menachem meets members of the Coalition to Save Lifta, including Yacoub, Daphna Golan and Ilan Shatyer and debates joining Yacoub's campaign with Dasha Rittenberg, a Holocaust Survivor in New York who is a close friend. In a move at reconciliation, he sets up a climactic encounter between Dasha and Yacoub among the ruins of Lifta.