1
00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:19,400
Behind us my country.

2
00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,430
Everything that I am, was born there.

3
00:00:22,431 --> 00:00:25,241
Everything that was homeland to me.

4
00:00:25,241 --> 00:00:28,650
The playground where we played as kids.

5
00:00:28,650 --> 00:00:30,869
The smile of my first love.

6
00:00:30,875 --> 00:00:33,140
The apple tree near us in the park,

7
00:00:33,140 --> 00:00:35,990
and the little lake hidden
behind the mountain.

8
00:00:35,990 --> 00:00:38,349
The hot tea on the tin tray.

9
00:00:38,349 --> 00:00:42,328
Wrinkled storytellers,
laugh lines adorning their faces.

10
00:00:42,328 --> 00:00:45,038
Fooling around on the way
back home from school.

11
00:00:45,048 --> 00:00:49,278
And nights waiting until our parents
fell asleep, then sneaking out again.

12
00:00:49,278 --> 00:00:52,083
The creaks and squeaks
of my brother's bike,

13
00:00:52,083 --> 00:00:55,951
Neruda's poems and the smell of wet grass.

14
00:00:55,951 --> 00:00:59,390
Radios, the tortured sound
still retaining melodic tones.

15
00:00:59,390 --> 00:01:02,340
My sister's singing in
the morning. My mother.

16
00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:05,090
My mother with all her money worries.

17
00:01:05,090 --> 00:01:07,950
And I don't know why: ladybirds.

18
00:01:07,950 --> 00:01:09,680
All of this was once home to me.

19
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,310
All of this was once home to me.

20
00:01:12,310 --> 00:01:14,520
But I could stay no more.

21
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:15,870
Behind us: the war,

22
00:01:15,870 --> 00:01:18,010
the fresh grave of my parents,

23
00:01:18,010 --> 00:01:20,469
the last grains of soil
still slithering down,

24
00:01:20,476 --> 00:01:22,829
yet to find their final resting place.

25
00:01:22,830 --> 00:01:26,750
So fresh is our grief.
Nothing is overcome.

26
00:01:26,750 --> 00:01:28,770
I could stay no longer.

27
00:01:28,770 --> 00:01:32,020
We were spoken of as doomed.

28
00:01:32,020 --> 00:01:36,840
Our people forced into trains,
disappearing in the locos' smoke trails.

29
00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,210
Our doors smashed,
shop windows shattered.

30
00:01:40,210 --> 00:01:43,660
Our parents intimidated,
brothers and sisters persecuted,

31
00:01:43,668 --> 00:01:46,728
and lurid news from friends,

32
00:01:46,728 --> 00:01:50,551
those who were still there that is -
most had disappeared.

33
00:01:50,551 --> 00:01:54,061
Staying was no longer an option,
not for a single day.

34
00:01:54,061 --> 00:01:55,911
The next step in my city

35
00:01:55,911 --> 00:01:57,760
was my last step in my country,

36
00:01:57,761 --> 00:02:01,196
and the most horrid step then
on to this rusty boat.

37
00:02:01,199 --> 00:02:04,040
That at first would heave and sway,
at first would carry us.

38
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,045
And then would sink,
dispersing us in the sea.

39
00:02:07,045 --> 00:02:08,985
The sea so desolate,

40
00:02:08,985 --> 00:02:11,485
the moon hiding behind the clouds.

41
00:02:11,485 --> 00:02:12,802
The night so dark,

42
00:02:12,802 --> 00:02:17,912
you see nothing, nothing for hours.

43
00:02:17,912 --> 00:02:20,402
And when I close my eyes in the dark,

44
00:02:20,402 --> 00:02:22,762
I hear my mother's voice.

45
00:02:22,762 --> 00:02:24,812
All around us nothing but sea,

46
00:02:24,839 --> 00:02:28,224
as if our boat were
the heart of all things.

47
00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:31,140
I open my eyes and whisper to the heavens.

48
00:02:31,140 --> 00:02:33,550
For prayers are the sails driving us.

49
00:02:33,550 --> 00:02:36,120
Life jackets will take care of the rest,

50
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,425
only our hopes can they not bear.

51
00:02:38,425 --> 00:02:40,335
A man swims up to me:

52
00:02:40,335 --> 00:02:42,724
"Here, take him. I'm through.

53
00:02:42,724 --> 00:02:46,734
He's a year old, and his name's Bassem."

54
00:02:46,734 --> 00:02:50,929
So I became a father for the first time.

55
00:02:50,929 --> 00:02:54,879
In the sea. The handover.

56
00:02:55,289 --> 00:02:59,689
The man with the life jacket
gave me his descendant as heir.

57
00:02:59,689 --> 00:03:04,891
Arrived in exile, I quickly learned
that the most important words

58
00:03:04,891 --> 00:03:10,561
are "residence permit",
"sorry" and "thanks".

59
00:03:10,577 --> 00:03:15,517
Arrived in exile, I saw a family
united after a long time.

