Offbeat Israel: ‘Mohammed’ the Shoe and a Studio Full of Pizza-Lovers
Israeli entertainment just can’t seem to stop generating controversy at the moment. In recent days, we have had Holocaust survivors taking offense at a skit with Hitler looking for parking in Tel Aviv, Christians taking offense at a skit on Jesus and Mary, and now it is Muslims who have been insulted.
Settler Natan Beshevkin, a contestant on the Hebrew-language version of the reality show “Survivor,” called one of his shoes Mohammed. He referred to his other shoe as Nasrin, an Arab contestant now voted off the show, with whom Beshevkin clashed repeatedly.
Meanwhile, those opposed to reality TV have also generated themselves some publicity. Three striking television writers burst in to a studio at Channel 10 as the respected news program “The Day That Was” was being broadcast live. They had entered the building posing as pizza deliverers. (One wonders quite how much pizza Israeli TV presenters eat to make it plausible that three delivery people were needed.)
They were protesting that the trend of funds for television being increasingly channeled to reality shows and away from scripted TV was not getting coverage in the news.
They were promptly dragged out of the studio having yelled little that was decipherable except for the claim that “they,” presumably TV bosses, are taking “all the money” away from them. But they seemed to get what they wanted: The presenter felt it necessary to give viewers an explanation of what just happened, so the protestors’ grievances were heard on TV news.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
