Peace or aliens: Israel in 2018 and 2111
Filed under: coexistence, Movies, Politics, War
How will Israel look in 2018 or 2111? Will there be peace…or aliens? Two ambitious projects culminated last week with a film and a Facebook campaign, both intended to drive home the future consequences of inattention to the problems of today.
Of the two, One Voice was the more serious. The non-profit organization, unabashedly in favor of a two-state solution to peace in the region, sent out messages via Facebook to politicians and media celebrities – from Defense Minister Ehud Barak to musician Yoni Bloch – informing them they would soon be receiving a package.
The package consisted of a fake newspaper called “Israel Tomorrow” (designed to look like the popular “Israel Today” publication), dated January 1, 2018 and proclaiming that the end of the conflict had finally been achieved.
Tal Harris, the director general of One Voice Israel, told Haaretz that the purpose of the campaign was two-fold: “To acknowledge and thank those who are really working toward a two-state solution (and) to remind…conservatives (that) they could one day get a prize for helping Israel achieve peace, if they only stood for what they know Israel needs.”
One Voice is now launching a film competition calling on movie makers to share their vision of the region on Israel’s 70th birthday in 2018. But cinematic depictions of the nation’s future have already been tackled, in particular, by the just concluded “Jerusalem 2111” project where the winning flick received a $10,000 prize.
The contest, which sported some big name judges including Avatar producer Jon Landau and German director Wim Wenders, awarded top honors to a two-minute film called “Secular Quarter” by U.S.-based cinema student David Gidali.
In his vision, Jerusalem is divided by huge cages sealing off neighborhoods with different political and religious worldviews. When UFOs arrive to remove the cages (which presumably these unexplained extraterrestrials put in place after some calamitous event), religious and secular meet for the first time in years. Cut to black.
It’s a cheeky approach, but ultimately optimistic. Compare that with two other entries, one of which shows a nuclear explosion set off in the city and rippling out to rupture the entire world, and another depicting a battle which unites Jewish and Arab forces against a horde of flesh eating zombies.
Good thing the delivery packages didn’t get mixed up. I’m not sure I want to know how Ehud Barak would react to the peace through zombie message.
Sign humor
Filed under: Art, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Pop Culture
Very briefly, another humorous YouTube video, poking fun at the peace process. The man holding the sign is chanting: “I won’t move from here until there is peace.” And so, the guy on the bike can safely chain his bike to the sign holder’s leg because, well, the guy with the sign won’t be moving anytime soon if he’s not moving from that spot until there is peace in the Middle East.
Do Israelis care about peace?
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics
The photo accompanying the TIME cover story (Uriel Sinai/Getty)
Those are some of the questions raised by the current TIME magazine cover story on our little strip of land – entitled “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace.”
The author of the story – the magazine’s new bureau chief, Karl Vick, bases his thesis on talking to a bunch of us and on a March poll that showed that only 8% of the population considered the conflict with the Palestinians to be “the most urgent problem” facing the country, placing below education, crime, national security and poverty.
I’m pretty sure Vick is relatively new to the country, since TIME’s most recent bureau chief Tim McGirk, left this year, and wasn’t replaced for a while. That shouldn’t have any bearing on the validity of the story though, if Vick was thorough in his research.
The article actually is much more reasonable than the headline, which probably resorted to sensationalism to boost flagging newstand sales. Vick was primarily stating that Israelis are obsessed about reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, an assessment that as much as any generalization can be, largely accurate. Then again, neither are the Palestinians. Wasn’t it PA President Mahmoud Abbas who was quoted last year as saying that the Palestinians have it pretty good right now and can continue in this manner indefinitely until they achieve statehood?
I think that what Vick was trying to say, and what his editors distorted with the title and the photo of young Israelis smoking something out of a nargilla on the beach, is that Israelis are realistic about the chances of achieving peace. And if the Palestinians aren’t serious about being partners, then yes, we can focus on the other aspects of our society that need fixing, and on our own well being and the pursuit of happiness, which is part of of our const… oops, forgot which country I was talking about.
However, the backlash against the story in chats and blogs has been over the top – even the Anti Defamation League came out with a press release calling on TIME to apologize for the article which it said was “predicated on the “insidious subtext” of Jews being obsessed with money.
“The outcry from the Jewish community and others over Time’s Israel cover story has been overwhelming,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “We have received calls and e-mails from around the country expressing outrage at the implication that Israelis care more about money than a future of peace and security. After reading the story, we understand why so many people were offended.”
“The insidious subtext of Israeli Jews being obsessed with
money echoes the age-old anti-Semitic falsehood that Jews care about
money above any other interest, in this case achieving piece with the
Palestinians,” wrote Mr. Foxman. “At the same time, Time ignores the
very real sacrifices made by Israel and its people in the pursuit of
peace and the efforts by successive Israeli governments of
reconciliation.”
Vick and his editors at TIME are wrong – Israelis care very deeply about peace. But while we’re waiting for the peace train to leave the station from Ramallah, from Damascus and from Arab capitals around the Middle East, there’s plenty of time to smoke some nargillas and make some money. And if that’s perceived as callous by the liberal establishment, then so be it.
Galilee Circus wins our Rosh HaShana competition
The Galilee Circus performing in the US.
We asked readers to choose their top charity, and to explain why they felt this charity should receive a $25 gift voucher from JGooders.
Out of a choice of eight, David picked the Galilee Circus, a troupe set up in the Galilee to bring Jewish and Arab children together to learn circus skills and put on performances.
In his comment, David said:
“The Galilee Circus – the effort brings many smiles to folks who could use it, while working on reducing stereotypes – key for a peaceful co-existence.”
We’ve featured Galilee Circus a couple of times on ISRAEL21c. You can see our features here:
Youth circus troupes build a pyramid of hope in Israel
Jewish and Arab children learn cooperation in the Galilee circus
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the competition. The final word goes to Tova, one of our readers who said:
“These are all amazing causes – and even if you don’t win, you can think about making a small gift in honor of the new year…..I personally did so.”
The Simpsons to bring peace to Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, History and Culture, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel
Like most existential quarrels, the Arab-Israeli conflict is a nuanced and tricky beast. Those on the outside often take a paternalistic, “Oh, those silly Middle Easterners, why can’t they just realize that coexistence is the way to go, put their weapons down and start getting along?” attitude.
In the minds of most Israelis, I’d wager, this perspective is naïve and can lead to disaster. Many have argued that Bill Clinton’s personal need to end his presidency on a positive note led to over-simplified tactics at Camp David, which in the end backfired and brought about the Second Intifada.
I’m not sure that that thesis is itself sufficiently nuanced, but diplomacy analysis aside, a similarly paternalistic outsider’s view that has informed many tongue-in-cheek pop culture Mideast peace comments. And these comments also come off to us locals as either refreshingly naïve (as in the case of the dreamy conclusion of Tom Robbins’s Skinny Legs and All) or as not necessarily adding to the discussion but amusing nonetheless (especially when they are aimed at exposing the hypocrisies and general lack of vision among our leaders, like when Bruno stopped by last summer).
And our beloved Simpsons, probably one of the greatest TV shows of all time, if not the greatest, has a dodgy track record when it comes to understanding cultural nuances from an insider’s perspective. It’s all part of being an irreverent, edgy comedy.
According to Ha’aretz, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are headed our way in the coming months:
Multiple media sources have quoted the show’s executive producer, Al Jean, as saying that America’s number one animated family will head to the Holy Land next year.
“I think we’re going to do one next year where they go to the Holy Land as we haven’t been there yet. The premise will be that the Christians, the Jews and Muslims are united in that they all get mad at Homer. It’s the only thing they can agree on,” Jean said.
Sometimes the international ethnic and otherwise-sensitive communities don’t manage to take The Simpsons with the appropriate grains of salt. Racial stereotypes as regular characters? But of course. Accusations of homophobia? You got it. And then there are the recurring episodes where the family travels internationally, ripping apart the cultural and ethnic mores of China, Italy, African banana republics, Ireland and Japan. They’re exceedingly funny, but sometimes people get offended. When the Simpsons traveled in South America in a 2002 episode, the Tourism Board of Rio de Janeiro reportedly seriously mulled a lawsuit against the Fox Network for libel. Or slander. Or something.
The episode that kicked off this recurring series is 1996′s “Bart vs. Australia,” which supposedly had Aussies in such a tangle that letter writing campaigns and public censuring ensued. But a closer reading of that episode reveals that it’s all tongue-in-cheek – its very plotline focuses on the Americans’ laughable lack of understanding of anything non-American, which is carried out throughout as the starting point of many quality jokes. The family barely escapes (pictured) with their lives.
So just because the Simpsons talk or act in a certain way, doesn’t mean that the show’s writers or producers want its audience to follow suit. But when it comes to Mideast peace, why not? Sometimes a little naïveté is what we need to break out of our most self-perpetuating, defeatist grooves.
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