60
00:03:15,517 --> 00:03:19,748
How the father wailed in happiness,
silently and from deep within,

61
00:03:19,748 --> 00:03:23,188
with all the shame
of someone who seldom weeps.

62
00:03:23,188 --> 00:03:27,805
I followed the family step by step,
but only with my eyes.

63
00:03:27,805 --> 00:03:29,345
Arrived in exile,

64
00:03:29,345 --> 00:03:33,011
but home soil is carried with us
on the soles of our feet.

65
00:03:33,011 --> 00:03:36,511
For I am from there and I have memories.

66
00:03:36,511 --> 00:03:39,744
I was born, as people are born:

67
00:03:39,744 --> 00:03:41,814
I have a mother who loves me.

68
00:03:41,814 --> 00:03:43,196
It breaks my heart:

69
00:03:43,206 --> 00:03:44,896
in the letters she wrote,

70
00:03:44,906 --> 00:03:47,793
I can see how, in writing,
her hand trembles.

71
00:03:47,804 --> 00:03:51,206
When I now say homesick,
I'm speaking of a dream,

72
00:03:51,210 --> 00:03:54,292
for my old home is hardly anymore.

73
00:03:54,304 --> 00:03:57,494
And if we stay here,
we'll become like the beach,

74
00:03:57,494 --> 00:04:00,724
not quite sea and not quite land.

75
00:04:00,724 --> 00:04:03,924
And if we stay here,
we'll become like the beach,

76
00:04:03,935 --> 00:04:06,185
not quite sea and not quite land.

77
00:04:06,185 --> 00:04:09,405
Arrived in exile,
an army welcomes me,

78
00:04:09,405 --> 00:04:11,785
the other army raises a foreign flag.

79
00:04:11,785 --> 00:04:15,325
Sometimes you sense love,
sometimes you sense hate.

80
00:04:15,335 --> 00:04:17,017
They look at you in your headscarf,

81
00:04:17,023 --> 00:04:18,163
at me and my passport.

82
00:04:18,163 --> 00:04:21,084
Habibi [darling], don't get angry
with them, forgive them,

83
00:04:21,084 --> 00:04:24,039
they forgot love,
they forgot the Bible,

84
00:04:24,039 --> 00:04:25,435
wish them peace.

85
00:04:25,435 --> 00:04:29,435
Rather, show them we're the type
ready to stand up again.

86
00:04:29,435 --> 00:04:32,135
Pull our legs from under us,
and we go on our hands!

87
00:04:32,135 --> 00:04:35,505
Pull our legs from under us,
and we go on our hands!

88
00:04:35,505 --> 00:04:39,695
Let's make the most of our lives,
to the ends of our lives.

89
00:04:39,695 --> 00:04:40,985
And, who knows,

90
00:04:40,985 --> 00:04:45,505
maybe I will return home one day,
and not everything will have changed.

91
00:04:45,505 --> 00:04:47,925
Maybe I will see our old apple tree,

92
00:04:47,925 --> 00:04:50,985
or the playground
behind the rust-brown fence,

93
00:04:50,985 --> 00:04:54,425
and I will hug my brothers and sisters,
and I will kiss my mother,

94
00:04:54,425 --> 00:04:58,175
and joy will bite
with its little tooth in my heart.

95
00:04:58,175 --> 00:05:00,605
My name is Ahmed Yusuf,
father of Bassem,

96
00:05:00,605 --> 00:05:01,944
and I am a refugee.

97
00:05:01,959 --> 00:05:03,685
I fled Syria.

98
00:05:03,685 --> 00:05:07,285
My name is Daniel Levy,
and I am a refugee.

99
00:05:07,285 --> 00:05:08,985
I fled Germany.

100
00:05:08,985 --> 00:05:11,695
The year is 2015.

101
00:05:12,022 --> 00:05:14,502
The year is 1938.

102
00:05:14,889 --> 00:05:17,029
(Music)

103
00:05:18,169 --> 00:05:20,161
(Applause)

104
00:05:39,249 --> 00:05:40,929
Thank you very much.

105
00:05:40,929 --> 00:05:42,238
Thank you very much.

106
00:05:42,238 --> 00:05:45,738
We are Babak and Usama.
We are from RebellComedy in Germany.

107
00:05:45,738 --> 00:05:47,618
And we wrote this poem for everyone

108
00:05:47,618 --> 00:05:52,367
who had to leave behind his home,
his country, his family, his beloved ones.

109
00:05:52,506 --> 00:05:53,809
And we hope

110
00:05:53,977 --> 00:05:58,802
that this poem can contribute
to more tolerance towards refugees,

111
00:05:58,802 --> 00:06:01,242
because maybe one day we all need help.

112
00:06:01,242 --> 00:06:03,014
And let's be more tolerant.

113
00:06:03,016 --> 00:06:05,339
AY: Thank you.
DL: Thank you very much. Have fun.

114
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,450
(Applause)