"In Israel, the Most Popular 'Jewish Mother' Is an Arab Muslim"

Noah Pollak points to this as an “Israel Apartheid Week” Reality Check
He is referring to a popular contestant on a reality show in Israel, as reported in The Forward:

In the world of Israeli popular culture, the most popular maternal figure at the moment is a very different kind of Jewish mother — a proud Arab Muslim who prays five times daily, calls the Koran her favorite book, obsessively puffs on a hookah pipe and proudly wears a keffiyah.

Futna Jabber is one of the five finalists on Israel’s version of the reality show hit “Big Brother,” after viewers voted week after week to keep the vivacious 37-year-old on their screens for more than three months. So popular was Futna, that she didn’t even have to worry in the last round of voting: None of her housemates nominated her for eliminations. The results of the final eliminations will be announced Thursday on the show’s finale.

Not only has Futna gained the respect of the other people on the show, she also provides an interesting counterpoint to another contestant who is long gone from the show:

From the moment she made her entrance onto the national television screen, Futna made it clear that she wouldn’t allow others to define her, declaring who she was from the beginning: “I am a Moslem Palestinian Israeli mother — but first and foremost, I am a human being.” Her greatest dream: “A real and genuine peace for my children and their friends. Inshallah [God willing].”

...But Futna built warm and affectionate friendships with her housemates — several of them, men who served in combat units in the IDF — all of whom have adopted her favorite Arab slang phrase, “Walla Eeshy!” The relationships stand in interesting contrast to another contestant: Edna Kaneti, who had a short but stormy stay in the house. An activist in the anti-occupation women’s group Machsom Watch, she initiated provocative and angry discussions, and walked out of the house.

Read the whole thing.

You can also check out her website (Hebrew) and read more about some incidents from the show involving Futna.

Just keep in mind that neither Futna nor the show are a guarantee for bringing peace in Israel in our time:

According to Israeli Arab culture critic Aloch Lechel, the affection isn’t mutual. Israeli Arabs, he says, aren’t restricted to watching Israeli Hebrew-language television as they were decades ago, and today, they are much more interested in the reality shows on the Arab channels they watch on cable television and satellite. And they don’t view Futna as any kind of ambassador. Her presence in the Arab Israeli press, he notes, is pretty much non-existent. “We don’t view Futna as representing the Arab people. She represents herself, and maybe her hummus. But us? No.”

Lechel said Futna embodies the Israeli idea of a “safe, enlightened” brand of “pet Arab.”

All well and good--but "Pet Arab"? From the description of Futna on the show, Futna is nobody's pet. Respected, yes--but no pet.

Technorati Tag: Futna Jabber and Big Brother.