The indefatigable Adam Horowitz published a post at Mondoweiss yesterday drawing attention to the sick ad an Israeli cellphone company is running that makes the Apartheid Wall seem like just a harmless (or even ‘fun’) natural feature of the landscape.
Maariv’s Noam Sheizaf also blogged about the ad yesterday.
You can see a clip of the ad there. It shows some on-duty Israeli soldiers kicking a soccer ball around in the shadow of the Wall’s 30-feet-high concrete fastness. Not shown: the Palestinians caged in on the other side.
The punch-line is, “After all, what are we all after? Just a little fun.”
Unspeakable.
When you see the Wall, especially the places where it goes anywhere near built-up Palestinian areas and is studded with looming concrete watch-towers, the overwhelming image that might come to your mind, as it does to mine, is that of the fence-and-watchtower system around a concentration camp.
The cellphone ad was made by the US-based advertising company McCann Erickson.
Can you imagine they’d make a similar ad using images of Bergen-Belsen as the “fun” location?
It’s interesting, though, the different ways that people “see” the Wall. When I was having lunch with my friend Yossi Alpher in Tel Aviv in March, I said something like, “But Yossi, you have to admit the way the Wall looks, it just looks so savage and inhumane– just like the old images of the Nazi camps in Europe!”
“Really?” he said, with his usual mild manner. “Do you think so? I think when most Israelis look at the Wall it just reminds us of all those old black-and-white pictures from our history books of the earliest Zionist settlements, which were all based on the ‘fence-and-watchtower’ model. We just don’t see it like the Nazi camps of Europe. It looks familiar and reassuring to us”
Actually that’s a pretty sad commentary on Israeli/Zionist history. The reason the early Zionist settlers in Palestine– like the early European settlers in North America, too– needed stockades and watch-towers was because (1) there were already people living on the land being settled, and (2) those indigenes did not (to say the least) welcome the incoming settlers with open arms.
But Yossi’s observation also pointed to the continuity of the Zionist land-grabbing project. After all, if the present Wall were built within Israel’s own pre-1967 borders, then (1) only a small number of Palestinians and only small numbers of other people around the world would object; and (2) the Wall would not need to be nearly so high, or studded so savagely with watch-towers, because if it were constructed inside Israel, and the Israeli army and settlers had pulled out of all the land to the east of it, then there could be a peace between the two peoples, with or without a peace agreement.
But no. Precisely because the Wall is part of a continuing attempt to fence off and grab Palestinian land from deep inside the West Bank (including east Jerusalem), that is why, in the Israeli view, it “has” to be that tall, and that brutal. Because there is resistance to that land-grabbing project– both from Palestinians and from billions of other people around the world.
So yes, there is a continuity with the longer history of the Zionist project.
But why should anyone else in the world, apart from the oh, perhaps four-five million Zionists, be expected to put up with this constant and arrogant stealing of the land of others? They shouldn’t.
And why should anyone in the world think that this Wall is just a “fun” backdrop for a cell-phone ad? Beats me.
23 thoughts on “How people ‘see’ Israel’s Apartheid Wall (contd.)?”
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Its not Just Land theft and stealing its more than that.
JES keep playing Rat_Cat game who Palestinians suffer and humiliating inside Israel and also on illegal occupied land.
here The new Israeli law that prevents Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel or acquiring Israeli citizenship
Jonathan Edelstein puts it in much better term in regards of Palestinians From Marrying Into Residency
This is the normaising of an atrocity…and is what you get when spineless ‘leaders’ and media are silent and complicit in genocide…Its the jews who famously say: Never again?And its they who are doing it again… naomi Klein has just now come out publically! left wing Jared Israel o Emperors New Clothes website is still a zonist.
