It's Christmas in Bethlehem--Oy, oy, oy

It is Christmas season, and you know what that means: Good cheer, dazzling lights, carols and, of course, news stories highlighting the hardships faced by Palestinians in Bethlehem because of Israel’s security barrier. Oy oy oy!

We’ve already witnessed the Jews “beating” Santa thanks to the AFP, but now thanks to NPR we’ve learned about the “resistance” graffiti emblazoned on the parts of the security barrier near Bethlehem. The paintings show a dove in a bulletproof vest sitting in Israeli crosshairs; an elevator with little children going up and over the barrier; a little girl frisking an IDF soldier and more.

And for the intrepid tourist or journalist who can get past the barrier, they can visit “Santa’s Ghetto,” where Santa has presumably been forced to live after his “beating” With this deft (mis)appropriation of term “ghetto” the Palestinians and their supporters aim to hearken back to images of the Warsaw Ghetto, or countless other medieval ghettos where Jews were forced to live. Of course, Jews were force to live (or die) in ghettos because of anti-Semitism, whereas Israel’s security barrier only went up after years of deadly suicide attacks emanating from Palestinian territory. The comparison, in short, is offensive and highly inaccurate. But that never stopped Israel’s enemies before.

I have a solution. There are two sides to each wall. Israeli artists should be commissioned to create art on the Israeli side of the barrier that corresponds to the parts where the Bethlehem art appears. This art should convey why the barrier has been erected in the first place. This will have to be done creatively and with sensitivity; we don’t want to stoop to the level of our enemies and depict dead or bloodied babies, for example. But it can be done with a little creative thinking and artistic acumen.

That’s not all. Israel needs to have trained PR people on hand to make sure that reporters see the art on the Israeli side of the barrier. Had this happened with the NPR story, the tone would have been entirely different. As it stands, the only hint in the article that the barrier was erected for reasons other than pure Israeli cruelty is this:

“Israeli officials say the West Bank barrier, a 400-plus mile-long mix of cement walls, fencing and barbed wire, is vital to the Jewish state's security. They say it has thwarted many would-be Palestinian suicide bombers and saved lives.”

(And I am sure you noticed the passive “they say” even though statistics PROVE that the barrier has thwarted many would-be suicide bombers.)

It’s kind of sad to have to say this again – because more Israelis should know this by now – but there needs to be a greater appreciation for the PR aspects of the conflict. Bad publicity leads to governments instituting policies and diplomacy that is bad for Israel. Israelis should have known that Bethlehem is in the limelight this time of year, and they should’ve been ready with a plan to counter the bad press. A half-cleaver PR team could have brainstormed scores of ways to do this.

Zak Mazur