Iyad Shalabi became Israel's first Arab Paralympic medalist when he took gold in the 100-meter backstroke event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last week. It is thanks to him that the Israeli media reported on an Arab Israeli citizen in a context that had nothing to do with terrorism or crime.
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Israelis sat and watched Shalabi's father, the man who supported, embraced, and bathed his son, dedicating his life to Shalabi's success, kiss Shalabi as he emerged from the swimming pool. He speaks with an accent, and Hebrew is not his native tongue. Shalabi's beautiful mother gave birth to deaf-mute twins, one of whom, Iyad, would later become paralyzed after falling off a roof. We saw how her eyes sparkled when she was interviewed about her son's accomplishment on TV, and we, too, became emotional.
Shalabi's story is first and foremost one of overcoming immense adversity. It is one of a dedicated father and supportive mother. They are not Arabs first and everything else second. For a moment, the media did not treat them as a sector but as individuals, allowing us to witness an exciting story about people.
Shalabi joins a group of athletes united not by nationality but by tremendous willpower. He is judged not by his identity but rather by the objective criteria of distance and speed. He is an athlete with disabilities, and yes, he is an Arab. There are many more Arab, Bedouin, and Druze Israeli citizens with amazing personal stories, such as the late Ra'am MK Saeed Alkharumi, who will never be interviewed in any other context other than the fact that they are Arabs. Their profession will never be more important than their national identity.
In a majority of cases, Israeli media covers Arab Israeli citizens as Arabs period. Media coverage of Shalabi started in a similar vein, this was after all, what triggered the reporting. Slowly and surely, though, this became the secondary story. Shalabi did not take the podium as an Arab. His coach spoke of him solely as an athlete. He wasn't a political party or symbol but rather someone representing Israel.
This is the constant tension among minorities. On one hand, you need to exist and speak as a minority because that is what sets you apart. On the other hand, you want to become an integral part of society and assimilate. For that to happen, you must erase any minority symbols just to discover that no matter how much you erase, you will always be something you haven't erased enough of. In Shalabi's case, this dialogue of identity never existed in the first place. He simply got in the water and started to swim. And when that worked out for him, it was a moving event that made the media and ourselves relate not to an Arab swimmer with disabilities, but to Iyad the individual, and his achievements.
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