I don’t know whether this was an answer to that add, but a pro-Palestinian movement is organizing things on the other side of the wall : for 15.- Euro, you can have your slogan or your name written on the Palestinian side of the wall. The money collected thusly is used to help Palestinians. About two weeks ago, at the main daily news (between 19h30 and 20h), we got this footage (French report). Translation of the title : “Tags to wall the shame” During the footage, there is an interview of a Palestinian living in Switzerland, who is working in marketing (he is an add conceptor). He says : nothing worked to free the Palestinians, neither resistance, nor pacific means through the UN channel, nothing. I don’t believe this will free the Palestinians, but it may help publicize the problem to the rest of the world. He sent the slogan : «We dont need no occupation, Thank you Pink Floyd.»
You can see more of this project (lots of pictures of the different tags) and send your own slogan through this site, which unlike the precedent is in English.
Helena,
You talking about the Apartheid Wall Wall’s 30-feet-high concrete fastness.
See what your country did to Iraq and Iraqi life today this letter came.
Please if some one could translated to our friends.
السلام عليكم ورجمة الله وبركاته
من الفئه الباقيه في بغداد ولم تهاجر او تذهب الى بلد شقيق او تجد ابعد مكان عن بغداد …لتأمن على افرادها ..بقيت وعائلتي في بغداد الحبيبه حبا بها اولا وكرها لتركها ثانيه وخوفا من المجهول خارج اسوارها وخاصة لم يكن لي ما يؤمن المعيشه في بلاد الغربه او حتى الوصول اليها ولكم اقولها امانة في عنقي ….كيف نعيش في…بغداد الان
1- الدخل الشهري : ما يكفي لعائلة من خمسة افراد وطفل ان تعيش في بغداد الان هو بين 800000 اي حوالي 700$ الى 1100000 اي حوالي 950$ وهو ما يكفي طعاما فقط (كيلو اللحم 12000 بس) (اقل فاكهه 2000)
2-السكن : اذا لم يكن للعائلة ماوى فحاجتها الى ما بين 600000 اي حوالي 500$ الى1000000 اي حوالي 900$ شهريا
3-الكهرباء : في اوقات الصيف تحتاج العائله ما بين 250000 اي حوالي 200$ الى 400000 اي حوالي 340$ وهي الكهرباء الماخوذه من مولد الشارع من الساعة الثانية ظهرا الى الساعه السادسة صباحا علما ان كهرباء الوطن هي اربع ساعات متقطعه يوميا(متفيد حته ابو الشاميه)
4- النقل والبانزين (تنباك بالبانزين خانه لو تطلع نخله براسك وتطلع انته الممنون) لملء الخزان تحتاج ما بين 30 الى 50 دولار ويكفي لاسبوعين (هاي بدون مولده البيت الاحتياطيه اذا عالبانزين)واذا لم تكن لديك سياره (اكيد لازم تبريد) فالنقل الخاص مع كثرته بدون رقابه(اذا تريد تروح من البياع ل باب المعظم روحه وجيه تحتاج 5000 واذا تكسي 18000)
5-الوضع الامني: حالنا حال كل العالم مع فارق بسيط(حييييييل)وهو ان القانون عباره عن اجتهادات شخصيه(من المرور والحرس الوطني)(بحيث انته اذا مشغل تبريد وتوصل يم السيطره لازم تنزل الجامه باعتبار احترام حته لو ميوكفوك ويطير الهوه البارد من السياره ……وبما انه كل 200 متر سيطره فماكو داعي تشغل تبريد اصلا )اما بالنسبه للوقوف قرب الرصيف وشراء سندويج فلافل مثلا فممنوع منعا باتا(تخيل صارت المطاعم كلهه تيك اوي ….