Watch | Jews and Arabs kiss in touching show of solidarity against Israeli book ban

An online video which features Arab and Jewish couples kissing seeks to break down cultural barriers between the two communities, after the Israeli Ministry of Education banned a book from schools which described an affair between a Jewish woman and an Arab man.

Published by Timeout Tel Aviv, the two-minute video includes a mixture of men and women, both gay and straight, locking lips to make an important statement, reports Gay Buzzer.

Jews-and-Arabs-kissing

“Six couples of Jews and Arabs – male and female, gay and straight – have decided to do the “forbidden deed” and express love in front of our camera,” read text in the video.

“Some of them were couples, some just friends, some have never met prior to the shoot.”

The book prompting the production of the video, Borderlife, was written by award-winning Israeli author Dorit Rabinyan.

Despite receiving Israel’s Bernstein literary prize, the novel was deemed was inappropriate for high school students and subsequently banned, writes The Guardian.

“Adolescent youth tend to romanticise and don’t have, in many cases, the systematic point of view that includes considerations about preserving the identity of the nation and the significance of assimilation,” said ministry official Dalia Fenig in a statement.

Hitting back at the ban, Rabinyan said the novel had tried to sidestep the conflict experienced by the two communities by instead focusing upon the differences and commonalities between its two leading characters.

“The two heroes spend a winter overseas and manage to get to know each other in great detail, something that could not happen on the disputed land,” said Rabinyan.

“Perhaps their ability to surmount the obstacles of the Middle East conflict is what threatens the education ministry.”

At the end of the video, filmmakers finish on one, but very important message:

“Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies”.

Watch the video right here:

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