Saturday, January 30, 2010

Israeli Comics Satirize IDF in Haiti

It's interesting to see how differently Israel is portrayed in the U.S. vs. in Israel. In American entertainment, no comedian -- no matter how "dangerous," "daring," or "cutting edge" -- dares to seriously mock Israel. A gentle ribbing, perhaps, but nothing harsh.

Israeli comics, however, mock Israel as harshly as American comics mock America.

Here's a clip from the Israeli TV show, It's a Wonderful Country, a sort of Israeli Saturday Night Live. The point of the joke, apparently, is that Israel sent only a token rescue force to Haiti, and only for P.R. purposes.



Something else you don't see on American TV. The "black actor" in this clip appears to be a white actor in blackface. Note his white arm.

There is a sizable black Ethiopian Jewish population in Israel, but I guess they have yet to make inroads into TV. However, I don't suppose Arab countries are any more enlightened in their attitude toward blacks.

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