يعني تطور مو طبيعي) واذا اردت انزال شخص من السياره مثلا فيجب ان ينزل خلال 3 ثواني(مثل لعبة السله ممنوع اللاعب يلزم الطوبه اكثر) والا وجدت نفسك محاطا ب(عشيره) من المرور(القفاصه) والحرس الوطني(رجال القانون) لينهالو عليك بالشتائم. واما اذا عطلت السياره(ما اتمناهه للعدو)فيجب عليك دفعها حتى لوكنت لوحدك الى اقرب شارع فرعي(متروس جذوع نخل وميخلوك توكف وانته تخيل)لتجد اصحاب البيوت يقفون للك بالمرصاد وبكل احترام(اخويه طلعهه منانه حته لو عاطله تره اخابر على 130 وافوتك ارهاب)بحيث لا يمكن ان تعرف ما سيحصل(كلشي بعلم الله)واذا وافق مشكورا فيجب عليك ان (تنفض السياره نفض كدامه).اما عن طريقه الانتقال من منطقه لاخرى فيجب عليك السؤال كيف اذهب الى تللك المنطقه لانك دوما تفاجىء بتغيير مكان الدخول الى تللك المنطقه وهي من مستلزمات الخطه الامنيه(كل منطقه مطوقه بسياج كونكريتي خاص بها وتحتوي على منفذ دخول واحد وخروج واحد وهي طبعا لتعويد العراقيين اولا على البيت الواحد وثانيا على السجون)
6-المقاهي والملاهي (رجعت وكلش متونسين)عادت بحريه ومحلات المشروبات الكحوليه التي تبيع افخر انواع المشروبات من الفودكا والويسكي وبكل الانواع وباسعار قد تصل ال 200$. اما الملاهي فعادت وباستثمار اوسع اذ يدر الملهى (مال واحد صديقي) ما يقارب ال3000 الى 5000 دولار يوميا وخاصة اذا احتوى على عدد جيد من الجميلات العاملات للرقص واغراض اخرى….. (بالعراقي الكيوليات)
7-المعاملات :يكفيك 400 دولار للحصول على جواز و200 دولار لهويه الاحوال و200 لشهادة الجنسيه ومبلغ 20 دولار رشوه لاقل موظف ليقوم بعمله مثل التوقيع او تمشيه المعامله اصوليا واما ان لم تكن المعامله اصوليه(هاي اللي الله كتبهه عليك) فالفارق هائل قد يصل الى 2000 دولار
8- السيارات:لحد الان لم يتم تسجيل السيارات الداخله الى العراق بعد السقوط رسميا(نسميهه منفيس)وتكون ذات رقم اسود (والشغله تايهه)اما اذا اردت ادخال سياره حديثه الان فتحتاج الى 5000 دولار على الاقل لتسقيط سياره وتسجيل الجديده ( ومو باسمك باسم صاحب المنفيس) حيث وصل سعر الرقم الابيض الى 3500 دولار (وماكو) والرقم الاصفر الى 5000 دولار. واذا اردت شراء سياره من الشركه العامه ل (يكولون ل عمار الحكيم)سيارت فيطلع الحساب يك حساب والسياره بدون مواصفات تذكر(البيجو موديل محركهه 67) والقياس للقارئ الكريم
9- البيوت والاراضي مرت بمرحله وصل سعر بيت في منطقة الري الى عشرة الاف دولار اما الان فمتر الارض بناء بين 800 دولار الى 2000 دولار والفارغه بنصف القيمه(والبيوت كلهه مشاع يعني حصص ونادر متلكه بيت تشتري كل الورثه موجودين لان اكيد واحد مهم انعلس)
10-العلاج والمستشفيات(احسنلك متتمرض وتموت بمفخخه عالسريع)لان العلاج فاشل وشركات الادويه هي من اسوا الشركات في العالم والاطباء جيدين (بس شلون يخيط الخياط بس بالابره)مع هروب العديد منهم خوفا من الخطف وليس القتل(اكيد هذا الطبيب عنده هواي فلوس …..وشكرا)
11-الاعلام حر ومقيد في نفس الوقت حاله حال الطفل ان صرخ فيجب لطمه وان تكلم فيجب ان لا يتكلم كثيرا وان خرس فالاحسن له
