Did the Arabs voluntarily leave Israel? New state-sponsored documentary seems to suggest maybe not
By Abraham Rabinovich
JERUSALEM --- Israel's communications minister said she refused to let her
son to watch the documentary series that state television broadcast this month
on the history of Israel.
The anchor of the series resigned on the grounds that he could not
accept its presentation of history.
The chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs committee attacked it
for lying.
The 22-part series, in short, is a rousing success. Called Tkuma, or rebirth, the television production is the centerpiece of Israel's 50th anniversary celebrations. Under the guidance of
a panel of historians, each episode has been compiled by a different
director and focusses on a different aspect of Israel's relatively brief but
highly eventful history.
Given the sharp political differences in Israel, controvery was
inevitable. The passion the series has unleashed is testimony to its success
in shunning conventional platitudes in favor of critical appraisal. Despite
the fact that unhappiness with the series is voiced principally by the right
wing, the current right wing government to its credit has ignored demands
that the series be aborted. The production's ratings show it to be one of
the most widely viewed series ever to be shown on Israel television.
The most controversial episode so far was one describing the impact
of Israel's War of Independence in 1948-9 on the Arab population of the
country. The director shunned what used to be the official version of this
event --- namely, that the bulk of the Arab population fled the country at
the behest of Arab leaders in order to clear the way for the invasion of
Arab armies bent on Israel's destruction. That indeed was what happened in
many cases but in many others the Arab population was deliberately driven
out by advancing Israeli forces. Israel's "new historians" have already
established this on the basis of documents and the television production
followed their lead.
Tkuma, however, went beyond that by interviewing Arabs who had been
uprooted, thus putting a human face on the Arab plight.
Communications Minister Limor Livnat was incensed by the episode and
by other parts of the series shown by Israel Television which offer a
sympathetic understanding of the Arab point of view alongside that of the
Israeli point of view. "The series was supposed to be celebratory, not one
that offers explanations for terror," she said. "They are presenting a
post-Zionist view about injustice supposedly caused the Palestinians. This
undermines the basis of our presence here. State television is behaving like
a suicide channel, giving ammunition to our enemies. I don't want my son to
continue watching the series."
The anchor of the series, popular singer and actor Yehoram Gaon,
resigned after introducing several episodes. "A number of the episodes erode
the justice of our being here," he said in explanation. The chairman of the
Knesset foreign affairs committee, Uzi Landau, said the series lied in
claiming that the late prime minister Menahem Begin had incited Sephardi
Jews of eastern origin against Ashkenazi Jew of European origin in order to
gain political advantage.
A spokesman for the Labor Party, Yitzhak Ravikhya, attacked the
"smear campaign" he said government supporters had launched. "The creators
of the series are deserving of a prize for their original and important
contribution," he said.
Although there were demands by leading right-wing politicians to
halt further screening of the series until the remaining episodes had been
reviewed, this has not been done. The only change in the format introduced
as a result of the protests is to have the showing of each episode followed
by a panel discussion in which both right and left wing opinions are heard.
Despite the controversy, most Israelis are plainly intrigued by the
perspective offered by the series on the history of the country. The fact
that it can be presented without the sweetners of national myth is a
testimony to a not insignificant measure of national
Abraham Rabinovich is JWR's Israel Correspondent.
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