In 2007, Israelis chose Teapacks' (Tipex) English/ French/ Hebrew song “Push the Button” as their representative entry for the Eurovision song contest. [Story | MP3 | Lyrics ]. The band is from the town of Sderot in Israel, which may ring a bell as the town that the Palestinians love to hit with hundreds of lethal rockets. As an unsurprising adjunct, the humorous song also shines a light on Iran's panting fantasy of perpetrating the Second Holocaust.
Predictably, Eurovision organizers said they may ban the song and its "inappropriate political message." Wouldn't want to make fun of genocidal fascists or call attention to them, after all. But then, Europe used the exact same aproach in the 1930s with the last batch of genocidal fascists. In the end, however, they let the entry go forward and it finished 24th out of 28 [full contest results]. But the point had been made.
If Eurovision had chosen the path of appeasement, the second place song "Salaam Salami," also from Tipex. Its about salami tactics (what else?), where compromise with a fellow who wants a man's salami sandwich leads to the continuous slicing of the salami, and ends with the predator throwing him out the window and taking the sandwich.
If those are the top 2 voted entries in a national pop culture contest, I think it's safe to call them a window into the country's general state of mind.
[Correction to the above MP3 link, which is to "Salaam Salami": [Vid/Audio] --NM.]
Actually, that was last year. Check the dateline on the story that you linked to.
All your other points apply, though. I think that it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Israel will, before too long, "Push a Button" of its own.
Joe, FYI - the MP3 you posted was of the second song, Salaam Salami, not the first, Pushing the Button.
Sorry. Fixed that.
I don't think Israel will do anything. Too many factors constrain them. Not the least of which is safe, suburban life gives people the idea that every place is safe and suburban and that most people are not tribal, don't want killing and death and murder and blood.
Which is wrong. But they can't see it. Even now most Israelis cling to a fantasy that there is some "deal" to be made with: Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah, and Iran. There is none.
The tragic fact is that Israel can only have periods of calm (no real peace is possible) by crushing their enemies repeatedly and ruthlessly. They are not dealing with suburban Swiss but deeply tribal people who put tribe before all.
Those who knew this tragic fact, Dayan and Meir and so on, are all dead. The newer Israelis have never known anything but the suburbs.
Jeez, Jim Rockford, do ever comment without resorting to some variation of "crushing the tribals"? Hey, perhaps we should send Hamas blankets doused with TB.
Dolf, your post was of lower quality than the one you were trying to criticize. Please try to do better.
By the way, Joe, the song wasn't "banned" at Eurovision last year; it just didn't do very well.
Still, it's a pretty good modern-pop song: nice amalgam of styles and cool tempo changes. But what do appeasers know, huh?
As a result of the Eurovision controversy I bought all of Teapacks' CDs and they are GREAT!
Wide range of musical styles from disco to folk, and excellent songwriting and musicianship. Yes they are all in Hebrew but I think you can find translations at some websites and you really don't need them, the songs speak for themselves.
Also if you search on Youtube for their videos, they have 5-6 very well done music videos which introduce you to some of their songs.
Well, so what?
If Israel really wanted some ... interruption from being rocketed they'd hit Hamas really hard, and their supporters. Kill about 40% of the military age population and impoverish the rest. Take back some land. Create real incentives for Hamasistan to stop rocketing Israel.
But more than wanting rockets to stop, Israel wants to be "liked." They don't really apprehend the danger. They're not really serious. No one is.
Face it: modern technology gives even people like Hamasistan the ability to kill masses of modern Western people.
The song is trivial. What is important is what Israel will not do: kill.
They'd rather be liked.
Ho ho ho ho, I'd vote for Israel.
Eurovision is probably the only chance Europeans are allowed to vote, in most places, freely and together, and it is becoming some kind of contest for who makes the biggest transgresion.
Moreover, smaller countries usually have the same number of votes (in the contest) than bigger ones, so this is some kind of reversal of what is going on the European commission: smaller countries impose their rule against the "powers", which I think is felt like fresh air in this union of oligarchic interests.
BTW, this year the chat is centered on the issue of what it seems as an undisguished operation by the CIA to give the Former Yugoslavia more weight in Eurovision through the creation of a new country, a movement indeed directed from Washington that utterly shatters the musical dominance of the old powers.
ho ho ho ho ho ho
"Wouldn't want to make fun of genocidal fascists or call attention to them, after all. But then, Europe used the exact same aproach in the 1930s with the last batch of genocidal fascists."
Hyperventilate much there, Joe?
Clearly, while Hama says - or Palestinians say - that Israel doesn't have a right to exist, then Israel is fully justified in not having any communication with them.
However, genocidal has some specific traits. Mainly, it requires capability - otherwise, you have to be more accurate, and go with "murderous intent", or some such.
At any rate, a link to actual number of Israelis killed, to actual number of Palestinians killed since October 2000.
Those numbers:
982 Palestinian children
119 Israeli children
4710 total Palestinians
1044 total Israeli
More numbers at that link.
DISCLAIMER: It's a weird date on that - Sept 29, 2000 - so the disparity here could possibly be an artifact - this link was the first link I found when I googled total Israeli, Palestinians deaths.
But, I'm sure, it would only be a partial artifact, that doesn't change the main point.
Lots more Palestinians are killed, over Israeli - so calling one group, who has 400% more deaths by the opposing force, "genocidal", is clearly not reflective of the total reality.
Also, from the link:
These numbers include civilians and combatants killed by members of the opposing nationality (and therefore, do not include Palestinians killed by an explosive device that they set or was on their person, Israelis killed in 'friendly fire' incidents, etc.). The numbers also do not include the sizable number of Palestinians who died as a result of inability to reach medical care due to Israeli road closures, curfews, etc.
The figure for Palestinian deaths is extremely conservative, since it is difficult for B'Tselem to report on deaths in the Palestinian territories. The Palestine Red Crescent Society, internationally respected for its statistical rigor, reports significantly higher numbers of Palestinian deaths. We do not doubt the reliability of their data, and only use B'Tselem's more conservative numbers because they collect data on both populations.
If more Palestinians are being killed than Israelis, then why do the Palestinians continue to fire rockets into Israel? Wouldn't the Palis have a modicum of intelligence and realize they were shooting themselves in the foot?
I'm with Gringo on this one. If the Palestinians truly wanted peace and were willing to follow the route, say, that the Mormons took in the 1800s, then the war would cease and the death rates on both sides would fall precipitously.
If the Israelis truly wanted peace...oh, wait, they do. They just can't get past that thing where the Palestinians keep trying to kill them.
First intent matters. A group of five who initiates an attempt to kill one has greater moral culpability than one does if he manages to kill the five first. This culpability persists - despite the imbalance in the numbers killed - because self-defense is an inalienable human right just as uncompromising ethnic hatred is an inexcusable human blight.