12-المسؤلين :بعد ست سنوات (كل من جلس على كرسي المسؤليه فهو حرامي 100 بالميه وابو النخله والفسفوره)كل يسرق من موقعه سواء من رواتب لموظفيين وهميين اوارضا كانت للدوله او طلب شراء لمواد تحتاجها مؤسسته(مثل مؤسسة السجناء السياسيين والشهداء وغيرها وغيرها والقصص توكف العقل….اذا مو ضعف فلوسه ميشتروهه) وموائد الغداء (مثلا مائدة غداء وزير الدفاع(ليس هو فقط المقصود لكن اللي اعرف شي عنه) تصل الى 25000000 اي 20000 عشريييين الف دولار يوميا!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (قابل الاكل مستورد من المريخ ومستوي بالشمس وخاليله بهارات من القمر) وسقط وزير او مسؤول ليجد الكرسي نفسه فارغا ومرتاحا لبضعة ايام لياتي الاخر (ويطلع اضرب بميتين مره) وعلى هذا المنوال (صار ست سنين) واما عن افراد الحمايه في الشارع في مواكب المسؤلين(فدير باللك توكف كدامهم تره تروح قضية ارهاب)فبلا اخلاق اصلا وبلا اسلوب اساسا(مره اجه وزير الكهرباء على محل براس شارعنا …وكف بنص الشارع هوه والموكب مالته وسدو الشارع ونزل الافندي على محل فاتح كلوبات كومه واضويه اناره وتبريد …فات للمحل سلم ..همزين…كله لابو المحل هاي ليش فاتح هلكد اضويه….ابو المحل انصدم جاوبه كله اني مشغل المحل من المولد الشخصي مالتي….الوزير بكل عين وقحه كله واذا تجي الوطنيه تطفي شي ابو المحل كله ليش اطفي وهيه تجي ساعتين باليوم…..الوزير كله انته دافع الورقه مال الكهرباء…ابو المحل طلعهه وشوفهه للوزير …اي دافع….الوزير الخوش ادمي اندار عالحمايه مالته كلهم اقطعو كيبل الكهرباء الوطني مال هذا المحل!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) وهذي الحادثه حصلت امامي( وانتو قيسو عالمسؤؤل العراقي ابن العراقي)
اخواني واخواتي …….اخيرا هذا بلدكم ويتمنى رجعتكم ……..ارجعو لكن رتبوا اموركم ولا تنصدمون بالواقع مباشره
The ad is about having fun even though there are obstacles between people(which is a perfect representation of a cellphone+games). The ad certainly doesn’t demonize anyone. Perhaps you are pissed because it humanizes IDF soldiers?
I think you are so used to demonizing the IDF and the wall that you are having a knee jerk reaction to something that represents something contrary to your views.
The ad shows the Palestinians as humans, not as “caged” animals.
The wall is holy high in places where it was common for Palestinians to shoot at driving bypassers. The vast majority of the “wall” is a fence.
And one last thing, the first time Jewish “settlers” took up arms and set up guard posts was not so they can defend themselves from Arabs who wanted their stolen land back. It was because of Arab raiders(isolated incidents though, not national) stealing from Jewish farms on land bought by Jews. That’s the history of the first pre-IDF Jewish armed group.
Michael, the ad doesn’t show any Palestinians at all… (Where in the ad did you think you saw any?)
Viewers are left to infer their presence… in a context in which the idea that a bunch of youthful Israeli soldiers should be policing the Wall that encages the Palestinians– and keeps them from large chunks of their own land– is taken as completely “normal” or “natural”– hey, even “fun”!
In the ad, when a soccer ball comes over the Wall from the Palestinian side, do the Israeli soldiers use that as an opportunity to build relationships with the Palestinians who are playing on the other side? (Such as happened, for example, during the famous “Christmas truce” between British and German soldiers in WW-I.) The heck, no. The soldiers simply expropriate the ball and use it for their own pleasure.
