Mohammed Bakri
צילום: איי פי
Question of (Arab) allegiance
Israeli-Arabs' refusal to recognize Israel unacceptable
Hamburg: Mohammed Bakri has made it big in Germany with his latest film titled "Since You Left," in which he tells dead author Emile Habibi what has transpired since his passing.
The film is being screened at the international film festival in Hamburg. The play titled "The Optimist" based on Habibi's book, directed by and starring Bakri in the lead role, will be staged next month in the city of Kiel.
Bakri took advantage of his visit to Germany to spread his ideological beliefs. In a public debate held in Hamburg, a film critic anchoring the evening was forced to take back his definition of Bakri as an "Israeli," because Bakri didn't like it. Bakri insists on being called a Palestinian; the fact that he is an Israeli citizen doesn't make any difference to him.
Bakri, as do many others in the Middle East, accepts Israel's right to exist but does not recognize it. He told the local audience that as a Palestinian residing in Israel, he is forced to defend himself at the time.
"The Holocaust, Israeli-Arabs and Jews are the ones responsible for my tragedy and that of my people," he added. "No one has a monopoly over pain. If I accept the Holocaust, I expect Israelis to accept my tragedy."
Bakri went on to tell the audience that Israel prevented the screening of his film "Jenin, Jenin" all over the world (he later explained that he was referring to the TV channel Arte), and that his films are not shown in Israel at all, although he would very much like them to be screened there in order to create dialog among Jews. According to Bakri, such dialog is more important to him than debates in Europe.
Minorities
While listening to him, I began drawing out Europe's nationalist minority map in my mind. It is a continent replete with nationalist and ethnic wars, numerous disputes and an intricate mosaic of minorities.
There are nationalist minority groups whose right to self-determination or autonomy is not recognized, such as the Bretons in France or the Basques in Spain. There are minority groups who achieved a degree of cultural autonomy such as the Slovenians in Austria and the Hungarians in Romania.
There are even nationalist minority groups who achieved limited political autonomy such as the Scotts in the United Kingdom, or political representation based on mutual agreements such as the Danes in northern Germany and the Germans in southern Denmark.
I tried imagining how many of Europe's democratic nations would react if a son of one of their nationalist minorities stated that he does not want to be considered a citizen of that particular state. It wouldn't pass easily. But where Israel is concerned such a statement is taken for granted. Several Israelis have also come to terms with this attitude.
Israel must not accept a situation whereby the Palestinian minority is transforming itself into a parallel society and does not regard itself as part of the State. Before Israel begins fighting for recognition by other countries, it should first make sure its own citizens recognize it.
Israeli-Arabs, on their part, should stop distancing and separating themselves. A citizen who does not have allegiance to the State poses a question mark over his citizenship.
