Arab-Jewish relations have, in recent years, seen a mix of setbacks and progress in Israel. Discriminatory laws have been passed and anti-Arab rhetoric employed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies. But there’s also been an unparalleled surge of Arab integration in universities, in the workforce, even in politics.
Yet in an instant, the progress seems potentially undone by synagogues burned, Muslim cemeteries desecrated, lynching-style attacks, and ugly street fights that erupted in response to a new round of intense Israeli-Palestinian strife that spread like wildfire from East Jerusalem to Gaza and now, Israel’s heartland.
Why We Wrote This
Jessica Steinberg covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center.
Illustrative: An Israeli couple wait for a play to begin in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2013. (Zuzana Janku/Flash 90)
A spate of new plays commissioned from young Tel Aviv playwrights may be one way the beleaguered culture industry is fighting back against the strangling effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Over half a million shekels is being invested by the Tel Aviv municipality and the city’s four most established repertory theaters Habima Theater, Beit Lessin Theater, Gesher Theater and Cameri Theater to help develop works written by Tel Aviv residents who are under 40.