While Kanafani's Returning to Haifa

Returning to Haifa/Lemon Tree Essay (Prompt 4)

While Kanafani's Returning to Haifa doesn't focus on the subject, Rikli's Lemon Tree emphasizes the issue of the plight of the Palestinians at the hands of Israelis. In both stories, the reader is presented with the point of view of "the other", more specifically, the Palestinian characters. The stories revolve around how they suffer and lose what they love most at the hands of a greater power, causing them to be the innocent bystanders. Furthermore, the women in both stories, Miriam and Mira seem to share a deep sense of sympathy for the opposite party. There is a natural outgrowth of the political issue of Palestinian suffrage in Lemon Tree, while in Returning to Haifa, the majority of the conflicts revolve around more personal matters that relate to the human cause. Rikli's Lemon Tree presents an outgrowth and emphasis of the conflicts presented in Kanafani's Returning to Haifa.

When looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, readers of a Schechter demographic usually tend to sympathize with the Israelis without looking at the other point of view: the Palestinians. The actions of the state of Israel are typically justified with the response that any military activities are done for the continuation and fortification of Israeli security. In Returning to Haifa in order to keep the area of Haifa under strict military control, in the Battle for Haifa during the Arab-Israeli civil war in 1948, thousands of Arabs were kicked out of their homes and evacuated from Haifa. As Said and his wife Safiyya are driving back into Haifa after not have been allowed in for 20 years, Said remembers how years ago when being forced out, "they moved in obedience to instructions blaring from loudspeakers...the alleyways, closed off by machine guns or bullets or the soldiers themselves." (153). This shows what kind of unfair, brutal force the Arabs were treated with. Forced out of their homes at gunpoint with no other way to go. Although this example shows how unethically the "others" were treated, it is a small one. Lemon Tree's plot proves to be a large development and outgrowth of this theme. Salma, protagonist in Lemon Tree lives in the occupied territories on her lemon plantation, which her and her family have looked after for decades. Besides for living under a strict curfew and watch, a moment that truly illustrated her bad treatment is when a bomb goes off next to the defense minister's home. Soldiers barge into unsuspecting Salma's home and completely and unnecessarily damage her home and valuables. The final image is of Salma's glass jar of lemons on the floor, smashed. The viewer can truly see the pain in her face. The expression of "Why must I go through this? Why do I deserve this?" These types of emotions and conflicts are not truly explored in Returning to Haifa.

Inevitably, in wartime there are innocent bystanders who suffer because of others' destructive actions. In Returning to Haifa, Said and Safiyya physically lose their son at the hands of Israelis only to reunite with him and lose him metaphorically as well. Having been pushed out of Haifa on such a short notice by the Israeli army, Said is unable to retrieve baby Khaldun from his apartment. For the next 20 years Khaldun's absence eats at Said and Safiyya. After the 20-year bloc is alleviated from Haifa, they visit their old home only to find that it's been inhabited by European Jewish immigrants who have also adopted Khaldun, now named Dov. Said sees that Dov is wearing an army uniform and asks for what cause is he fighting? Dov replies with a strict "You have no