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By Joanna Chen
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A heartwarming symbol of ethnic dialogue unfolded recently between the Israelis and Palestinians: Israeli soldiers were driving along the security wall when suddenly a soccer ball flew over from the other side. They juggled it around for a moment and launched it back. It returned again—the nameless, faceless Arabs on the other side were playing a friendly game of soccer with their neighbors from behind a 20-foot concrete partition.
Actually, it never happened. It's the storyline for a cell-phone commercial on Israeli TV that ends by asking, "What are we all after? Just a bit of fun." And by setting off a spat among Israelis about whether the separation barrier could ever be "fun," it has restored a debate that everyone thought had been settled: is the barrier an obstacle to coexistence, or the very thing keeping the peace? And can Israelis and Palestinians ever get along anyway?
When the idea of a separation barrier was first floated, Haim Ramon, then deputy prime minister, explained that good fences make good neighbors. Since then, the Israeli public has conceded the fact that while it doesn't send the loveliest message, the barrier at least keeps them safe from suicide bombers. The Cellcom commercial reminded Israelis that the Palestinians are still there, concealed by the concrete—and that they may even be partners for peace. "The commercial touched a raw nerve among Israelis, reminding them that the Palestinians will not disappear," says Israeli Parliament Member Daniel Ben Simon. And, in doing so, it "renewed debate" on how to treat them.
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Not everybody is ambivalent. Judges on the U.N.'s International Court of Justice demanded this month that Israel honor a five-year-old ruling to dismantle the 250-mile wall, which it claims was built mostly on Palestinian land and which is a violation of human rights. Despite the ruling, Israel continues to build the wall. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed this week that "the barrier will stay."
So it's not surprising that Cellcom's commercial unleashed a flood of scathing responses. It's just a surprise that the most vocal expressions of insult and rage have come from Israelis—who had mostly come to terms with the wall—rather than Palestinians: local Web sites heaped generous opprobrium, and occasional praise, on the advert. "It only sows more hatred. There's no room for a commercial like this," snapped one Jewish surfer interviewed on Nana10, a TV network. A group was quickly formed on Facebook condemning Cellcom's "bad taste." And a number of rebuttal-commercials (one showing Israeli soldiers lobbing tear gas rather than soccer balls over the barrier) have been posted on YouTube and other sites. Some commentators think it's fair play, but most are appalled. Israeli blogger Noam Sheizaf summed up the commercial as "Israeli mainstream fantasy land that is totally blind to the other side." Television presenter Moti Kirschenbaum said, "In reality, there is no dialogue on either side—the ball would never be kicked back over that wall."
Even more shocking than the salvos against the ad was the defense of it mounted by an unexpected source deep within Israel's left wing: Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer responded to the criticism in a blog of his own, saying, "It's been a while since we've seen such a brave display of yearning for co-existence and a [striving] for reconciliation between two peoples … on prime-time television." Among Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, the response is more predictable. Arab Israeli Parliament Member Ahmad Tibi complains to NEWSWEEK that "Peace Now acts like if we talk nicely to the Palestinians, all will be well. It's a twisted position and it reduces the [Israeli] occupation to one of banality."
Cellcom has already removed the commercial, produced by the local office of ad agency McCann Erickson, from TV. But as it recedes from memory, the problem it touches upon—can Israelis and Palestinians find way to coexist?—are only growing in importance as an eventual Palestinian state slowly draws nearer.
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