Martyrdom operations and burning the Israeli flag... Palestine in the eyes of Egyptian cinema

Just as Egyptian cinema has been concerned with the issues of the Egyptian citizen, it has also been concerned with the issues of the Arab world, and at the forefront of this is the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially the Palestinian cause. Palestine has always been a target of the colonial armies, starting with the Crusades and ending with the Israeli occupation.

For this reason, the makers of Egyptian cinema have been keen to support their Palestinian brothers, by raising their issue and discussing some important figures in the history of the Palestinian struggle. In addition to portraying the suffering of the people by highlighting the demonstrations and suicide operations in which they participate. In addition to expressing the feelings of the Egyptian citizen towards the Palestinian cause by burning the Israeli flag.

This came through a number of cinematic films that will remain etched in the conscience of every Egyptian and Arab citizen who sympathized with the Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation army, and here are some of these films:

• The Girl from Palestine (1948)

This film is considered the first Egyptian and Arab film to address the Palestinian cause in conjunction with the War of Palestine. It was produced by the pioneer of Egyptian cinema, "Azizeh Amir", who was keen to provide Egyptian support for Palestine and convey the brutal crimes of the Israeli enemy, through the story of "Mahmoud Zulfiqar", who is a pilot who defends Palestinian lands during the war, but his plane crashes in one of the Palestinian villages due to a raid, and Salama "Suad Mohamed" finds him and treats his wounds, only to discover that her house is a storehouse for the weapons of the resistance.

• Nadia (1949)

Once again, Amirah Aziz presents a film about the Palestinian cause, starring her this time, and the film tells the story of Nadia, whose brother Mounir "Sherif Sabri" is martyred in the War of Palestine, so she decides to continue the struggle and volunteered for the Red Crescent, to meet Medhat "Mahmoud Zulfiqar" the friend of her brother, who rescues her from one of the colonies when she falls captive to the enemy.

• God is with us (1955)

The film tells the story of officer Ahmed Jamal "Emad Hamdy" who went to participate in the War of Palestine with the encouragement of his cousin Nadia "Faten Hamama", Ahmed was injured by the corrupt weapons and amputated his arm, and he returned with a number of the wounded, and met with his fellow officers to reveal the real perpetrators of the supply of corrupt weapons, and tried to rely on the influence of his wealthy uncle Abdul Aziz Pasha "Mahmoud El-Meligy", only to discover that his uncle is himself the main arms dealer.

• The Land of Peace (1957)

It is the first film to be filmed within the occupied Palestinian territories, and it presented the lives of the fighters who are trying to liberate their village from Israeli control, through the story of the Egyptian fighter Ahmed "Omar Sharif" who participates in the operation to blow up the Israeli fuel tanks that supply the attacking aircraft with gasoline, and after being injured in the shoulder, he meets Nadia "Faten Hamama", the Palestinian girl who takes care of him until he regains his strength, and helps her father Sheikh Mazen "Abdul Wareth Aeser" to conceal Ahmed when the enemy comes to look for him.

• The Nasser Salahuddin (1963)

It is considered one of the strongest historical films, and it revolves around the period of the Crusades, and it reviews the battles that the commander Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, who played by the artist "Ahmed Mazhar", fought to liberate Jerusalem. Director Youssef Chahine tried to use the events of the film as a kind of projection on modern history, and he showed the European ambitions in the land of Palestine, which are in appearance the defense of religion, but in essence they are for the sake of achieving personal interests and accumulating wealth.

• The Shadows on the Other Side (1974)

The film dealt with the issue of the Palestinian struggle through the story of the student who studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, and lives with four Egyptian youth in a floating boat on the Nile, to disagree with them while each of them narrates the events from his point of view. In the end, he abandons his dreams and joins the Palestinian resistance.

• Naji al-Ali (1987)

Artist "Nour El-Sherif" excelled in presenting the character of the Palestinian artist Naji al-Ali, and the story of his assassination in London, as the film documents the stations that Naji al-Ali went through in his life, starting from his displacement with his family to Lebanon