(The Guardian, Jpost).The Israeli government has been forced to apologise for circulating a spoof video mocking activists aboard the Gaza flotilla, nine of who were shot dead by Israeli forces last week.
The YouTube clip, set to the tune of the 1985 charity single We Are the World, features Israelis dressed as Arabs and activists, waving weapons while singing: "We con the world, we con the people. We'll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is Jack the Ripper."
It continues: "There's no people dying, so the best that we can do is create the biggest bluff of all."
The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists at the weekend, but within hours emailed them an apology, saying it had been an error. Press office director Danny Seaman said the video did not reflect official state opinion, but in his personal capacity he thought it was "fantastic".
Seaman said the link to the video “We Con the World” was accidentally sent out to members of the foreign press on Friday along with hundreds of e-mails that are sent out on a daily basis, and does not represent any official stance of the GPO. After the e-mail was sent, the GPO sent out a statement explaining that the video “was not intended for general release” and that its contents “in no way represent the official policy of either the Government Press Office or of the State of Israel.”
“We only send out videos that are officially from the government. This was a private video so it was not something that we could send out. We have corrected the mistake, but we understand that making a mistake and then correcting it is something that foreign journalists in Israel aren’t always familiar with,” Seaman told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The video, made by the satirical news Web site Latma TV (www.latma.co.il) depicts a number of people, some wearing keffiyehs and speaking in faux Arab accents, performing a song called “We Con the World” set to the tune of “We Are the World.”
The performers are meant to represent members of the Gaza flotilla, and as they wave knives in the air, they sing about convincing the world “to abandon reason” and believe “that the Hamas is Mother Theresa.”
Since it was posted in the wake of the Gaza flotilla raid, the video has garnered well over a million hits and has been featured extensively in the Israeli media. It has also been mentioned on CNN, Speigel Online, and on blogs featured on The New York Times and Atlantic monthly Web sites.
Jacobson is one of three actors employed regularly by Latma, and can be seen in previous clips portraying White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel calling himself a “Capo,” and in semi-blackface (“autumn-face”) as US President Barack Obama, in whose guise he sings of his hatred for “dirty Jews” and his hope that the Koran will rule the world and the Jews will drown in the sea, before calling for Iran to strike Israel with a hydrogen bomb.
Jacobson said he believes that such videos don’t cross the line between good taste and bad taste and “are obviously satire and must be taken as satire, and not word for word. People must take them with a sense of humor.”
He added that Latma didn’t make the video as any sort of official Israeli advocacy, saying, “We are a private group. We didn’t think of hasbara for the State of Israel, but we absolutely thought to do something for the people of Israel, to bring them a smile and put things in proportion.”
Government spokesman Mark Regev said the video reflected how Israelis felt about the incident. "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny," he said. "It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it."
The YouTube clip, set to the tune of the 1985 charity single We Are the World, features Israelis dressed as Arabs and activists, waving weapons while singing: "We con the world, we con the people. We'll make them all believe the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is Jack the Ripper."
It continues: "There's no people dying, so the best that we can do is create the biggest bluff of all."
The Israeli government press office distributed the video link to foreign journalists at the weekend, but within hours emailed them an apology, saying it had been an error. Press office director Danny Seaman said the video did not reflect official state opinion, but in his personal capacity he thought it was "fantastic".
Seaman said the link to the video “We Con the World” was accidentally sent out to members of the foreign press on Friday along with hundreds of e-mails that are sent out on a daily basis, and does not represent any official stance of the GPO. After the e-mail was sent, the GPO sent out a statement explaining that the video “was not intended for general release” and that its contents “in no way represent the official policy of either the Government Press Office or of the State of Israel.”
“We only send out videos that are officially from the government. This was a private video so it was not something that we could send out. We have corrected the mistake, but we understand that making a mistake and then correcting it is something that foreign journalists in Israel aren’t always familiar with,” Seaman told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The video, made by the satirical news Web site Latma TV (www.latma.co.il) depicts a number of people, some wearing keffiyehs and speaking in faux Arab accents, performing a song called “We Con the World” set to the tune of “We Are the World.”
The performers are meant to represent members of the Gaza flotilla, and as they wave knives in the air, they sing about convincing the world “to abandon reason” and believe “that the Hamas is Mother Theresa.”
Since it was posted in the wake of the Gaza flotilla raid, the video has garnered well over a million hits and has been featured extensively in the Israeli media. It has also been mentioned on CNN, Speigel Online, and on blogs featured on The New York Times and Atlantic monthly Web sites.
Jacobson is one of three actors employed regularly by Latma, and can be seen in previous clips portraying White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel calling himself a “Capo,” and in semi-blackface (“autumn-face”) as US President Barack Obama, in whose guise he sings of his hatred for “dirty Jews” and his hope that the Koran will rule the world and the Jews will drown in the sea, before calling for Iran to strike Israel with a hydrogen bomb.
Jacobson said he believes that such videos don’t cross the line between good taste and bad taste and “are obviously satire and must be taken as satire, and not word for word. People must take them with a sense of humor.”
He added that Latma didn’t make the video as any sort of official Israeli advocacy, saying, “We are a private group. We didn’t think of hasbara for the State of Israel, but we absolutely thought to do something for the people of Israel, to bring them a smile and put things in proportion.”
Government spokesman Mark Regev said the video reflected how Israelis felt about the incident. "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny," he said. "It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it."