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This episode’s guest is content creator and YouTuber Tal Oran, also known as The Traveling Clatt. Oran, who became famous as a travel blogger, has changed the focus of his work since the start of the war and now uses his platform for Israeli advocacy. In the conversation, he explains his unique approach, which focuses on addressing the Arab world from a Mizrahi Jewish identity, and his theory about the identity of the peoples of the Middle East.
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The “Arab Jew” tactic
At the beginning of the conversation, Tal Oran explains that he does not define himself or Mizrahi Jews as Arabs, but he uses this label intentionally and defiantly toward his Arab audience. According to him, when a Palestinian activist claimed he was an Arab, he adopted the title sarcastically. His logic is that if he is an Arab, then any conflict between him and a Palestinian is an internal Arab matter, similar to internal conflicts in Syria or Lebanon, and therefore cannot be defined as colonialism or apartheid. Following the same line of reasoning, he argues that if he is an Arab, he can decide that Ashkenazi and Ethiopian Jews are also Arabs, and therefore they too have a full right to live in the land.
The transition from travel to advocacy
Oran talks about his career as a successful travel blogger for about ten years. He admits that during that time he avoided dealing with politics or sharing his family’s stories from Arab countries, because he felt it did not fit the lighthearted atmosphere of the travel world. He describes a sense of shame for not having used his platform for advocacy earlier.
The change began in 2022, when he created a series of videos about different communities in Israel. He later tried to replicate the format in Asia but failed. With the outbreak of the war, while he was in the Philippines, he felt helpless. After three months of deliberation, he decided to leave everything, sell his belongings, and fly to Israel on a one-way ticket to devote himself to advocacy. The transition came at a personal and professional cost. He lost sponsorship deals, many friends who did not understand the change he went through, and many followers who left him at the beginning. He describes a difficult period when he was almost homeless and survived financially thanks to the support of his followers.
Methods of operation and reaching the Arab world
Oran’s main goal is to reach audiences in the Arab and Muslim world. He uses platforms like OmeTV to enter into confrontations and discussions with young people from Arab countries. He usually opens his conversations with the greeting “salam alaikum” and sometimes wears a keffiyeh, according to him, to attract the desired audience and confuse them. He edits the recorded conversations and uploads them to social media, sometimes in a humorous way. He tells of a viral conversation with a young Iraqi woman, in which he managed to change her opinion about Israel thanks to their shared background as people of Iraqi origin.
According to him, he receives thousands of messages of support from Arabs and Muslims around the world, who tell him they agree with him but are afraid to speak out publicly. He believes that his videos, in which he confronts the Palestinian narrative and presents historical facts, create a wide resonance in the Arab world.
A vision for a new Mizrahi advocacy
Oran argues that Israeli advocacy, which for the last hundred years has been led mainly by Ashkenazi Jews from the West, has failed. In his view, the attempt to brand Israel solely as a democratic and liberal state was a mistake, as proven by the rise of antisemitism in the world. The solution, in his opinion, lies in the story of Mizrahi and Ethiopian Jews. He believes the Mizrahi story shatters antisemitic stereotypes and provides an effective answer to anti-Israeli propaganda. His goal is to build a “digital army” of content creators who will spread the Mizrahi and Ethiopian narrative worldwide.
Deconstructing the “Arab” identity
Oran presents a theory according to which most people in the Middle East who define themselves as Arabs are not actually ethnically Arab. He claims they are descendants of ancient indigenous peoples, such as Copts, Arameans, or Phoenicians, who underwent a process of colonization and Arabization. He believes that most Palestinians are descendants of ancient Israelites or Samaritans. However, he emphasizes that a Jewish genetic identity does not absolve them of responsibility for their actions if they choose a jihadist ideology.
He believes that helping these populations rediscover their original, non-Arab identity can dismantle the vast pan-Arab collective and create a basis for peace between smaller communities.
The conflict in Judea and Samaria
At the end of the conversation, Oran addresses the situation in Judea and Samaria. He argues that the responsibility for the ongoing violence lies with the Israeli government, which for years has avoided making a decision about the future of the territory. According to him, the government must decide whether the area will become a Palestinian state, an option he considers a grave mistake, or be fully annexed to Israel. He emphasizes that despite the picture presented in the media, many relationships of coexistence and cooperation also exist on the ground between Jews and Arabs.
The original episode, in Hebrew: הקרב על הנרטיב