Just as Egyptian cinema was concerned with the issues of the Egyptian citizen, it was also concerned with the issues of the Arab world, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict, i.e. the Palestinian Cause, where Palestine has always been the object of greed for colonial armies, starting with the crusade campaign and ending with the Israeli occupation.
Therefore, the Egyptian filmmakers were keen to provide support to our Palestinian fellows. They presented their case and discussed some important figures in the history of the Palestinian struggle. In addition to embodying the suffering of the people by shedding light on the demonstrations and martyrdom 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 films that will remain firmly rooted in the conscience of every Egyptian and Arab citizen out of solidarity with the Palestinian cause against the Zionist occupation army. Here are some of these films.
A girl from Palestine 1948
يعد هذا الفيلم أول فيلم مصري وعربي يتناول القضية الفلسطينية بالتزامن مع حرب فلسطين، أنتجته رائدة السينما المصرية “عزيزة أمير”، التي حرصت على تقديم الدعم المصري لفلسطين ونقل الجرائم الوحشية للعدو الصهيوني، من خلال قصة “محمود ذو الفقار” وهو ضابط طيار يدافع عن الأراضي الفلسطينية وقت الحرب، ولكن طائرته تسقط في إحدى القرى الفلسطينية بسبب غارة، وتعثر عليه سلمى “سعاد محمد” وتقوم بتطييب جراحه، لنكتشف أن منزلها هو مخزن لأسلحة المقاومة.
This film is the first Egyptian and Arab film that deals with the Palestinian issue in conjunction with the Palestine war. It was produced by the pioneer Egyptian cinema producer “Aziza Amir”, who was keen to express Egyptian support to Palestine and convey the brutal crimes of the Zionist enemy, through the story of “Mahmoud Zulfiqar”, a military pilot who defends Palestinian lands at war, but his plane crashes in one of the Palestinian villages due to a raid, and Salma “Souad Muhammad” finds him and tends to his wounds, to discover that her house is a storehouse for the resistance’s weapons
Nadia 1949
Once again, Amira Aziz presents a film about the Palestinian cause, this time she was the lead actress. The film tells the story of Nadia, whose brother Munir “Shukri Sarhan” is martyred in the Palestine war, so she decides to continue the struggle and volunteer in the Red Crescent, to meet Medhat “Mahmoud Zulfiqar”, her brother’s friend, who rescues her from one of the colonies when she falls into the hands of the enemy.
Allah is on our side 1953
The film tells the story of Officer Ahmed Jamal “Imad Hamdi” who went to participate in the Palestine war with the encouragement of his cousin Nadia “Faten Hamama”. He tries to rely on the influence of his wealthy uncle, Abdel Aziz Pasha, “Mahmoud El Meligy”, only to discover that his uncle is the main arms dealer.
The land of peace 1957
It is the first film filmed inside the occupied Palestinian territories. It presented the life of the militants who are trying to liberate their village from the control of the Israelis, through the story of the Egyptian fighter Ahmed “Omar Sharif”, who participates in the process of blowing up the Israeli fuel tanks that supply the attacking planes with gasoline. After he was shot in the shoulder, he meets Salma “Faten Hamama”, the Palestinian girl who takes care of him until he recovers his strength, and helps her father Sheikh Mazen “Abdul Warith Asser” to cover up Ahmed when the enemy comes to search for him.
Al-Nasser Salahuddin 1963
It is one of the most powerful historical films, and revolves around the period of the Crusades. It reviews the battles fought by the commander Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, played by the artist “Ahmed Mazhar”, to liberate Jerusalem. Director Youssef Chahine tried to use the events of the film as a kind of projection on modern history, and showed European ambitions in the land of Palestine, which is apparently defending religion, but it is mainly for achieving personal interests and collecting wealth.
Shadows on the other side 1974
The film tackled the issue of the Palestinian struggle through the story of a student who studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, and lives with four young Egyptians on a raft on the Nile, he disagrees with them while each of them tells the events from his point of view. In the end, he gives up his dreams and joins the Palestinian resistance.
