From the photographs for the colonialist calendar./Ricky Rahman
Along with the difficult and long war in Gaza, we are also in an information war in which Israel is going through a crusade of delegitimization and slander.
"In recent months, I, like many others, find myself surfing the web, frustrated and feeling somewhat useless in front of hundreds of millions of ignorant people with blunt opinions and a very big mouth, who spread pointless lies, and all of them are in a struggle for narrative supremacy," says Amit Peretz, A Jerusalem social activist, community leader that encourages young people to stay in the city, producer of the largest party line in the city ('Malban') and a candidate for the Jerusalem City Council in the upcoming municipal elections.
"I could try to respond to these people and convey a message to them, but my time is important and my level of effectiveness in an individual response is almost zero. Instead, I chose to leverage my skills in a more effective way and lead a humorous explanatory project, which aims to make waves in different communities around the world. This is how a calendar was created White and very colonialist -
The COLORFUL COLONIALISTS CALENDAR
- which presents the beautiful and diverse faces of our Israelis."
Amit points out that all proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to a donation to organizations and initiatives that work to restore war damage, help the families of the kidnapped and the soldiers on the front and adds that "this calendar stands as a powerful reminder of Jewish resilience in the face of adversity. Israelis represent a diverse spectrum of backgrounds, cultures and colors - from black to white And everything in between - and we're all here to stay," says Amit, an Israeli of Moroccan and Tunisian descent who himself stars on the June page of the calendar.
Amit Peretz, creator of the calendar and the model for the month of June./Photo: Ricky Rahman, design: Eli Cardozo-Tennenbaum
Next year in Jerusalem
He explains the sarcastic name he chose to give the calendar: "Jews are good when it comes to humor, and especially self-humor - I think it shows our greatness. When I heard the ridiculous accusations that Israel is a white colony in the heart of the Middle East, I thought there was no better way to prove it to them "How wrong they are to present the true face of Israel: Yemen, Kurdistan, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, Mexico and other countries from some of which we were expelled and which we can no longer visit," he says.
"Within a few days, with many lovely people who helped, we were able to cast, photograph, edit, print and market the calendars that are already being published across the US today.
The entire shoot took place in Jerusalem, the historical and current capital of Israel, to symbolize the fulfillment of the common dream of these Jewish communities - who ended their Passover seders year after year with the hopeful verse, 'For next year in Jerusalem'."
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All the way from Egypt and Iran - the women of the white Israeli colony./Photo: Ricky Rahman, design: Eli Cardozo-Tennenbaum
Why is it important that they know that we are not all white?
How does this shed light on the full picture?
"To be honest, I wish it wasn't so important, but I feel that this discourse around skin color, race and ethnicity is terribly fashionable these days. I think it grew together with the Black Lives Matter movement, and then also spilled over into indigenous rights in several countries around the world. The discourse This creates a very 'black and white' mechanism in the mind, that there is an invader who invaded and there are indigenous people who were expelled, there is a strong brutal figure and there is a weak victim, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also pictured in people's minds, and it is very clear who is on which side," says Amit.
"The image they draw for themselves in their head is always white, European and fat. Maybe it comes from a place of self-flagellation and belonging to generations of peoples who were really colonialists, and now the attempt is to compensate for this at our expense. In reality, reality is complex, it's really not black and white. We are a diverse people who suffered severe persecution both in Europe and in North Africa and the Middle East. Wonderful communities, full of culture, history and wealth, were displaced from their homes and came to the only country that is a refuge for our persecuted people," he continues.
"The faces in the calendar are not just skin color, they tell a story, a history, and convey a message - don't preach morals to us, don't educate us, don't take out your personal anger on us. We know where we came from and if the conversation is about skin color and ethnicity then we know play this game too."
Yemeni colonialism in the calendar./Photo: Ricky Rahman, design: Eli Cardozo-Tennenbaum
What is the ideal scenario for you when people in the world come across this calendar?
"First of all, I aim to reach as many people as possible, to share large and meaningful pages on the web and to collect a significant amount of money that we can transfer to important causes thanks to this work. If even just one person comes across this calendar in New York or Philadelphia on the desktop of a colleague or in the kitchen of a family member and he will ask questions, be interested, laugh, or read the concluding page of the board that explains its essence - so I did my part," says Amit and adds: "I'm talking specifically about the United States, because I think most of the worrying voices come from there , the walls of the universities and the corridors of Congress.
They know Jews in the United States who are overwhelmingly white and blame it on all Jews, including Israeli Jews.
It is a combination of ignorance and inability to accept and understand complexity.
The calendar attacks this - it provides clear visual information and explains the complexity in a narrow way so that this too might make those people interested and read a little about Israeli diversity themselves."
The diverse face of Israel in the calendar./Photo: Ricky Rahman, design: Eli Cardozo-Tennenbaum
What is your message to Israelis who are frustrated by anti-Semitism in the world?
"The Internet can cause terribly absolute feelings that everyone is against us. In practice, I think that most people who are familiar with Israel know that there is a wide variety of testimonies and identities here, and that the reality is very different. However, everyone can contribute in their own way to the fight against prejudice and anti-Semitism. My friends and I found A path that not only did us good, it can make many other people happy who will also do good along the way."
How can I get the calendar?
To order the calendar, go to the link >>
You can choose from several collection points in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, or delivery to all parts of the country as well as deliveries all over the US that will be available starting at the end of the week.
More on the same topic:
Calendar
colonialism
antisemitism
Explanation