Israeli Hippy Hop: New Dag Nachash

Eretz Nehederet in Haiti

For a good commentary see here.

Featured Friend: Michal Cohen’s “Nosaat”.

Conflict Resolution, One Book At A Time.

Can reading literature help counteract the problem of dehumanization? My latest from Common Ground. Also published in Middle East Online, Global Arab Network, The Daily News, Bikya Masr and Palestine Note.

A basic fact of conflict is that people’s perceptions of each other matter. Viewing someone as subhuman or demonic, for example, reduces people’s inhibitions towards using violence against them. Likewise, negative images of the other escalate conflict through engendering fear, misunderstandings, blame and zero-sum thinking.

Research conducted by psychologist Albert Bandura has demonstrated that individuals inflict much harsher punishments on people whom they view negatively, as opposed to people whom they perceive in neutral or sympathetic terms. Importantly, his experiment also showed that subjects invested with positive qualities were least likely to be harmed.

Because how we imagine others is consequential, it is essential for conflict resolution practitioners to find creative ways to mitigate the destructive influence of negative stereotypes. One approach to tackling this problem was developed by American psychologist Gordon Allport who argued that qualitative contact between conflicting groups is a meaningful way to reduce hostility and prejudice as well as cultivate more positive attitudes between group members.

By qualitative contact, Allport meant direct interpersonal relations between participants of equal status who pursue common goals with the help of institutional support. Some great examples of contact theory put into practice are organisations like Seeds of Peace and bilingual Jewish-Arab schools in Israel such as Hand in Hand.

While personal contact is key to transforming threatening images of the enemy, unfortunately, it is not always a possibility. This is because people, particularly during times of conflict, may not be able to meet face-to-face. Obstacles to contact can include restrictions on travelling, legal concerns or physical danger. Moreover, even if people are able to meet, the contact itself may feel too threatening or emotionally taxing.

In such circumstances, the problem of perception needs to be addressed through other means. One such approach is engagement with literature—a type of vicarious contact theory.

Hamas advocating dialogue through children’s cartoon? Not exactly.

From France 24’s The Observers:

Last month, on the controversial Palestinian children’s program, “The Pioneers of Tomorrow”, a cartoon was aired (on the Hamas owned Al-Aqsa TV) ostensibly aimed at teaching kids Islamic values. The cartoon features a conversation between a Palestinian boy and a young Israeli Jewish settler. Through their dialogue and interaction, the Jewish settler learns to question everything negative he had been taught about Palestinians.

The problem is that while the cartoon is designed to empower Palestinian children, it does so through the use of anti-Semitic stereotypes. This is not all together uncharacteristic for the Hamas run TV program: Past episodes of the show, for example, have shown a cute and cuddly rabbit who desires to kill and eat Jews. Yet, unlike previous shows, the message of this cartoon is less than clear: Is Hamas (in its unique way) calling for dialogue with the enemy, or is the organization using dialogue to perpetuate fear and mistrust? Have a look and decided for yourself:

[Below are my comments, along with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists Aziz Abu Sarah and Kobi Skolnick.]

Roi Ben-Yehuda: From an Israeli, Jewish and humanistic perspective, this is a disturbing cartoon. The faces of the Jews (who are all settlers) are evil looking: they have angular shapes, scowling eyebrows, and thin mouths. This is in contrast to the rounded facial features of the Palestinian boy, which make him look friendly and unthreatening. Moreover, the film uses some subliminal techniques to carry the anti-Semitic messages home. The opening close-up of the Jewish child, for example, appears (for a second) to have blood spilling from his mouth. While the older brother, with his red eyes and goatee, literally looks like Satan. The physical posture, vocal intonations and actions of the Jewish teacher and father clearly portray them as sinister and diabolical characters. All together, the cartoon depicts the Jews as fearful yet demonic figures who, on the one hand, believe it is necessary to fight against the evil Palestinians, and on the other hand, actually enjoy killing their neighbors. Ironically, this is exactly the type of negative misrepresentation the cartoon criticizes the Jews for originally engaging in vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

However, behind the anti-Semitic caricature of the Jews and the self-righteous image of the Palestinians, I do see a silver lining. Whether intentional or not, the cartoon is teaching Palestinian children that Jewish hatred is a consequence of learned fear, which could be overcome through dialogue (albeit one-sided) and positive experience. This is an important and valuable lesson – all the more so coming from an organization that has vigorously and violently disapproved of dialogue as a type of “normalization.” One can only hope that for the sake of consistency and peace, Palestinian children will grew up and turn a critical eye on the institutions that have spoon-fed them hateful and distorted images of Jews and Israelis.

