Haifa independent film festival: Rejecting the boundaries imposed on Palestinians
On 21 March, the third Haifa Independent Film Festival (HIFF) opened. Over six days it is showcasing talent from Palestine and the Arab world through film showings and a range of activities including youth workshops.
HIFF organisers describe the event as a "cultural crossing between Haifa and unreachable, prohibited parts of the Arab world", alluding to the isolation of the Palestinian community inside Israel.
Indeed, Haifa today is located in present-day Israel - what many Palestinians call "48", referring to the date it was occupied, or al dakhel (simply "inside" in Arabic).
The Palestinian community in Israel, numbering more than 1.5 million, has long been cut off from the Arab world. Additionally, Palestinians in Israel are often described as "second-class" citizens, yet this phrase does not reflect reality.
Palestinians in Israel are not only marginalised and oppressed, their citizenship functions as the very mechanism of their exclusion.
