The exodus

Vahe H. Apelian

Two films are being aired on Netflix, as I pen this blog. They are “The Swimmers” and “Farha”. 

The film “The Swimmers”, is based on a true story and follows the harrowing journey, from war-torn Syria, of two young sisters, who reach Germany and do not give up on their dreams of becoming Olympic swimmers and end up competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, representing refugees. The sisters give up their dream of swimming under the Syrian flag. They have become stateless. The film is claimed to be a true story. However, it is too sanitized to depict the plight of the Syrian refugees who number in millions and who mostly are in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The story nonetheless is about exodus and of no return.

The other film –“Farha” - is named “after a 14 year old girl who lives in a small village in Palestine, in 1948. Girls her age are traditionally married off early. But Farha wants to continue her education despite the traditions and after securing her father’s approval, Farha’s dream is on the verge of becoming a reality when violence escalates, and her village is attacked. Fearing for her daughter’s life, Farha's father locks her up in a concealed food storage, shuts the door lock, promising to return. But he never does. “Over the course of the next few days, Farha undergoes a life-changing experience while buried in the tight dark space, her only connection to the outside world is a small hole in the wall and a few cracks in the wooden door. Farha witnesses a lot of events, outside and inside the room, setting off her journey of transformation and forcing her to grow up and leave her childhood behind.”

Of course, the characters are symbolic representing the unfolding of a historical event that changed the course of the Palestinians history. Farha is the Palestinians whose natural dreams were brutally ended and instead became the witness of the atrocities committed against their own people by Jewish forces who, under threat of violence, forced them to leave behind, the life they had and move away. Farha’s father is symbolic of the Palestinians who could not to return to their lands after they were forced to leave. The story is claimed to be true.

To this day, every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world mark the event and they call it Al Nakba, or the catastrophe. It refers when the exodus of the Palestinians, numbering over 700,000 who, under the threat of violence, were forced to leave their ancestral village in 1948 and were not allowed to return to their ancestral lands. They became refugees on other lands.

The reason I cited these two films has to do with the inordinate situation the Armenians are facing. I do not know how Armenia’s peace initiative will evolve and will be settled; whether there will be a corridor through South of Armenia or not; whether that corridor will be manned by the Armenians, Russians or even Azerbaijanis or there will be joint monitoring. Interests and high-stake geopolitical stands are in conflict, over which Armenia may exercise some control but cannot exercise total control 

However, there is one reality that it is entirely up to the Armenians and is totally under their control and that is to stay put on their lands,  at any cost and no matter what happens. It is where I believe, especially the Diaspora should rally; to make it possible for the Armenians to continue staying put in Armenia, and in Artsakh despite the enormous pressure, especially the Artsakh Armenians, will most likely face. We all know, all too well. The Palestinians also know all too well. Should you leave your home, “you can never go home again”.