Aziz Abu Sarah: The cartoon featured in the program starts with a positive message of encounter between an Israeli and a Palestinian child. However, while confronting Israeli stereotypes of Palestinians, the story quickly dissolves into Palestinian stereotypes of Israelis and self-righteous proclamations.

Such videos are aimed at socializing Palestinian children, imprinting a sense of injustice and providing warnings about “the enemy.” This is important because Palestinian children face a reality characterized by violence, death, separation, settlements, and soldiers. Hamas’ programs reflect this existence. Unfortunately, they also perpetuate and feed preexisting notions among Palestinian youth that an Israeli is either a soldiers or a settler. They also reinforce the Palestinian belief that Israeli Jews don’t desire peace but to destroy and kill Palestinians.

Palestinian children do not need self-aggrandizing messages about Palestinian existence in the face of suffering, and they do not need to internalize stereotypes about the depravity of Israeli Jews. Instead, they need to learn about the faults of both sides and the suffering of both sides. Just as the Palestinian boy in the cartoon tried to communicate his suffering to the Jewish boy, Palestinian children need to learn about Israeli suffering. Israeli children should also learn about Palestinian suffering, but Palestinians must realize that the self-righteous tones of the boy in the video will only hinder communication.

Kobi Skolnick: Watching this video I became sad because the way the adults taught hatred and violence to children in such a manipulative manner. Then, I felt encouraged by the fact that a dialogue was taking place. In addition, there was a hard look at the radical education that some children in both sides of the conflict still receive. Yet, this is my adult’s mind processing it, not that of a Palestinian child.

As I was thinking about cartoon, I flashbacked to my teenage years. A chill went through my bones but I let the images in. I was walking in the streets of Jerusalem with a black thick marker and wrote on the walls “Death to the Arabs” and “Long live Kahana” [an extremist Jewish leader who called for the expulsion of Arabs from historical Israel]. I was a young teenager looking for a strong identity and a sense of meaningfulness. I had no moral problem with Palestinians getting hurt and in fact had participated in such attacks. I had a strong enemy image of cruel Arabs killing children.

Yet, with time and experience, I had learned to break this image.

In both sides, the extreme communities are creating violent realities that sustain the enemy image of each other. As a result, the young generation is developing destructive moralistic judgments that continue the doctrine of just war. Clearly, Hamas’ manipulation of facts and labeling the Jewish people as bloodthirsty would result in more foot soldiers fighting “the enemy”, but at the same time would provide “the enemy” with more enemies — just a continuation of the vicious cycle of violence and self-fulfilling prophesies.

It is tragic to manipulate young children’s sense of compassion and honesty with self-destructive tendencies. Classifying people promotes violence not compassion. We need to teach children of both sides about the resolution of human conflict through means other than violence.

Has Rosa Parks Reincarnated Into a Jewish Settler?

In a recent op-ed in Haaretz, Karni Eldad, settler daughter of MK Aryeh Eldad, argues that those who are resisting the settlement freeze in the West Bank are akin to African Americans struggling against racial segregation during the Jim Crow era. She writes:

Once upon a time there was a black woman; her name was Rosa Parks. There were racially discriminating laws in the United States, but she continued to sit on the bus even when she was told to vacate her seat for a white person. She was arrested, which set off a process whose end saw the abolishment of racial segregation on American buses. How is it possible that one little black woman, a dressmaker by profession, could change history simply because she remained sitting? Her protest was stronger than any demonstration, op-ed piece or Knesset vote. She opted for the natural choice; that is why she was triumphant.

People get married and have children. The children need space. The children grow up and get married. The children need a house. That is known as life. No one has ever managed to stop it. But every time another evil person arises who plans to destroy us, he does not succeed. And he does not succeed in destroying life itself.

(Notice the reference to the passage in the Haggadah, “In every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us.” While in the passover story it is God who is the redeemer, Eldad here is calling for individuals to help miracles happen.)

My Exclusive Interview With Labor MK Yuli Tamir: A Portrait of Study and Deeds.

*Haaretz published a shortened version of my interview with Labor MK Yuli Tamir. Below is the full interview.

Yuli Tamir: A Portrait of Study and Deeds.

One of my favorite debates in the Talmud revolves around the question: “Which is greater—study or deeds?”

Rabbi Tarfon answered, ‘Deeds!’ Rabbi Akiva answered, ‘Study!’ The sages responded, ‘Study is greater since studying leads to deeds.’

The principle that intellect should not be divorced from practice would not be lost on Labor MK Yuli Tamir – Israel’s former Minister of Education (2006-2009) who began her professional career as a professor of political philosophy (protégée of Isaiah Berlin) and peace activist (one of the founders of Peace Now).

