Le ministère de la Santé israélien se décide à promouvoir l’informatioon contre le Corona auprès des Palestiniens, et met en lumière un effarante mépris et une ignorance confondante de la société arabe...
What made it clear that concern for our wellbeing during the pandemic was not sincere was the small number of tests conducted in Arab communities, a lack of information in Arabic and the non-allocation of resources to Arab local governments to fight the virus – even though they are in financial distress that has worsened with the crisis. Only under pressure was the Health Ministry so kind as to “change its policy,” and a decision was made to earmark resources for testing, and mostly for an advertising campaign before the holy month of Ramadan.
But the hope for change was dashed when the first ad campaign was launched. Its purpose was to set down rules for Ramadan – preserving social distancing, breaking the daily fast only with members of the nuclear family, maintaining hygienic conditions, etc. But the illustrations chosen to demonstrate the guidelines, exemplifying a family, looked as if they were directed at the citizens of Saudi Arabia: The style of dress is traditional Saudi, the women and girls are covered from head to toe, and a woman is pictured at the table serving the family while they break their fast.
The use of humiliating stereotypical representations sparked an emotional uproar among the Arab community, and the ads were removed immediately.
An ad campagin by Magen David Adom (Israel’s national emergency service), designed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus among Arabs in Israel during the Ramadan.
An ad campagin by Magen David Adom (Israel’s national emergency service), designed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus among Arabs in Israel during the Ramadan.
We thought this was an accident and stemmed from ignorance, but the next day another humiliating and stereotypical informational video clip was released – and this time it was purely chauvinistic and denigrated women. The goal was to address women, encouraging them to stay home and to ensure that the rest of the family remained there, too.
In the clip we see two women, grandmothers, wearing traditional garb, preparing stuffed “grape leaves.” They are calling on all other women, using all sorts of demeaning terms, to prepare grape leaves only at home. Is this the way the role of the Arab woman is seen? To remain at home and work diligently on preparing food? Are Arab women so stupid that they understand only simple language?
This clip, too, was taken down as a result of criticism.
Is the Health Ministry really that ignorant? If so, then it is a dangerous ignorance. But how could all this happen to begin with? After all, a substantial number of Arabs is employed by the ministry: Indeed, 30 percent of all medical staff in Israel are Arabs.
