In 1948, a woman named Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) transforms her father's home into an orphanage and school for Palestinian children, naming it the Dar al-Tifel Institute. Many years later, a teenager named Miral (Freida Pinto), who has grown up immersed in the institute's peaceful ways, goes to a refugee camp as a teacher. When she falls in love with a zealous political activist, Miral must choose between violence and the peaceful path that her mentor, Mama Hind, taught her.