Avoda Aravit' - breaking TV barriers

[pelsar]

just a bit of israeli culture.....for those who see israel as the evil apartheid arab hating regime........

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1201523779056&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The show marks a milestone, as the first sitcom featuring mainly Arab characters speaking in Arabic on Israeli prime time.

a more serious view of it.....
http://gnblog.com/
the second is a barrier-breaking television program called Avoda Aravit (Arab Labour) that appears on Israeli prime-time television. It is ground-breaking in that the majority of its cast are Arab-Israelis, it is directed and was created by an Arab-Israeli, its storylines revolve around issues relevant to Arab-Israelis living as a minority among a majority, and it is done in the Arabic language. Amazingly, it has risen in popularity to be among the top 15 shows on Israeli prime-time television –amazing that it has reached such popularity because 80% of its viewers are reading the program via the subtitles.

[Violet_Crumble]

1. That is pretty ground-breaking stuff...

I can't think of a similar type of thing when it comes to prime time tv and our indigenous population...

About sub-titles. One of my fave shows is an Austrian show called Inspector Rex, and knowing very little German, I rely on the sub-titles and get so wrapped up in the corny storylines and the hammy acting that I forget I'm actually reading the lines. But when I was in Germany I found the sub-titles in German really distracting when I was watching an episode of Charmed...

[ProgressiveMuslim]

2. That's nice.

It's always nice for people to see their stories represented.

I'm curious as to why Pelsar sees this as a humanitarian gesture instead of a business decision. If the ratings declined would it continue to air?

And Pelsar FWIW, I don't consider Israel's policy toward its Arab citizens apartheid. No one with 2 brain cells could argue that Arab Israelis are second class citizens -- even with "their own" Tv show. Israel has indeed built an apartheid system inthe WB. It would be interesting to speculate: are Arab Israelis allowed on settlers-only roads in the WB? Is it religion or license plate color that dicates that?

[pelsar]

3. its not humanitarian gesture......

of course if the ratings were down it wouldnt stay...but thats the point...the ratings for such a show are up......its funny and hits upon every super sensitive issue.....and throws it in our face from the arab israeli point of view

some of the different subjects that have appeared:

jewish boyfriend does reserve service...and he has an arab muslim israeli girlfriend
arabs israelis being checked by police, while the jews go by (how do they know they're arabs?)
holidays...

stereotyping on both sides....(it is after all a sitcom).....
___

to answer your question....as far as i know its the license plates and israeli IDs.....I would speculate and say israeli arabs probably get a second glance (car type can give them away-subculture)

[Tom Joad]

4. You may not know this, but US racism officially died the

day "I Spy" started airing on US tv in September 1965, with co-star Bill Cosby. :sarcasm:

Now never mind the home demolitions, never mind that some of their leaders are in exile, they got a TV show!!! what more could Israeli Palestinians want!?!?
Unless they are really uppity.. they should be satisfied and feel really comfortable in the Jewish State.

[pelsar]

5. i understand tom...

non violent means of bringing the different factions together isnt everybody's "cup of tea".....nor is tolerance, but we have room for the intolerant as well on this earth.


about those israeli Palestinians ...you know that ones that poll for staying in jewish israel, including residents of jerusalem....get this, now over 70% of the israeli arabs believe they should do national service! (no link just weekend reading...)........

ignorant idiots....they just dont understand, they need some leaders to explain to them how bad it is to live in israel, preferably someone from outside the country.

[Yaeli]

6. Not settler-only roads

They are not settler-only roads but Israeli-only roads and who drives on them is by license plates, of course. We did not have Israeli-only roads in the West Bank until just a few years ago. They were not added until the number of Israelis, targeted because of their license plates, who were killed and injured by terrorist attacks on them on the regular roads grew to be too high to bear. There were daily shootings at cars with Israeli license plates, as well as people throwing stones through the windshields and windows --quite deadly projectiles --and hundreds of Israelis were injured and killed. Something most people don't realize is that the majority of Israelis who came under attack on those regular roads in the West Bank were Arab-Israelis and not settlers, targeted as they drove to visit family, friends, do shopping and so forth in the West Bank. Approximately 65% of the citizens who were victims in attacks as they drove, prior to establishing separate roads, were Arab-Israelis. Many others were Israelis from the center of the country who also used to travel to the West Bank to visit friends and to shop. Not even so long as 15 years ago there was completely free travel between the West Bank and Israel with Israelis regularly going into the West Bank for shopping and Palestinians coming to Tel Aviv to shop and play on the beaches. There were no checkpoints or separate roads. But just as in airports around the world now we all have to take our shoes off and not carry any toothpaste on board and so forth, it doesn't take many people with murderous intent --one guy with a shoe bomb, 7 planning to explode airplanes with explosives hidden in shampoo bottles --to cause restrictions and security measures to get put into place that are certainly inconvenient and unfair to the average normal person who would never think of harming another and just wishes to live their own lives.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

