Cactus Wars: Mascot Dispute Gets Prickly
Image by iStock
They’re big, funny and cute. But two popular Israeli mascots are going to be facing off in court.
Kishkashta is a jolly singing cactus seen on Israeli Educational Television. You can sneak a look at him here, on YouTube. Now, take a peek at the Israel Olympic Committee’s mascot, Shpitzik, here.
There’s a similarity between the 35-year-old Kishkashta and the younger Shpitzik. Both are prickly, and resemble the sabra, the fruit that is a symbol of Israel. But the Israel Olympic Committee says that the similarity is too striking — and therefore Shpitzik should be pulled. According to the Jerusalem, Post when Israeli Educational Television saw Shpitzik it asked the Olympic committee to use Kishkashta instead.
When the committee didn’t comply, it petitioned the court, insisting: “Kishkashta is the intellectual property of Educational Television, and as such enjoys copyright and trademark protection.” Anyone else think that in the spirit of the Olympics the two characters should decide the dispute with a contest? There’s fencing at the games, remember.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
News In Edan Alexander’s hometown in New Jersey, months of fear and anguish give way to joy and relief
-
Fast Forward What’s next for suspended student who posted ‘F— the Jews’ video? An alt-right media tour
-
Opinion Despite Netanyahu, Edan Alexander is finally free
-
Opinion A judge just released another pro-Palestinian activist. Here’s why that’s good for the Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.