Reporting from Jerusalem - The camera zooms in on the face of an actor portraying a captive Israeli soldier as he reads a prepared statement.
"My captors are treating me well," says the anxious young man, who is meant to remind viewers of Gilad Shalit, a soldier held by Islamist militants for more than three years. "They are letting me drink and giving me food." A rifle barrel slowly peeks into the picture frame, and he quickly adds, "Kosher food."
The camera pans back to reveal that the kidnappers are not Palestinian terrorists, but Orthodox Jewish settlers, who are holding the soldier until the government allows them to continue building homes in the West Bank.
Irreverent and fearless, "Eretz Nehederet," Hebrew for "It's a Wonderful Country," is a "Saturday Night Live"-style satire that takes on everything from politics to pop culture, forcing Israelis to look in the mirror and laugh, but also to think.
If the extremists of Israeli society are losing their cool over something, it's a sign we're doing our job well. It's not surprising that extreme right-wing circles are outraged by this freedom of expression. This is what makes them extremists. And we are supposed to do our part [to] preserve this freedom.
More. You'll read, you'll enjoy...
No comments:
Post a Comment