Dr. Tamir’s entry into politics took place in 1995, shortly after Yitzchak Rabin’s assassination. Feeling the urgency of the historic moment, Dr. Tamir joined the Labor party with the hopes of effecting change from within the political establishment.

In 1999, Dr. Tamir was appointed by Ehud Barak as Minister of Immigrant Absorption, and in 2003 and 2006 was elected to the Knesset serving as Minister of Education as well as acting Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. Today, as a consequence of what she sees as misguided leadership, Dr. Tamir sits in opposition within the Labor party.

Dr. Tamir was recently invited by J Street to speak at the organization’s first national conference in Washington DC. After the conference, we sat down to discuss her work as a scholar, her vocation as a peace activist and her career as a politician.

Q: Dr. Tamir, lets start with your family history in Israel. Where did they come from? What were they like? Did any family member have a particular strong influence on the trajectory of your career?

Tamir: Well, I come from a very Israeli family; both my parents and grandparents were born in Israel. So we are one of the few families that has no actual roots elsewhere. In one of my early conversations with Palestinian leaders, they complained about the fact that the Palestinian People bear the price of Anti-Semitism and Jewish persecution in Europe and that Jews should go back to where they came from and fight for their acceptance there. And I said, “that’s nonsense, but anyhow I have no place to return to, you are stuck with me, so let’s talk.”

My mother’s family is a very political family. They are part of the Israeli “Mayflower”, founders of the labor movement. My grandparents were cousins of Moshe Sharet, the second Prime Minister of Israel, who he had a long and very turbulent relationship with the Labor party. But if there was one message coming from their generation to my generation, it was never get involved in politics and especially to never get involved in the politics of the Labor party. I broke the family rule, and got my share of Labor politics. It is the kind of thing one is tempted to do when one thinks that a place that is your only home is in a process of self-destruction.

Q: Growing up, how was Judaism expressed in your home? How would you characterize your own Jewish identity?

Tamir: I grew up in a very secular home, ideologically secular. The Jewish holidays were celebrated in a very Zionist and secular way, and there was absolutely no room for any religious belief. It was only when I spent some time in the US that I was introduced to a more pluralistic version of Judaism and was very attracted to it. I still regard myself as a secular person, but I have a strong Jewish-secular identity as my Judaism determines much of what I do and how I do it. Of course my Judaism is pluralist and humanistic.

Mazzi & Sneakas’ New Vid: “Most Hated.”

Jews and Muslims of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your hate. Check out the debut video from Mazzi & Sneakas. The name of the song is “Most Hated”, featuring legendary rapper MC Serch (of 3rd Bass).

Sagol 59 Weighs In On The State of Israeli Hip-Hop

In an interesting article in Haaretz, rapper Sagol 59 states that true Hip-Hop has yet to be born in Israel. Sagol argues that sorry state of Israeli Hip-Hop is a consequence of the structural makeup of the society and culture. Key quote:

This young country, which since the day it was founded has been fighting for its very existence, has an urgent and constant need for unity in the ideological ranks and the creation of an all-embracing consensus in thinking, which will help “us” fight the enemies “out there” effectively. And in Israel, the arts, including popular music, are also recruited to represent Israeli society’s ethos while giving unreserved support to the state institutions and shelving away criticism, doubts and questions in the locked emergency storerooms at the edge of consciousness.

In this way, certainly, the American hip-hop fan who has grown up on the sparks in the politics of Public Enemy, Ice Cube’s anti-establishment barbs or the subversion of ensembles like Dead Prez, Lynch Mob or Brand Nubian, would wonder at the fact that in Israel there are rappers whose songs are paid for by government institutions, and who sing in official campaign against drugs and in favor of road safety.

It appears that Israel is one of the only countries in the world where rappers are spokesmen for the government, the state and the army, which of course paves a more convenient way to being heard on the radio, certainly in a country where the radio station with the most listeners is owned by the government and belongs to the army.

Presumably those same wealthy people who own regional radio stations and television channels aren’t really losing sleep over a lack of political hip-hop on the airwaves or via satellite.

Sagol makes a number of good points (despite overstating the case for groupthink in Israeli society); chief among them is that for Israeli Hip-Hop to progress it must give creative space for those who value criticism over catering. I have always found it odd that Israel is one of the only countries – if not the only country – where popular political Hip-Hop is right-of-center. For those who doubt the existence of an unholy alliance between Israeli hip-hop and the political establishment: observe and enjoy

* Despite what the clip says, this is not Shai 360.

Poem of the Day: The Place Where We Are Right by Yehuda Amichai

The Place Where We Are Right
by Yehuda Amichai

From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.

The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.

But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.