Israeli `Archie Bunker' grapples with Arabs

JERUSALEM Itzik Harouv is an ordinary Israeli who has just movedinto an ordinary Israeli apartment building - or so he thinks untilhe reads the name on the door across the hall: "Muna and BassamMidawa." In a panic, he rushes to tell his wife the news.

"Do you see what's written there?" he asks as the two standstaring at the Midawas' front door. "Our neighbors are ARABS!"

"Well, we live in a country with Arabs, right?" his wiferesponds calmly. "We eat in the same restaurants, go to the samehealth clinics, work in the same offices. And you even sell themlife insurance," she adds, appealing to her husband's businessinstincts if not his sense of humanity.

Itzik is not won over. "Why do I have to be the living exampleof coexistence?" he demands.

This scene opens the pilot episode of "Neighbors," a comedyseries that the Arabic division of Israel Television plans to beginproducing in September. Unlike any other entertainment show aired bythe state-run station, "Neighbors" directly - and humorously -addresses the gravest challenge facing Israeli society today:Arab-Israeli coexistence.

Though "Neighbors" will be shown during the time-slot designatedfor Arabic-language programs, those involved in its productionanticipate the show will reach both sides of the country's vastpolitical divide. Arabic and Hebrew are spoken on the show, andsubtitles translate each language into the other.

When the director-general of Israel's broadcasting authority,Uri Porat, previewed the pilot episode, he delightedly proclaimedItzik "Israel's Archie Bunker." But Gadi Yagil, the comedian whoplays Itzik, cautions against taking the analogy too literally.

"Here the argument is Israel-Palestine," said Yagil. "There isno problem like this in America."

Bassam Zu'mot, the Arab actor who plays Itzik's neighbor, agreeswith Yagil. "I see the building (in "Neighbors") as the land we areliving in," he said in an interview. "The Jewish apartment is Israel,the Arabic apartment is Palestine." The central question posed bythe show, he says, is, "Can they live peacefully side by side?"

Zu'mot, a 38-year-old Christian, grew up in Jerusalem's Old Citywhen it was still under Jordanian rule. "I am not an Arab whobelieves that the Jews must be thrown into the sea," he said. "Ibelieve that Jews . . . must have a right to live in a country thatis their own, just as I . . . must force them to believe that I havethe right to live here and make my state here."

"Neighbors" avoids dealing explicitly with political issues suchas the Palestinian demand for a separate state. Its message is amore general one - that peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabsis, with courage and creative effort, attainable.

"I hope people will see that living together is not impossible,"said scriptwriter Dalia Cohen. "We can live together and we do livetogether. It's not a fantasy."

But while Jews and Arabs here often do work together, it isprecisely because they rarely find themselves living next to eachother that "Neighbors" is seen by all involved in its production as apolitical minefield.

"Nobody will make peace because of `Neighbors,' " said Yagil."For a moment, though, they will relax a little bit and laugh at thesituation."