Wadi is about the lives of Arabs and Jews at the periphery of modern urban Israel. It focuses on three families: an Arab family, a Jewish family and an Arab-Jewish couple, on the way they live together, the way they arrived at Wadi (valley) Rushmia, now their common home. Their circumstances and personal stories reflect the larger social and political situation of the Middle East. What connects these three families' lifes is that which connects Jewish-Arab relations, their existance together in the same place.
Wadi Rushmia is located in the east of Haifa, a valley which goes down from the Carmel Hills to the Haifa Bay. During the time of the British Mandate it was used as a quarry, later on it was abandoned. From 1948 on, different groups began to settle in the Wadi: new Jewish immigrants from North Africa and Eastern Europe, who came from the temporary immigration camps, and Arabs who were expelled from their homes. The Arabs were defined by the law as "Absent Present", meaning that they lost their right to use their property or live in the houses they used to own. Some of them squatted in Wadi Rushmia and built themselves shelter.
The people of the Wadi built their homes from city waste, using elements from city garbage for the construction of their homes. Automobile tires and barrels are used to cover roofs, to build a small bridge and to prevent the steep cliffs from eroding. Shutters, pieces of wood, and parts of boxes are used for construction. In such a place and under such conditions people must co-operate in order to survive. Good relations developed among the people, Arabs and Jews. The common day to day problems created solidarity rather than hostility.