When I first saw the ad, I thought it was headed for a nice, sentimental “Christmas truce”-style denouement. But no, in the end it was still JUST about Israelis, who were having lots of “fun” as they made use of someone else’s property. What a fun thigh-slapper, eh?
Salah, two points:
YES, you’re completely right to draw the direct parallel between Israel’s ghastly Wall and the network of Walls the Americans built in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. No surprise there, given how much of the US war and occupation policy in Iraq was (a) driven by pro-Israeli imperatives and (b) informed by Israel’s own longstanding practices of population control in the occupied territories.
Also, thanks so much for the link to Jonathan’s 2007 post. I miss his voice in the blogosphere!
It’s really funny Helena how your last post really lives up to the headline!
Watch the ad again. The soldiers stop when the jeep is hit by the ball and make ready. When their officer sees that it’s a football, he tells them to throw it back. (They don’t “simply expropriate the ball and use it for their own pleasure.” That’s your imagination fed by prejudice.) Now get this: The Palestinians on the other side of the wall kick the ball over the wall again. As soon as the officer realizes what’s going on, he and his men remove their helmets, put down their weapons and he says: “Yallah! Balagan!” He then takes out his cell phone and calls the other soldiers and says: “We’ve got a game!” So, in spite of the wall and all its implications, what you have are two groups of young people playing football.
Michael is absolutely correct. This is the perfect metaphor for what people do with cell phones. And, although the Palestinians aren’t seen, they are clearly understood to be the other side in the game.
Helena thank you for you reply.
I agree with your points, but Iraqi have nothing to do with US or Israelis in matter of land and security.
They are far more affected and suffer from occupation.
the question how long they can wait for their life restored to norm?
…the US war and occupation policy in Iraq was…driven by pro-Israeli imperatives…
Helena, I challenge you to prove this libelous charge!
JES you got an opportunity to be paid, if you not yet?
JES,
The contractor who is done and doing the concrete works in Iraq is the “SAME” Israeli contractor who built the Israeli wall in West Bank
Helena, for those who remember the slaughterhouse Jerusalem became in 2000-2003, the Wall is a benefit that can only be regarded with a kind of sacred horror. One of its main effects has been to consolidate Palestinian Jerusalem, as those with permits and blue IDs outside the city return, and permit-bearers “pull in” their West Bank relatives. My first thought when seeing the commercial was “It’s a trap, it’s a bomb, Hamas is now making bomb balls the way Hezbollah made bomb rocks, and this is a service announcement to reservists.” We are not very far from that, at any time. The other thing is that communication across the Fence, like the Berlin Wall at the time, is limited and precise simply to avoid misunderstanding and escalation. I don’t know that proper procedure is, but there are rules for lost balls
and the handling of Palestinian property that crosses the line accidentally, as there have been since the “nun’s eyeglasses in the demilitarized zone” incident of the late 40s/early 50s. Again, rigidity, ritual, a kind of sacred horror. The commercial trivializes a serious reality, as an attempted relief from the grimness.
Hey Eurosabra, I’m liking the commercial more and more!
I recall that it was Amram Mitzna (Labour) who first suggested separating from the Palestinians and Haim Ramon (then Labour) who suggested the separation barrier at the height of the suicide attacks. The Likud and right-wing were dead set against it. It was only when popular pressure, in the face of increasing deaths and injuries within Israel, became intolerable that Sharon agreed to build the barrier.
JES, you twist what I wrote. I wrote, given how much of the US war and occupation policy in Iraq was (a) driven by pro-Israeli imperatives and (b) informed by…
The only way to read this is to infer that I think that a proportion of the US war was driven by pro-Israeli imperatives. I do not quantify that proportion. Condi Rice’s Counsellor Phil Zelikow has said publicly that it was an evident motivating factor– again, not the only one, but one among a number.
