Jewish Palestine Relations - Essay Example

Jewish Palestine Relations The Hashomer Hazair founded in Europe before world war I insisted on the importance of the Jewish people to adopt normal lives by shifting their economic structures and become farmers and workers instead of being solely merchants (Margalit 25). Also, the movement embraced a Zionist ideology and sought to be pioneers in society. The movement dreamt of establishing a society characterized by equality and social justice in their new home in Palestine. Characterized by violence, religion and ethnicity, the movement was critical in the establishment of the state of Israel. On the other hand, Rechov sumsum and Shalom Sesame (a television programme) portrays both Israeli and Arab children playing together. This is a very unlikely event since the state of Israel and Palestine are in constant conflict. One of the major programm that is still in existence and is conducted by the Ministry of education in Israel is the IETV (Fox 10). Therefore, the source of Rechov sumsum was IETV. This is majorly because it fits well into the act of nation building which was proposed by the top officials. Rechov sumsum was established in 1983, while the American Sesame street was substituted for the children of Israel in the 1970s on IETV. This made sesame to be one of the ancient channels in the screens of Israelites. The episodes of sumsum were created in 1983 and were subsequently aired in the television channel in Israel. The importance of creating the children’s program was to commence showing individuals or people concepts about human relations that basically deal with peace, happiness, coexistence and service to other nations. However, this kind of a programme was somehow unrealistic after World War I. Nevertheless, I think it helped a lot. The episodes of the early 1980s showed the kind of diversity embraced by the Jews. Moreover, the episodes reviewed the differences, advantages and disadvantages between the secular and religious Jews. Thus, the IETV model of incorporating the immigrant children was absolute in the themes of sumsum preceding decades of Israelites taking on board immigrants from all walks of life. After World War I, Jews from various countries immigrated into Israel to seek shelter after their violent persecution in Europe. Most of the immigrants had a difficult time being absorbed or assimilated into the development towns where the most important thing was factory work. As such, most of them had to join the low income earners in their relevant communities. Additionally, some communities were incporated into the israel population. For instance, sumsum decided to assimilate the Mizrahi community into israeli population. These were individuals who used to enjoy fewer educational opportunities in Israel. The Intifada which is the outbreak of violence started in 1987. During that period, it was however hard to establish the relationships between the impact of the first intifada and the program. This was because there was no version of sumsum in areas such as Palestine. Despite the lack of sumsum program in Palestine, themes of militarism cropped up concerning intifadas effect on children. During the same period, a new season referred to as Shalom sesame came into existence. This season included the Rechov sumsum element which was made for the kids of Israel and the Jewish of America to enjoy. However, the Shalom sesame did acknowledge the issues that had a significant impact on kids. The main agenda that Shalom sesame addresses is the traditions of the Jews, the culture and society among others. Therefore, each and every episode that comes into existence brings with it a totally different aspect concerning the society that is present in Israel. Another version that was developed in 1998 to 2002 was known as the Rechov sumsum- Sharas simsim. The show was changed so that it could pay attention to both Palestinian and Israel children. In 1991, a treaty was made between Palestine and Israel so as to enhance peace within the region. In the post –Oslo period, both writers of Palestine and Israel faced a challenge as they had difficulties on agreeing which contents should be or should not be assimilated in the episode. The content writers were at loggerheads on a myriad of issues. For instance, whether the groups should poses their own street or they should share the streets. However, they agreed that they should have separate streets. But just in case of any matter that they were willing to air, both of them would come and share on the same street. This episode created in 1998 to 2000 did not last much longer because of the eruption of violence. The Intifada affected the Israel and Palestinian writers and they could not continue with the show. The following incarnation of Rechov sumsum was known as Sesame stories or Sippurei Sumsum. This season was set up in 2004 by the independent Israel, Palestinian and Jordan production members who decided to work separately after agreeing to share to share the footage. The Sesame stories were set as a continuation of the 1998 to 200 season. Historically, this was very good timing since it was close to the end of the intifada. Moreover, there was adequate time to compose a show that could easily promote coexistence. Due to the coming together of the three parties, the show was also aired in other countries. Though the main aim of Sesame stories was to promote peace, respect and understanding among Israel and Arab children in the Middle East, the fruits were rendered futile since violence interfered with the episodes. Consequently, the three countries decided to come together so that they could set up a programme that the children from the three countries could understand and thus enable promote peace. The season started after Opera ration Defense Shield, whereby a barrier was built between Israel and West bank. Since the countries experienced some form of tension, the writers decided to create a multinational programme such that the season could show the concerns of the time. Since that sesame program started, each state can wholly adapt to its own programme. As a consequence of working together between the Palestinians and Israelis, some form of coexistence existed and this promoted peace. Finally in 2006 Rechove sumsum was aired in HOP channel as it was able to move from IETV, and thus it could reinvent more of its programs. In the same year, a street was built where individuals from all walks of life could live and socialize as Israelites. In 2009,a second season of Shalom sesame was also created and assimilated into a DVD (this was a major progress). In light of this, the major programs that are used by the Israelites are the Shalom sesame programs and Rachove sumsum which are used to educate the children of Israel on matters related to violence, peace and coexistence among others. Thus, rachove sumsum’s main focus is to promote peaceful coexistence in Israel especially among the children. Although children in Israel and Palestine are able to adapt positive behavior after viewing these programs, parents are teaching their children otherwise. The main goals of both the Hashomer Hazair and the tv programs (Rechov Sumsum and Shara’a Simsim) is to foster peaceful cohesion between the Israel and Palestine nations. Through these initiatives, efforts at fostering peace and good relations between the two nations are ongoing. Nevertheless, the movement and the TV programs have performed poorly in since they have not had any effect on the relations between the Palestinians and Jews. Violence in these regions has been ingrained and taken a political tone. With the failure of peace talks between the two sides, violence in the region has escalated to a full blown war. The concepts of peaceful co-existence seem to be a pipe dream since little effort is being made towards achieving a peaceful solution. The TV programs have had little impact on the children of both Israel and Palestine mainly because parents groom and radicalize their children form a tender age to view each other as enemies. In fact, whereas the Jews inform their children that Arabs are evil, the Jews teach their children that there is no good Arab. This radicalization from a tender age and exposure to violence from an early age make the efforts of the programs futile. There are only two options available to solve the Israel Palestine conflict. The primary of first solution is a two state solution. As a result, Palestine would become an independent state. The other alternative solution is to create a single state. All the land will be either an Israel state or a Palestine state. Although the two state solutions sounds clear, both warring parties have failed to come to a successful conclusion on how to make this happen in real life. Hence, the concepts of peace will not be achieved via the TV programs but through political settlements and solutions. Work cited Fox, Sandra. Rechov Sumsum as Mirror and Mediator.The History and Politics of Israeli and Palestinian Sesame Street (n.d) Margalit, Elkana. "Social and intellectual origins of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, 1913-20." Journal of Contemporary History (1969): 25-46. Read More