By Tuvia Tenenbom
Satirical investigation of Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Subject
Themes
A German-Israeli writer returns to Israel after three decades abroad, posing as a German tourist to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Armed with irony and theatrical absurdity, he travels through Israel, the West Bank, and occasionally Jordan, speaking with settlers, peace activists, Palestinian leaders, Knesset members, rabbis, European diplomats, and NGO workers who funnel millions into the region. What emerges is a satirical portrait of hypocrisy on all sides.
A German-Israeli writer returns to Israel after three decades abroad, posing as a German tourist to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Armed with irony and theatrical absurdity, he travels through Israel, the West Bank, and occasionally Jordan, speaking with settlers, peace activists,…
Published in 2015, Catch The Jew! emerged during a period when European involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reached unprecedented financial and diplomatic levels whilst public discourse became increasingly polarized. The work challenged growing consensus within progressive circles that…
Throughout the investigation, activism reveals itself less as genuine compassion than as theatrical performance. European diplomats stage demonstrations for cameras, NGO workers curate experiences for donors, and journalists arrive with predetermined narratives requiring only photographic…
In the conflict zone, truth functions not as objective reality requiring discovery but as ammunition requiring manufacture. All sides produce competing versions of history, geography, and moral authority, each claiming exclusive possession of facts whilst dismissing contrary evidence as propaganda.…
The conflict transforms identity itself into contested territory, with competing claims about who belongs, who has rights, and what constitutes authentic membership in various communities. Jewishness, Arabness, Palestinian identity, and Israeli identity all become weapons rather than simply…
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has evolved into vast international industry employing thousands and consuming billions of euros annually. Rather than working towards resolution, this machinery perpetuates crisis because peace would eliminate the economic and professional infrastructure built…
The investigation employs satire as methodology for exposing hypocrisy and penetrating beneath official narratives. By adopting absurd personas, asking deliberately naive questions, and treating serious situations with theatrical exaggeration, the writer reveals contradictions that earnest…
A German-Israeli writer returns to Israel after thirty-three years abroad, posing as German tourist to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before departure, he visits Italian-occupied South Tyrol to examine how occupation functions elsewhere, discovering that even legally settled…
Visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the writer encounters Greek Orthodox clergy who speak only Greek, refusing communication in Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, or English despite living in multilingual Jerusalem. This linguistic isolation suggests religious communities maintaining deliberate…
Venturing into West Bank settlements, the writer encounters Israeli Jews who relocated across Green Line for mixture of ideological, religious, and economic motivations. Some settlers genuinely believe divine commandment requires Jewish sovereignty over biblical Judea and Samaria. Others moved…
Meeting Palestinian political leaders and elites exposes striking contradictions between public narratives and private realities. Officials claiming homelessness and displacement own multiple properties including gated villas in affluent neighbourhoods. Leaders presenting themselves as powerless…
Observing journalists at work reveals how conflict coverage serves predetermined narratives rather than documenting complex realities. Reporters arrive with story angles already formulated, seeking only illustrative material to support pre-written conclusions. Palestinian stringers and fixers…
Attending Knesset sessions exposes Israeli democracy's paradoxes: raucous debates demonstrating freedom of speech coexisting with dysfunction preventing effective governance. Members of Knesset (MKs) shout over each other, hurl insults, and occasionally resort to physical confrontations. The loudest…
European Union's ambassador to Israel agrees to interview, providing opportunity to question Europe's massive financial and diplomatic investment in Palestinian cause. The ambassador articulates official positions about international law, human rights, and two-state solution, delivering…
Travelling to Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the writer explores regions where next war feels inevitable rather than possible. Residents discuss Hezbollah missile stockpiles, Iranian proxies, and existential threats facing small nation surrounded by enemies sworn to its destruction. Unlike…
Meeting Auschwitz survivors living in Israel reveals how Holocaust memory shapes contemporary Israeli consciousness whilst simultaneously getting weaponised by critics dismissing Israeli policies as equivalent to Nazi atrocities. Survivors describe unspeakable horrors whilst observing with…
Beyond politics and conflict, the writer explores ordinary life revealing cultural richness often obscured by violence. Israeli society's diversity encompasses Ethiopian Jews maintaining ancient traditions, Russian immigrants bringing Soviet cultural influences, Mizrahi communities preserving Middle…
As the investigation approaches conclusion, encounters become more reflective, examining whether understanding gained through six months provides grounds for optimism or confirms pessimistic assessments about intractability. Meeting with various experts, activists, and ordinary citizens reveals no…
Meeting with Israeli academics reveals how universities become battlegrounds for ideological warfare. Professors discovering Jewish racist DNA, claiming Arabs are true ancient Israelites, or presenting Israel as apartheid state worse than South Africa demonstrate how scholarship serves advocacy…
As the investigation nears completion, the writer reflects on whether asking who is right proves itself the wrong question. Framing conflict as moral contest between righteous and wrongful sides obscures reality where both populations possess legitimate grievances, historical claims, and security…
As six months conclude, the writer prepares to leave Israel having accumulated countless observations but no simple conclusions. Final encounters reinforce patterns observed throughout: staged demonstrations where journalists, activists, and protestors collaborate in producing footage for…
A German-Israeli writer returns to Israel after three decades abroad, posing as a German tourist to investigate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Armed with irony and theatrical absurdity, he travels through Israel, the West Bank, and occasionally Jordan, speaking with settlers, peace activists, Palestinian leaders, Knesset members, rabbis, European diplomats, and NGO workers who funnel millions into the region. What emerges is a satirical portrait of hypocrisy on all sides.