Many other well-informed Americans have also expressed this view. Are you an American still? Were you here in Washington in the lead-up to the war? How do you pretend to know what the Bush administration’s motivations for the war were?
Sure Helena. So what you really meant to say is that US war and occupation policy was partially driven by pro-Israeli imperatives. Is that it?
Exactly to what extent are you inferring that the “US war and occupaton policy” were driven by pro-Israelis? Go ahead and quantify it. Which other “well-informed” Americans have expressed this view and based on exactly what facts?
As far as your last paragraph, yes I am still an American citizen. And no I was not in Washington during the lead-up to the war. But what does that have to do with anything? I might also ask you how do you pretend to know what the Bush administration’s motiviations for the war were?
Your reference to Philip Zelikow is questionable, and relies on what Walt and Mearscheimer said in their article. Here is his response in a letter to the LRB. And, of course, there’s also the argument that if Saddam had been a threat to Israel, what about his closer neighbors: the Gulf States and their oil reserves. And that, Helena, would put Saddam in conflict with the US on the basis of the Carter Doctrine, not just on your imagined and unspecified “pro-Israel imperatives”.
Right, JES, just keep reading a little further down on that LRB letters page and read where Walt and Mearsheimer reproduce a portion of Phil’s Sept 2002 presentation (the archive of which is now mysteriously missing from the Miller Center’s website… oh, I remember, Phil was the director of the center at the time, could easily arrange for that archiving failure to happen.)
In that presentation, Phil– who happens to be a personal friend of mine– described the pro-Israeli factor in the “case” for going to war as third in a list… and as constituting the “threat that dares not speak its name.”
Also, hullo! Earth to JES! Don’t you recall the whole rafts of strongly pro-Israeli commentators here in the US who were at the forefront of making the case publicly for going to war?
Oh, I guess not. You weren’t here. How lovely it must be to be omniscient (irony alert).
So meanwhile, about that WALL….
So Helena, you’ve named one name, Philip Zelikow, who purportedly listed the “pro-Israel” factor as third on a list of three! Wow, and he’s a personal “friend” (who you have accused of having pilfered a presentation from the center of which he was the director – some friend you are!).
I don’t know what you call “strongly pro-Israel”, but I don’t think that one has to be “omniscient” in this age of cable television and the Internet to see the various talking heads. As I recall, there were very, very few real Americans coming out against the war as was evidenced by the votes in both houses of Congress, the positions taken by the leaderships of both parties, and the “rafts” of real American commentators that all came out in favor of the war – all without mentioning one word about Israel. Why y’all even write here all the time of you and a coven of Quakers in Virginia had trouble raising a quorum for a demonstration until several years into the war.
As for the wall, I think I’ve said pretty much all I have to say.
Actually, JES, not a “coven”, not all Quakers, and it was nine months into the war– not “several years”– that we realized we needed to resurrect the peace vigils, and did so: December 2003. This is the degree of accuracy you claim?
The failed appointment of career diplomat Charles (Chas) Freeman as head of the National Intelligence Council briefly brought into the spotlight the understandably contentious topic of the “Israel lobby.” After Freeman came under fire from some commentators for his views on the Mideast conflict and other issues, shows The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
yes I am still an American citizen
Make No difference:
such fervent advocates of the Israeli cause and iraq war:
Elliot Abrams,
John Bolton,
Douglas Feith,
I. Lewis (‘Scooter’) Libby,
Richard Perle,
Paul Wolfowitz
David Wurmser
Actually, JES, not a “coven”, not all Quakers, and it was nine months into the war– not “several years”– that we realized we needed to resurrect the peace vigils, and did so: December 2003. This is the degree of accuracy you claim?
Right Helena. I believe I’ve made my point about your claim that the US war and occupation were driven by pro-Israel imperatives (not). Goodbye now.
Here’s a Palestinian response to Cellcom’s racist ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et8VGyCDt10