[lit-ideas] Re: ye olde political mindset
- From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:42:44 -0400
Here's some humanity.... -EY
Satirists Poke Fun at Israel, Hezbollah
By MATTI FRIEDMAN
Associated Press Writer
<snip>
The undisputed star of the past three weeks, however, is
Nasrallah.
The Hezbollah leader, said Muli Segev, Eretz Nehederet's
executive producer, has become no less than an Israeli media
icon. Segev's show portrays him as a megalomaniac who wants
little more than to star on Israeli TV, loudly proclaiming
his status as a "ratings magician."
Off the screens of mainstream commercial television, the
Hezbollah leader has inspired examples of low-blow humor of
the kind distributed over the Internet.
One is a song that has achieved national fame: "Yallah Ya
Nasrallah," essentially a string of schoolyard epithets
directed at the Hezbollah leader along with a promise of
imminent assassination. An animated clip of similar subtlety
has Nasrallah introducing himself as DJ Hassan, rapping
about bombarding Israel, morphing into a scantily-clad,
bearded belly dancer, then getting hit by a missile and
disappearing in puff of smoke.
Israel's inability to make the real Nasrallah similarly
disappear has also been fair game for satire.
On "Eretz Nehederet," the chief of staff notes hopefully
that Nasrallah hasn't been heard from in several days and
might be dead, only to have the Hezbollah leader himself
show up in person at the studio to prove him wrong. This
still isn't enough to convince the army spokeswoman, also in
the studio, who suggests this live appearance might be
"pre-taped."
But some charge that satirists are avoiding tough issues,
such as whether the war is being run properly and why
Israel's mighty military has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket
barrages.
Ehud Asheri, a TV critic and columnist for the daily
newspaper Ha'aretz, said there's wall-to-wall support for
the war, and that public "isn't willing to tolerate anyone
undermining this." By concentrating on targets like
Nasrallah, Asheri said, shows like Eretz Nehederet are
avoiding the real issues.
"We're all dancing around the communal bonfire right now,"
said Kobi Arieli, a columnist and satirist for the daily
Ma'ariv.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIDEAST_FIGHTING_WAR_HUMOR?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-08-05-03-28-02
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