A breakthrough seems to have occurred in the eternally stonewalled Israeli/Arab conflict, and yet not a shot was fired, a curfew lifted, or an olive branch extended—and neither Barack nor Bibi made the first move toward a kiss. Indeed, this unofficial rapprochement was done without ambassadors and starchy protocols. In fact, this inkling of peace owes much more to the programmatic instincts of TV diplomacy.
A new dramatic series called, The Jewish Quarter, which first aired in Egypt, then throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and now on public television in the West Bank, is attracting the kind of eyeballs that even the suits over at Showtime covet for Homeland. During the holy month of Ramadan, when television series are ardently consumed, The Jewish Quarter was running on several channels repeatedly throughout the day in Egypt. With Ramadan now over, it has a 40 percent share of the prime time market in the West Bank.