The Jews and Arabs coexisting in crisis
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just over 20% of Israel’s population are Palestinian - or Israeli Arabs - making them the largest minority in the country. They are distinct from the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza as most have citizenship and far greater freedoms. However, they complain of discrimination and even in “mixed” cities the Jews and Palestinians tend to coexist rather than interact. Following the attacks on 7 October by Hamas and the subsequent bombing and killing of Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli army, tensions are high. Standing Together, a peace movement comprising of Jews and Palestinians, are trying to jointly diffuse tensions on the streets of their neighbourhoods. Emily Wither talks to Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, about their different experiences of growing up in Israel and their hopes for the future.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's like driving a car under an avalanche, but you're taunting the avalanche rather than trying to get away from it |
| 0:08.4 | Amazing sports stories from the BBC World Service |
| 0:13.0 | Find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:17.0 | Thanks for choosing to listen to assignment on the documentary podcast from the BBC World Service. In this episode I'm reporting from Israel |
| 0:26.4 | where an unusual Jewish Arab Solidarity Group has mobilised to try and keep the peace in mixed towns and cities. |
| 0:34.0 | Amidst war between Israel and Hamas, |
| 0:37.0 | tensions are rising in mixed communities, |
| 0:40.0 | testing the already fragile cohesion between Jewish and Arab citizens. |
| 0:47.0 | The group have stopped at a line of trees and they've got a black bucket of |
| 0:58.0 | glue they've got some paper posters and they're just attaching some of them to the trees. |
| 1:04.0 | What does that one say? |
| 1:06.0 | We'll go through this together, both in Hebrew and Arabic. |
| 1:09.0 | No to racism. |
| 1:11.0 | The third message is only peace will bring security. |
| 1:15.0 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service with me Emily Wither. |
| 1:20.0 | For assignment I'm in the Israeli city of Haifa about an hour's drive |
| 1:25.3 | north of Tel Aviv. It's Saturday night and I'm with a group of Jewish Israelis and |
| 1:30.3 | Palestinian citizens of Israel as they hang messages of solidarity. |
| 1:35.0 | Oh yeah it's very, very heightened. |
| 1:37.0 | You know, the tension is very heightened. |
| 1:39.0 | Even on the streets I've been driving and, you know, if I have like Arabic radio on I would like put it down. |
| 1:45.0 | Sali Abad works for a Jewish Arab peace group called Standing Together. |
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