Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Israeli Election Committee bans ad by Arab party that mocks Avigdor Lieberman singing the Hatikva

 (I lost this post earlier today, due to some malfunction)

Israel's Election Committee Chairperson, Judge Eliyakim Rubenstein, has banned a campaign ad of the National Democratic Assembly (NDA) for mocking Hatikva, the national anthem. The banned ad was to be heard on Israeli radio from Tuesday. Judge Rubenstein said that "from listening to the radio broadcast I learned that it broadcasts Hativka in a distorted manner that ridicules Hatikva, the anthem of the state of Israel. This is not acceptable to me as part of election campaigning. See the ad below. In the beginning and prior to the singing, Foreign Minister Lieberman is heard saying that "I've already tried to pass a law conditioning receipt of an identity card with a statement of loyalty to the singing of Hativka. In the next Knesset I will again attempt to pass this legislation. But now I've reached the conclusion that the anthem should be made suitable for the Arab population, so they can identify with it." Following the singing, the ad asks: "funny? the situation is really not funny. These laws must be opposed. We must not leave the arena to them. This is the time for the NDA. h/t The Alternative Information Centre.

There is more to this ad, though. From the site +972 we learn that there is an original version: Lieberman himself murdering the Hatikva at a party meeting in an unparalleled way:
.

The Lieberman performance led to some parodies, like this jazzy version: 


 Or a more 'classical' adaptation:


On +972 there is even more. None of these have been banned so far, it seems. But then, these are not used in election campaigns. And oh, they have not been made by Arabs...

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