Israeli Group Mocks Soros and Thomas Friedman
Philanthropist George Soros, New Israel Fund President Naomi Chazan and writer Thomas Friedman are the latest targets of the right-wing Israeli satirists who became famous for mocking the Gaza flotilla.
Latma, the group that made We Con The World about the flotilla that approached Gaza two years ago today, have set to music their claim that being a liberal Jew who criticizes elements of Israel’s conduct means… that you hate Israel. Soros, Chazan and Friedman are singled out.
A look-alike of Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the Israeli activist organization, is bitterly mocked. With a neon sign in the background which says “Boycott Israel!!!” he sings: “When Soros handed out cash by the truck, to funds, associations, every shmuck, we were okay, we immediately stressed, that we also hate Israel, every one of us.”
Joined by other characters, he sings the chorus, which is based on a 1960s musical “Kazablan,” which featured the lyric “we are all Jews.” The new chorus goes: “We are all Jews, from Durban to [the hub of Palestinian demonstrations against Israel] Bilin, 100% first class Jews, who want to go kiss some ass… we’ll always be there to incite, and Israel and Israel and Israel we condemn.”
Oppenheimer has reacted angrily to the video on his Facebook page, stressing that he promotes the two-state solution out of concern for Israel. He wrote that “systematically and cunningly, the right is attempting to portray whoever does not think like they do as anti-Israeli, as a traitor, as an enemy within.”
Watch ‘Jews United Against Israel’ (Contains Adult Language):
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
