CAROLE'S BLOG

Erev Sukkoth

The eruption of violence between Arab and Jewish citizens of Acre (Acco) this past week, is a dangerous threat to the culture and democracy of Israel. Initiatives such as the Other Israel Film Festival which focuses exclusively on the lives of Arab citizens of Israel and the renowned Acre Fringe Theatre Festival are of great importance to the survival of Israel as a democratic country, a country that treats its minority citizens in the same way as the majority.

In these venues, Arabs and Jews collaborate as artists and as individuals - not as members of two opposing groups. The Other Israel Film Festival takes place in New York where tolerance is the norm. The Acre festival fell victim to the factions of the few who incited the many.

I held a breaking of the fast dinner at my house last week and my festival executive director Isaac Zablocki greeted me by asking "have you heard about the riots in Acco?" I ran to my computer and gleaned what I could of the breaking story, and over the next four days the Israeli press was at first filled with rumors and then substantiated reports of what had actually happened to ignite the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the mixed city of Acre.

On Yom Kippur a solemn day where there is traditionally very little traffic (The exception being Arab towns such as Nazareth and Arab villages,) an Arab man drove into a primarily Jewish neighborhood in the mixed city of Acre to pick up his child. Acre, a mixed city is 25% Arab and the Jews mostly immigrants near the poverty line. When the driver exited the car he was attacked with stones by a Jewish mob.

Rumors flew and soon the Arab sector of Acre heard that the man had been killed and in a short time riots erupted. The mayor of Acre, within one day called off the Acre Fringe Festival, further igniting the situation. As of this writing attempts are being made to resurrect the festival. Equally upsetting was that the driver who came forth to declare how sorry he was for causing this situation was then arrested for disturbing "religious sensitivities."

This disturbing situation makes the message of the Other Israel film festival even more urgent. It is important to shed light on the Arab minority in Israel, to give a voice, a face, and a story for an under-served population, which faces discrimination at every turn. We cannot let misguided groups from both sides seize the venues of culture that have so much potential to promote understanding. It is vitally important that people in the US become aware of what is the reality in Israel - the reality that Arabs contribute mightily to the state, and are a part of the culture in every sphere.

The Other Israel Film Festival, opening next month, will celebrates the voices of reason and the beauty that can come out of Jewish-Arab collaborations.