Palestinians & Israelis Getting Real

 

Big Brother

Interesting news surfaced a couple of days ago on the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, online. Arab-French director, Mohammad Waled, and French-Israeli friend Sophie Norman, have come up with a reality show idea, where 12 young Israelis and Palestinians live together in a French villa, getting their lives and debates on air.

You can read the article here.

The reality show, resembling “Big Brother,” will film 10 episodes, 26-minutes each. The cameras will follow their daily activities, paying close attention to their debates. The director hopes that by the end of it all, this group of 18-year-olds will reach conclusions that their fathers and grandfathers could not reach.

Hopeful, right?

It is quite an intriguing idea. I suspect there will be many debates, heated, perhaps censored ones, as soon as the Israelis and Palestinians get used to each other. The director realizes that it is “symbolic,” but we have yet to see how it turns out. The article does not mention which channels it would be aired on, or if Palestinians will have easy access to watching the show. After all, we want both sides to see this.

The commentators on Yedioth online do not seem that hopeful. Many dismiss it as a marketing and publicity show. Others seem to believe that there could be no conversation with the Arabs. The Lebanese Al-Akbar newspaper has published a piece about this earlier in February. You can read the Arabic version here. I have found an English version here.

Not many people seem to be excited about this. Either way, it is something to watch and learn from. It is something new that deserves a good benefit of the doubt.

“I Do Not Speak For Israel” by Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

 

Clarissa Sebag-Montfiore

A freelance writer and a fellow blogger, Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore, wrote an interesting and strong Op-Ed piece for the British Guardian newspaper, titled “I do not speak for Israel.”

In this article, Clarissa explains her frustration at having to explain and justify Israel’s actions because she is a British Jew. She writes:

“British Jews are seen as representative of, and responsible for, Israel’s actions. But many of the young today like myself – second, third or fourth generation – see themselves as British and Jewish. And British and Jewish only. This does not mean we are affiliated to Israel by default.”

Although many British Jews associate themselves with Israel wholeheartedly, Clarissa’s point is that it is a choice, not a default position.

This article strikes quite an important chord. I recall several instances where Jews were asked to explain Israel’s actions because they’re Jewish. I especially remember a political lecture in my home country in the Middle East, this past January, where a columnist expressed loudly through the microphone her frustration and anger at the silence of the country’s small Jewish population over the war in Gaza. “They have not said one word,” she said, “not one word.”

They shouldn’t have to; just as Muslims shouldn’t have to say they condemn terrorism every time they speak. 

Opinions, as Clarissa points out, are a personal choice. They may follow a certain line of thinking according to religion or gender or community, but they have a life of their own most of the time.

Strings of Freedom Disbanded

 

Strings of Freedom - AP

I suppose that the international hype over a Palestinian youth orchestra performing for Holocaust survivors last Wednesday was not matched by Palestinian enthusiasm.

On March 25th, a group of 13 young musicians from the Jenin Refugee Camps in the West Bank performed for Holocaust survivors in the Israeli city of Holon. It was part of the annual “Good Deeds Day” celebration. See my post “Yes, We Can Do It Through Art.”

A friend alerted me to a follow-up article in the New York Times, about anger among Palestinians in Jenin over this “exploitation” of children. The anger was strong enough to disband the group, and ban the conductor, Arab-Israeli Wafa Younis, from the camp and the apartment where she taught.

News sources report that Holocaust denial is common among Palestinians. The anger here, stems from the idea that performing for Holocaust survivors represents an acknowledgment that undermines Palestinians’ own plight caused by Israel.

This is idiotic chaos.

People seem to be competing over who suffered more; who has more right to be acknowledged. It was a musical performance. The point was to bring people together through music, not politics. Those Holocaust survivors must have learned something about the Jenin Refugee Camps and the harsh life in it, and those young Palestinians must have learned something about the suffering of Jews and those who survived it.

The real victims here are the young students who gave much of their time and passion to Strings of Freedom. The Palestinians have effectively punished their own.

We need more brave acts like that of Wafa Younis and the Holocaust Survivor Center organizers. Acknowledging and sympathizing with the Jews who have suffered DOES NOT negate or undermine the suffering of Palestinians. It is NOT an either-or situation.