The vision of the late Herzel was that the people of Israel will be a nation like all nations. Herzel was a brilliant dreamer, a great philosopher and maybe the most daring entrepreneur with his crazy idea of a Jewish state , but boy , He got that one wrong. We were never a nation like all nations , the state of Israel, being the vessel that holds this nation will also never be another Sweden or Romania . Is there such a thing as a nation like all nations? Is Panama a lot like Denmark ?
The fact is that we are sorounded by countries that wish to eradicate this state. People who look at this with ease and say that I am a paranoid usually have a foreign passport , and usually they are not familiar with the mentality here in the Middle East. We have a peace treaty with Egypt for example ,and I know that the only thing that prevents Egypt from attacking Israel , is the understaning that they will lose. Again. Don't look for sentimental hopes for a better future. It's not the language these countries speak.
Israel being a democracy funded ,and when I say funded , I mean , gave money to all sorts of artists ,and this includes for example an Arab theatre that puts up shows and plays that encourage people to do whatever they can to destroy this state and kill its citizens . It is also known that if you wanted to succeed in show biz , you'd have to present left wing opinions. A movie about the so called occupations and the life of the poor Arabs would get funds. If you wanted to make a movie about let's say settlers , that actually shows them as good human beings , you'd be in a problem. The national song-writer Naomi Shemmer as well as the comedian Ephriam Kishon are not alive anymore to tell , how frustrating it was for an artist with right wing views , to live in this country. Ephraim Kishon moved to Switzerland partly for being so much ignored here.
But tables turn.
There came the ministress of Culture Miri Regev , and decided that any art work that comes against the mere existance of the state of Israrl will not be funded. That is to say , people in this country are very much welcome to mock the flag of Israel , to critisize its very existance , but they will not get money from the government . The uproar wasn't so grand ,because even left wing policymakers realize that this country cannot afford encouregement of Palestinian terror as part of its art with all due respect to the freedom of speach. It's called "The loyalty Bill" ,as if someone asked artists to be loyal . I wonder who made this name up .
This is from the Jerusalem Post :
"The bill seeks to cut state funding to cultural works or institutions that, among other things, harm or disrespect the symbols of the State of Israel; refer to Independence Day as a day of mourning; or incite to violence or terrorism. The legislation, which gained the backing of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon last month, will now move to the Knesset for debate and further voting."
So what's the problem?
There is no problem really , only Israeli media makes a lot of noise ,about how Israel is no longer democratic ,and how just like in dark regims , people are being hushed . An Arab saying goes : The camel cannot see his own hump. I see Israeli media as the camel , that for years hushed or ignored any piece of news that was not correlating to its agenda . Sometimes I felt , as a media consumer , that journalists didn't even notice how biased their quesitons were. I have never heard any journalist asking a certain Arab leader about his denail of the holocaust , never heard journalists ask , why is it that Arabs have so many rights in this country , but so little obligations , why is it that Arab Knesset members are actually working against the interests of this country. Israeli media was busy defending the Oslo greements ,and even more busy defending Mr Sharron during the "disengagement" . Israeli Journalist didn't even seem to realise how settlers are always presented as evil , while Palestinians as poor ,and at a certain point Israelis simply started to ignore the media ,and it has lost its most important asset -its crediblity.
So as Israeli radio and newspaper men rushed to the aid of extreme left-wing , Deputy Attorney-General Ms Dina Zilber , who stated her opinion on the Bill of Loyalty , I just thought , oh,please...
The fact is that we are sorounded by countries that wish to eradicate this state. People who look at this with ease and say that I am a paranoid usually have a foreign passport , and usually they are not familiar with the mentality here in the Middle East. We have a peace treaty with Egypt for example ,and I know that the only thing that prevents Egypt from attacking Israel , is the understaning that they will lose. Again. Don't look for sentimental hopes for a better future. It's not the language these countries speak.
Israel being a democracy funded ,and when I say funded , I mean , gave money to all sorts of artists ,and this includes for example an Arab theatre that puts up shows and plays that encourage people to do whatever they can to destroy this state and kill its citizens . It is also known that if you wanted to succeed in show biz , you'd have to present left wing opinions. A movie about the so called occupations and the life of the poor Arabs would get funds. If you wanted to make a movie about let's say settlers , that actually shows them as good human beings , you'd be in a problem. The national song-writer Naomi Shemmer as well as the comedian Ephriam Kishon are not alive anymore to tell , how frustrating it was for an artist with right wing views , to live in this country. Ephraim Kishon moved to Switzerland partly for being so much ignored here.
But tables turn.
There came the ministress of Culture Miri Regev , and decided that any art work that comes against the mere existance of the state of Israrl will not be funded. That is to say , people in this country are very much welcome to mock the flag of Israel , to critisize its very existance , but they will not get money from the government . The uproar wasn't so grand ,because even left wing policymakers realize that this country cannot afford encouregement of Palestinian terror as part of its art with all due respect to the freedom of speach. It's called "The loyalty Bill" ,as if someone asked artists to be loyal . I wonder who made this name up .
This is from the Jerusalem Post :
"The bill seeks to cut state funding to cultural works or institutions that, among other things, harm or disrespect the symbols of the State of Israel; refer to Independence Day as a day of mourning; or incite to violence or terrorism. The legislation, which gained the backing of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon last month, will now move to the Knesset for debate and further voting."
So what's the problem?
There is no problem really , only Israeli media makes a lot of noise ,about how Israel is no longer democratic ,and how just like in dark regims , people are being hushed . An Arab saying goes : The camel cannot see his own hump. I see Israeli media as the camel , that for years hushed or ignored any piece of news that was not correlating to its agenda . Sometimes I felt , as a media consumer , that journalists didn't even notice how biased their quesitons were. I have never heard any journalist asking a certain Arab leader about his denail of the holocaust , never heard journalists ask , why is it that Arabs have so many rights in this country , but so little obligations , why is it that Arab Knesset members are actually working against the interests of this country. Israeli media was busy defending the Oslo greements ,and even more busy defending Mr Sharron during the "disengagement" . Israeli Journalist didn't even seem to realise how settlers are always presented as evil , while Palestinians as poor ,and at a certain point Israelis simply started to ignore the media ,and it has lost its most important asset -its crediblity.
So as Israeli radio and newspaper men rushed to the aid of extreme left-wing , Deputy Attorney-General Ms Dina Zilber , who stated her opinion on the Bill of Loyalty , I just thought , oh,please...
