Conclusion

In the last decade there has been an increased ‘discrepancy’ between the openly growing display of hostility shown by the Jews towards the Palestinians, mainly following the intifada, and the growth in the number of plays in which Israeli Arabs and Palestinians appear in central roles. An explanation for this apparent contradiction lies in the nature of Israeli theatre practitioners: playwrights, actors, designers and audience. The Israeli playwright fits the concept of ‘transindividuel’ as determined by Lucien Goldmann. He represents the beliefs and opinions of a specific group in Israeli society. Just as the novels of Dickens teach about Victorian England’s answers to poverty as provided by the enlightened bourgeois classes in the 19th century, ¹ so too does the Israeli play throw light upon the attitude of a particular cultural group towards the Israeli Arabs and the Palestinians in the occupied territories. The Israeli playwrights (Yehoshua Sobol, Miriam Kaney, Hillel Mittelpunkt, Yosef Mundi, Daniella Carmi, Sami Michael and others) belong to a minority group which is able to influence that sector of the Jewish population whose attitude to the Arabs is openly positive and aspires towards coexistence. These playwrights write for directors and actors who mainly identify with their own opinions and for a familiar audience with which they clarify problems as well as consolidate viewpoints, some explicit and others indicated by the text.