Life

Jalestinians End Middle East Strife via Sick Australian Comedy

By Dan Friedman October 26, 2009

For those who think Sacha Baron Cohen is a little tame, here comes Australian comedian John Safran. In his latest series, “Race Relations,” he attempts to create a Jalestinian by donating Jewish sperm at a Palestinian sperm bank and Palestinian sperm at an Israeli one.

As Dan Goldberg notes at JTA: “The pasty-faced, bespectacled Safran even visits the grave of his mother, the daughter of Polish Bundists, armed with a spade and a kabbalah book seeking an answer to this question: “When it comes to love, should you stick with your tribe or escape your tribe?””

In Safran’s “Portnoy’s Complaint” liver moment (notable for its denunciation by the Australian Family Association as “the lowest point in Australian television history”) he sniffs underwear he’s stolen from Jewish and non-Jewish women. This will help him determine “scientifically” whether he is simply more attracted to non-Jewish women.

With science like that, who can doubt that peace is near?

To get a sense of the gentle tone and sensitive topics covered by the show, watch the series trailer below:

Watch Safran’s visit to sperm banks below:

Hat tip Eli Valley and, possibly, Digger.

Dan Friedman is the former executive editor and whisky correspondent of the Forward, and is the author of a book about Tears for Fears, the ’80s emo rock band.

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