An Arab on primetime
Even if 'Arab Labor' looks like a great show, only a miracle will turn it into a hit. Why? Because Israelis are not used to seeing Arabs on primetime
Because Amjad, as portrayed by Norman Issa, doesn't belong to any of the abovementioned groups: He is young, educated, angry, talented, frustrated, neurotic, yearning for the fragments comprising his identity to assimilate, dying for some love and freedom from the stereotypes.
Amjad is the protagonist in Sayed Kashua's new show, "Arab Labor," which premiered Saturday on Channel 2. He plays a journalist who is trying – unsuccessfully – to assimilate into Israeli-Jewish society.
As a journalist he is invited to many talk shows to fill in the spot of the enlightened Arab – as long as he agrees to frankly and eruditely criticize his people and refer to them as "the sector." As a citizen, he is always targeted by police – maybe because he drives an old Subaru.
Sayed Kashua, the current pet Arab of Israeli journalism and literature (Dancing Arabs, Let it be Morning) wrote "Arab Labor" around the same stereotypes.
The problem is that the show is aired after the a comedy show filled with imitations of Arabs and accompanied by a commercial for hummus. Furthermore, it is aired on commercial TV that has few, if any, Arab journalists. After 40 years of Israeli Television – this is the first time an Arab family is the star of a show that targets Jews, many of whom believe in their superiority over the Arabs.
Yet, it is also the first time a show is aired on primetime with dual subtitles – in Hebrew and in Arabic.
