The Lone Israeli Voice on Arabic Television

Ashley Key: "Idit Barr, thank you so much for talking with me today. I'm very excited to talk to you about many things regarding Israel and all the things that are happening. But first, I just wanted to know a little bit more about you. You are a scholar of Islam. You speak fluent Arabic. What led you to become a scholar of Islam in the Arabic world?" 

Idit Bar: "My family. They came from Iran. And, they had to convert by force to, Islam. So they lived like Muslims outside. But, indoors, they kept the Judaism. They practiced Judaism. They prayed. But they had to, pretend to the listeners. I was raised in this environment of Arabic and Islam, on this side of this slide. So, I was very interested in, in this field." 

Ashley Key: "Many, many Islamic news outlets and Muslim news outlets have you on their programs. How does that make you feel?" 

Idit Bar: "Yeah, I don't think they like me. They even. They hate me. But sometimes they must have been someone from Israel. So they they bring me to the interview. But I always, you know, I fight with them because time and you try to impose their narrative. This is our land. We live. We're not, we didn't came from, we didn't come from Europe. We are not, you know, colonialist. They always stand by Hamas and by the terrorist groups and it's really annoying. So I don't give up otherwise I fight with them, I answer them, I really respect them, I say hello and everything. But you know, I can't let them spread these lies." 

Ashley Key: "How does the Arabic world react when you really lay out the facts when it comes to, the nation of Israel and their right to be here?" 

Idit Bar: "You know, the Arab world is not homogenous, it's diverse, some Arabs and maybe most of the Arabs, when they comment on my posts they, they say I'm a liar. And they're raised of such hatred to the Jews, but they don't want to hear the facts." 

Ashley Key: "What would you say you need to know about the Arab world, the Muslim world, when it comes to this conflict?" 

Idit Bar: "They take advantage of this freedom of speech in order to, you know, to fight the West. And I think this is the real danger of the West, and the West is next." 

Ashley Key: "Many, many young people who get behind the rally cry of free Palestine. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea. Palestine will be free. Can you please educate, the younger generation? What exactly that means when they say that." 

Idit Bar: "The original slogan is not from there to the sea. Palestine is a free. The original slogan is for the waters, to the waters. Palestine will be Arab, so it means ethnic cleansing. They don't understand this is what they want. Free Palestine from what? If you want to free Palestine, the they show the map Israel. So where are the Jews supposed to be? They don't understand which river, which sea. They don't understand the difference between the Mississippi River and the Jordan River. And they don't know which river and which sea. So we just chanting things with slogans. It sounds good." 

Ashley Key: "What message would you give to to the Arab world?" 

Idit Bar: "I want to reach them, to deliver my messages to them because they have the influence to make changes in the Arab world, to change education, to change the brainwashing, to change, you know, the ideology this ideology just brought, you know, destruction. You see what happened to Gaza? So I think they have to change these extreme ideology and to build a better future for their children." 

Ashley Key: "Last message that you would want our viewers to really take away from in this interview today." 

Idit Bar: "We need the help we need to, to stand with Israel, it's like, between, David and Goliath because we are David, even though they want to show the opposite, that they are David and we are Goliath. It's not like that. You know, we are the small, smaller state, and we have to keep keep it safe. And you should help us, because I think that, Israel is fighting for the world, for all the world, for all the free world. We are just in the forefront, you know, and, I think the West should be with us. We’re fighting for them and for their freedom and for their values."