Naji Al Ali 1987
The artist “Noor Al-Sharif” was brilliant in the character of the Palestinian artist, Naji Al-Ali, and the story of his assassination in London. The film documents the stations that Naji Al-Ali went through in his life, starting with his displacement with his family to Lebanon, then his work in Kuwait, and his return to Lebanon again during the Lebanese Civil War. The film reviewed his most prominent political stances towards the Palestinian cause, which he recorded in his immortal caricatures to this day.
Saeedy in the AUC 1998
This film was not classified as a political movie. It was primarily a comedy, but it provided support for the Palestinian cause in one of its scenes, when Khalaf Al-Dahshoury “Mohammed Henedy”, a student at the American University in Cairo, with the participation of his colleagues, burned the flag of Israel inside the university in protest against the Zionist occupation and its practices against the Palestinians. It was the first time that burning the flag of Israel was included in a film, as burning the flags of countries in the cinema is prohibited by law, because it threatens the higher interests of the state.
Hammam in Amsterdam 1999
Once again, Muhammad Henedy presented an impressive scene in support of Palestine during the events of the comedy, as one of his scenes included a fight between a group of Arab expatriate youth in the Netherlands, for a Palestinian young man to sing the song “The Arab Dream” in an attempt to end the quarrel between friends, as the scene included a message about the necessity of ending any dispute between the Arab brothers, and of solidarity together to support the Palestinian cause.
Friends or Business Partners 2001
The film sheds light on the martyrdom operations carried out by Palestinian youth against the Israeli occupation, where Karim Nour “Mustafa Qamar” travels to record a program on the Palestinian uprising, and gets to know the Palestinian youth Jihad “Amr Waked”, who takes him on a tour inside the Palestinian territories, after which he performs a martyrdom operation. He bombed himself next to a group of Israeli soldiers, while Karim was filming him.
The volcano of wrath 2002
The events of the film take place in the Palestinian refugee camps, where the Palestinian youngman Khaled Shabib “Tamer Hejres” assassinates an Israeli official, and is pursued by the Israeli intelligence. Then, he travels to Egypt to try to conclude an arms deal, facing many difficulties, and the film sends a message to unite the ranks of the Arabs, and the need to support the Palestinians with weapons What they need to win.
The Embassy is in the building 2005
فيلم آخر يقدم الدعم للقضية الفلسطينية بشكل كوميدي، حيث يعود المهندس شريف خيري “عادل إمام” ليجد السفارة الإسرائيلية قد اتخذت موقعها في الشقة المجاورة له، فيعاني بسبب الإجراءات الأمنية المشددة التي تفرض عليه، ويقوم برفع قضية لإخراج السفارة من العمارة، ويتحول إلى رمز شعبي للنضال، ولكن سرعان ما يتنازل عن القضية بسبب بعض الضغوطات. إلا أنه يستأنف نضاله مرة أخرى بعد استشهاد الطفل إياد ابن صديقه الفلسطيني، على يد الجنود الإسرائيلين اثناء مشاركته في إحدى المظاهرات.
Another movie that provides support for the Palestinian cause in a comic way, where the engineer Sherif Khairy “Adel Imam” returns to find the Israeli embassy has taken its location in the apartment next to him. He suffers because of the strict security measures imposed on him. He files a case to get the embassy out of the building, and turns into a popular symbol to struggle, but soon give up the case due to some pressure. However, he resumes his struggle again after the martyrdom of the child Iyad, the son of his Palestinian friend, at the hands of Israeli soldiers while participating in a demonstration.
Despite the great Egyptian films that embodied the painful Palestinian reality throughout history, and despite the continued ignition of the Palestinian cause, we note that it has gradually begun to disappear from the screens of the Egyptian cinema. For more than fifteen years, no film has discussed the Palestinian struggle against the occupation forces of Israel, which makes the matter questionable! Why has Palestine disappeared from Egyptian cinema, when we must support it today more than ever?