Shalom Bayit: The House That Anti-Normalization Built
Original: 16” x 20” Mix media collage of photography, colored pencil, acrylic paint, and paper mounted on mdf board. Photo with Digital frame, printed on poster paper.
2024
Shalom Bayit, שלום בית, is a concept in Judaism which emphasizes keeping peace and harmony in the home. The Hebrew and Arabic word for peace shares the same root, with the words Shalom and Salaam respectively. Peace is something often people seem to stress but not necessarily the full context of what factors contribute to its lacking. Land for peace is a strategy Israel has taken over the years. However, there is a very big elephant in the room that I think is omitted from the conflict around Israel and the region, that being anti-Normalization.
This collage attempts to highlight this unspoken obstacle to reaching “Peace in the Middle East.” Since 1948, most of the Arab world has maintained a strict policy of anti-normalization with Israel and Israelis, extending to interpersonal relationships, even competing in sports with an Israeli. Because of this, most Arabs don’t know any Jews, although until the mid-20th century, there were almost one million of them in what became Islamic lands. As we know, living in diverse societies, hate and intolerance can be dispelled when different groups have exposure to one another. It’s hard to hate someone you know.
Despite Israel having peace with Egypt and Jordan for over 40 decades, it is a cold peace, and as such, the societies do not intermingle, with Egypt and Jordan lacking any Jewish presence. Thus, knowledge of Jews, and Israel or Israelis is obtained through the state and local media, mosques, television, but not interpersonal relationships with living Jews. As such, Israelis as well as Jews tend to be dehumanized, with even a handshake or a selfie photo leading to condemnation from their societies.
Shalom Bayit: The House That Anti-Normalization Built
These are the Faces Behind the Windows
Top Row from Left:
1) When photos surfaces of 4 Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews celebrating with their Palestinian Arab friends at a wedding in the village of Deir Kadis near Ramallah, prompted the groom’s father to be dismissed from his position as chair of the local council.
2) Iranian chess player Ehsan Graeme Maghami, was expelled from a chess tournament when he refused to play Israeli player Ehud Sachar in the Corsica Masters competition.
3) Saeid Mollaej, Iranian judoka competitor, fled Iran after refusing to boycott a match against Israel’s Sagi Muki, where he later became a citizen of Mongolia. He became friends with Muki, and even visited Israel in 2021.
Middle Row from Left:
4) Dalia Ziada, an acclaimed Egyptian author, was forced to go into hiding then flee Egypt after supporting Israel over Hamas
5) Sarah Edean, Miss Iraq, and her family had to flee Baghdad after posting a selfie photo with Miss Israel’s Adar Gandelsman and the tweet, “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel,” at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas in November 2017. In 2018, Sarah visited Israel, and become good friends with Miss Israel Adar Gandelsman.
6) An Iranian weightlifter, Mostafa Rajaei, was banned for life by Iran’s Islamic authorities from entering any sports facility in Iran after shaking hands with Israeli weightlifter Maksim Svirsky in 2023 during an international competition in Poland.
Bottom Row from Left:
7) Aljuraid, journalist with 61,000 followers, who critiques dictatorial regimes in the Arab world, fled his country, living as a political refugee in an undisclosed country. Has also tweeted critiques of Hamas and support for Israel
8) Moqtada ad-Sadr, Iraqi Shi’ite cleric, proposed the current law in Iraq criminalizing any normalization attempts with Israel and Israelis, punishable by prison and even execution.
9) In the summer of 2022, Egyptian singer celebrity Mohamed Ramadan offered a sincere apology after the Arab world’s uproar over a photo with an Israeli female fan during a concert in Mykonos, Greece. He explained he didn’t know she was Israeli.
Original: Mix media collage of photography, colored pencil, acrylic paint, and paper mounted on mdf board.
16" x 20"