The Invisible Men

This police van just dropped me off.

They drove me all the way here from Tel Aviv,

and there are no buses, no way to get back to Tel Aviv.

There he is.

I remember the night when Louie called me

and asked me to take him back to Tel Aviv.

Israeli policemen had expelled him back to the West Bank

and he was in danger again.

Louie has been living like this for 10 years,

as a Palestinian illegally hiding in Israel.

Every time he's expelled, he sneaks right back in.

What does this say? - "To the police..." - "To the police..."

"and the armed forces..." - Yes? - That's your name.

"We are in the process of helping Mr. Louie..."

This is your ID number, father's name, place of birth...

It says that you're a homosexual and you can't return to Palestine,

that your life would be in danger. Here are some phone numbers

in case the policeman wants to call, make inquiries.

I had this boyfriend, and one Friday night I told him,

"Let's go to a friend, have a drink."

He said, "cool."

Camera phones had just come out.

We were both drinking and... my friend wasn't.

So my boyfriend and me were drinking, and we started...

to kiss...

and my friend took a picture of us.

We went into a room and... we had sex...

while he kept on taking pictures. We didn't notice.

Then one time my friend and I had a fight.

My dad called me,

and said, "We need you at home."

He told me, "I have pictures of you kissing a man,

"having sex and all that."

And I... I flipped out.

I said, "No, no, no."

He said, "I can tell. I'll punish you, you'll never go to back to Tel Aviv.

"There's nothing you can do. You're finished."

They tried to tie me up, and then my dad brought a knife.

When I saw the knife, I just lost it.

It was as if my soul had left my body.

And my soul was holding my body together.

He almost slaughtered me, like a lamb, like a goat.

He cut my face, this scar here.

So I ran away from home.

I always wanted to know what it's like to be gay

on the other side of the security fence,

in the Occupied Territories.

I never imagined that there were people like Louie

who had to escape all the way to Tel Aviv,

forced to live in another country

where they are constantly hunted.

Louie manages to survive by taking illegal odd jobs.

Louie will move the table and chairs to the corner so they won't get in the way.

Louie, you're getting a lot of compliments. -Thanks.

If I want to go to Jaffa on a Friday, I have to pay 60 shekels for a cab.

I tell him to go around Jaffa and then I go back home.

I can't go on foot. A lot of people know me here.

They'll take me to my family and finish me off.

Where does your family work?

In the kiosk. One is making drinks,

the one in the red shirt, and there's another inside.

You can't see him.

Drive, drive faster.

Do you remember the first time you met a man here in Tel Aviv?

Yes.

I loved him and... He disappeared. Went abroad.

What was his name?

His first name?

I really don't feel like saying his name.

His name was Guy.

This is me on my birthday.

This is me at the gym.

Look at those muscles...

Dubi, what are you eating?

Sour cream?

Miki, are you eating?

Good dogs. Everyone's eating.

The police are downstairs

Hi Yariv,

Listen... The Police are knocking at my door.

I'm talking to you from the closet.

They're checking other apartments now.

Come quickly, Yariv! Come!

After Louie called me,

I got there as soon as possible.

I asked the young police officer to be considerate of Louie's situation.

I convinced him and he left.

Who is it? - Louie. They came to my door...

I told them you weren't at home. - OK.

That I saw you leave. After that I didn't see a thing.

And that's it. What I said is what happened.

Thank you. - No problem.

I can't go back to work. Should I stay here?

After what happened,

Shaul advised Louie to stay away from his apartment for a few days.

I have no energy for this anymore.

I eat once a day. - I can see.

I never walk through the main streets. - How come?

Because the police don't patrol here.

You see? Stand here.

When you stand here, every car sees you.

Stop where you can't be seen.

Yes. This is the way to do it. It's less risky this way.

Hello. - Hello.

I'm looking for... Levi? - Yuval. - Yuval Levi.

How are you? - Hi, I'm Louie.

This is Anat. - Hey. - Hello.

Louie, we want to give you a realistic view of your options.

Unfortunately, Israel doesn't provide protection for people in your situation.

Our only other option is to request asylum

in another Western country.

We've had mixed success with this process.

Some of our past applications were accepted.

But it's a difficult process.

First of all, there's a lot of stress involved.

You won't know until the last moment whether you've been accepted or not.

Usually, you won't know which country you're going to.

You'll have no control over it.

Often these countries are completely different from here.

It might be cold, it might be dark outside half the year...

This process is really only suitable

for someone with no alternative. It's a last resort.

Not long ago, someone was interviewed

by the Refugee Agency, and in a matter of weeks

he received a positive answer from a Western country.

It was very sudden.

He's due to leave in just a couple of weeks.

OK, good.

Can you tell him?

Can you be more specific? - He's talking about Abdu...

It was the first time Louie had heard of someone in a similar situation.

Hello, good morning.

It's Louie.

Hello.

What's up? I'm Abdu. Everything okay?

I heard you're from Nablus. - Yeah.

From the city itself? - No, from the area.

Where? - Around there.

I don't like questions like that.

No, don't worry.

I'm your brother, Abdu from Ramallah.

I was in Amman when it all started, about 5-6 months ago.

Now I'm back in Tel Aviv,

but I'm leaving the country in a week.

Yuval the lawyer told me about you, and so did Yariv,

and I wanted to meet you face to face first.

He told me you may not want to meet me.

I told him you're right, there is reason for concern.

Yeah, it's a bit...

You're telling me. You have to be careful who you trust.

We have to keep ourselves safe, because our situation...

we have to be careful or we're dead.

We have reason to be frightened. - True.

We live our life in fear.

Sometimes we pray to die, but it passes.

So you keep going,

but eventually you just explode inside.

Yeah. "Enough." - Yeah.

Hi. How's it going, Louie?

Fine. - I'm Or.

Nice to meet you.

Have you never been to a party at the Comfort?

No. - Everyone there is going to be Arab

so if it's not too much trouble, take off that Star of David...

For your own sake! I have no problem with it.

They're all Arabs?

No, there will be Jews too, of course.

See? My love...

I wanted to see you and get to know you,

but I'm not in the mood.

Come for the atmosphere, to see how Arabs party...

It's a shame to miss this opportunity.

I'm leaving in a week!

I'll return when I want.

I even asked Yuval

and he said, "You can't come back."

I'm a little confused, I don't know what to do.

I can't live there for the rest of my life.

Either I go and return or I don't go at all.

You said you've been here for 8 years and you're still illegal.

You're wasting your time. - I've been here for 10 years.

Illegal for 10 years!

Every time they catch you, you get sent to court

and to jail. There's no justice.

To hell with them and their government.

I want to leave this place.

Take my advice.

Leave. You can't live here.

Hello. - Hello. - Where's the Comfort?

Straight ahead, to your right.

Way to go!

Nice.

Is there a problem?

Holy shit...

Asshole.

Abdu convinced Louie to go with him to the gay Arab party

that takes place once a month in Tel Aviv,

each time in a secret location.

I was shocked that it even exists.

It's so close yet it feels so far away.