7. Recent restrictions are not the core issue.

I was there 15 years ago. We could drive from Gaza to Bir Zeit no problem. And in spite of fewer checkpoints and easier movement, in spite of Gazans being able to work in Israel for slaves wages, sometimes being locked overnight in places of employment, in spite of being able to go to Al Aqsa... there was tyranny. The recent restrictions aren't the issue. The ongoing denial of basic human rights and the right to self-determination are the issue.

[Yaeli]

10. Re: Progressive Muslim

PM, 15 years ago there was not a single checkpoint. Not one. Were there Palestinians coming into Israel from Aza and the West Bank to work at slave wages? Yes. But that was illegal and was the doings of unscrupulous individuals, not the government or the average person. That is, we have laws that prohibit not paying the standard, legal minimum wage and that law includes Palestinians and any other foreign workers. Is it only Palestinians who fell victim to unscrupulous employers? Absolutely not. We have a lot of foreign workers who work in bad (illegal) conditions, some of whom have been in care-taking situations for instance where their employers confiscated their passports and made them work without pay --and they were unable to leave because they did not have access to their passports, nor could they change jobs because of not having their passports and so forth. When those cases come to light, they are prosecuted and, if you look back at cases that have gone to court here in this country you will find cases where employers were discovered to be treating their Palestinian employees badly and suffered the legal consequences of their unfair and unscrupulous practices. Jews too fall victim to illegal practices by employers. I have a friend who technically receives minimum wage for her work but, because she is required to work more than 16 hours a week over-time without pay (or lose her job) her salary is far below minimum wage. It is always the unskilled, such as day-labourers, waitresses, and so forth who fall victim the most to unscrupulous employers (and you find this in every country, it is not a unique thing here).

*I should also note that the minimum wage in Israel is far above that paid in any of the surrounding countries and even in situations where foreign workers, such as Palestinians, Thais and so forth, are being taken advantage of here by Israeli standards they are still earning far more than they would were they doing the same job in their home regions. There is still no excuse for not paying them the legal minimum wage but it puts it in perspective. This is why they come here to work just as illegal Mexicans who go to the U.S. to work for slave wages compared to what Americans are making go and work there --because those slave wages are far above what they would earn in Mexico.

[notfullofit]

11. Sad but true. nt

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Welcome to DU!

I am glad you were able to correct a major 'talking point' of the "Jew only" roads. Though there are more than a few of us who already knew they were Israeli-only roads, and not determined by religion, I hope your post will provide insight to those lost in the anti-Israeli propaganda snowstorm.

[Yaeli]

12. thanks, glad to be here :)

I think we don't get to solutions to problems when the problems are couched in rhetoric, incorrectly stated, exaggerated, or not placed in wider perspective of what happens elsewhere. This occurs on both sides. I find that it is really not useful because then people are not dealing with reality and thus not able to effectively address the issues that are important.

[Violet_Crumble]

13. Are you from GNB?

If you are, welcome. It's a really great blog. I couldn't agree more with what you said in yr post and the post you replied to was an example of it. Someone in this thread had asked if Arab Israelis were allowed on settlers-only roads in the West Bank and that question was incorrectly taken by someone else as being about Jewish only roads...

anyway, welcome to DU :)

[LeftishBrit]

14. Fully agree with you!

And welcome to DU. I am a great fan of gnblog.

[LeftishBrit]

8. It's not a humanitarian gesture...

but the fact that it's successful as business means that many Israelis, Jews as well as Arabs, *are* interested in such a program. Which is a positive sign IMO.