100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

February 09, 1990 - Image 36

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1990-02-09

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

LIFE IN ISRAEL I

Wall Street can wait a year.
Law School can wait a year.
The Rat Race can wait a year.
BUT ISRAEL CAN'T WAIT!

Israeli TV Tackles
Issue Of Co-Existence

CARL ALPERT

Special to The Jewish News

A

CLASSIFIEDS
GET RESULTS!

rchie Bunker is alive
and well, and living
in Israel.
For those who are not
familiar with the American
television program, Archie, a
character in a highly popular
comedy series, gave open ex-
pression to his dislike of
blacks, Jews and anyone who
was not like him. He was the
leading figure in the program
and also the butt of the jokes,
as his prejudices were held up
to ridicule.
Israel television is now run-
ning a domestic series entitl-
ed "Neighbors," which seeks
to give a light and popular
touch to a serious element of
life in Israel.
But first, a word about the
nature of the problem:
A team of crack journalists
from the daily Ha'aretz decid-
ed to do an in-depth story of
neighborhoods in Jaffa, Acre
and Ramleh, where Jews and
Arabs live together, to show
that, when in close proximity,
the two peoples do get along
very well.
Their findings did not agree
with their initial hypothesis.
While there were indeed,
idyllic cases of close
neighborliness, there were ex-
ceptions to the rule. Jews and
Arabs, they found, had dif-
ferent conceptions of what the
ideal situation was. For Jews,
co-existence meant only peace
and quiet — with as little con-
tact as possible: "You go your
way, we'll go ours, and we'll
leave each other alone."
For the Arabs, on the other
hand, co-existence meant un-
qualified demand for com-
plete and full acceptance in-
to Israel life — social
economic, political. Even the
very word co-existence was re-
jected, according to the
journalists.
Against this background,
and after much hesitation,
Israel television decided to air
its program.
The Jew, Itzik Haruv, is a
narrow-minded Archie
Bunker who is shocked to
discover, upon moving into a
new condominium, that his
neighbor across the hall is an
Arab. He is all for co-existence
— in theory, of course — but
"why did this have to happen
to me?"
The neighbor, Bassam
Medawa, has an equally low

354.6060

Carl Alpert is a former
Technion vice-president, living
in Haifa.

OTZMA

(Now in its fifth year)

•It's a 10-month fellowship program in Israel for only $1,000.*
•It's travel, study, work and exploration.
•It's hard. It's fun. It's the best adventure you'll ever have.
-It's for outstanding young men and women, age 19-24.
•It's easy to find out more.

For information, call one of these Otzma graduates:

Alysa Goldberg
EMU, 485-2495

Lisa Kruman
U-M, 994-3979

Wendy Littky
MSU, (517) 332-2765

or call
Yefet Ozery, Israel Program Center
6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield, MI 48322 • (313) 661-5440

*In Michigan, a project of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit. Funded by United Jewish Charities
in partnership with the Jewish Welfare Federation and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

. • W
• II •IP• IP •V• 1I• 1111• IP • •
.

i Remember Your 4
. Sweetheart ... Again! i

it
J. STERLING GEMOLOGISTS 1

with a Special Valentine's
Day Gift From

.

4 •
4

Save On

• Watches
• Necklaces
• Rings
• Fashion Jewelry • Chains
• Bracelets
4
• Loose Diamonds • Colored Gem Stones .

Mon.-Fri. 10-5, Thurs. 10-6:30, Saturday 11-2

4 •

tering, Gemologists, inc. (



Custom Designed Jewelry



"Where integrity means as much to us as value means to you

110.

Within the Onyx Plaza Building
29777 Telegraph, Suite 1371

•db •

36

North of 12 Mile Rd.
3 5 4-GEMS


4


4

11•A•119A•A•11• II •

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1990

Oriental Rugs
Today's Pleasure
Tomorrow's Treasure

251 Merrill
Birmingham
(313) 644-7311

2915 Breton
Grand Rapids
(1400-622-RUGS)

$ WANTED $
Herman Miller
and
Knoll Furniture

1940s - 1970s

(w) 398.0646
(h) 661.4236

Ask for Les

$ TOP CASH PAID

Call The Jewish News

$

opinion of Jews, makes men-
tion of the intifada and his
resistance to any efforts to
"transfer" him out of the
country. Such open references
to painful political terms is
not common in entertain-
ment programs on TV here.
When Itzik sees Bassam car-
rying an automobile tire into
the house, he at once pictures
a flaming tire, a symbol of
Arab street demonstrations —
only to discover that his
neighbor runs a garage.
Of the two, Itzik is the least
likeable and he is more often
held up to ridicule. Thus,
despite his vaunted superiori-
ty, he displays his cultural ig-
norance, for example:
"Beethoven, Mozart, they're
all the same to me." The
disparity in treatment of the
two may make the program
more popular among Israeli
Arabs, especially since the
series is aired during that
period of TV time which is
normally slotted for Arabic
programs.
The two wives, on the other
hand, get along as model
neighbors, and laugh at their
husbands' antics. Itzik's
mother-in-law takes a liking
to the fat, good-natured Arab
and, using the Yiddish affec-
tionate diminutive, calls him
Bassamele.
The plot development is
very simple and is often a
series of camera flashes, first
in one apartment and then in
the other, as each family is
portrayed facing similar
domestic problems, with more
or less the same reactions.
The children on both sides,
speaking Hebrew and Arabic
respectively, bid their parents
farewell with what has
become almost a new word in
Hebrew: "Bye!" The Jewish
boy is made to be more of a
brat than the Arab youngster.
Comic situations abound,
as when the local religious
functionary comes around to
affix mezuzahs.
After the program had been
running for a few weeks, the
producers apparently chang-
ed their approach. Further in-
stallments began to play
down clashes between the
neighbors based on their dif-
ferences, and instead em-
phasized that both suffered
from the same human
weaknesses. Both men are
equally stupid, self-centered
and narrow-minded.
"Neighbors" has now
degenerated into a heavy-
handed, slapstick comedy
which evades, rather than
confronts, the issues.



K

,Y\

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan