Satire video about Israeli pressure on Sweden causes a stir on Facebook

I don’t usually do satire videos, but I know the first one I did almost 3 years ago quickly became the most watched video I had ever published on my Youtube channel. Yesterday, I had some inspiration to do another one, that I published on Facebook, and it also gained views very fast.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? The video in question is a satire news broadcast where I pose as a news anchor interviewing a fictitious Israeli government spokesman that I gave the name ‘’Ben Sharmouta’ (which translates loosely in Arabic into ‘son of a prostitute’) about the alleged backtracking of the Swedish government on their announced plans to recognize Palestine. Doing his voice, I imitate the typical Ashkenazi accent, and put statements in his mouth that may very well be true, but that such a spokesman would never say.

However, there were two things that surprised me, and I like to call both of them ‘misunderstandings’. The first misunderstanding, which frankly surprised me the most, was the fact that from the comments on the video, it became clear that there were many viewers who took this as a real newscast, judging from their angry posts about the despicable attitude and statements of Ben Sharmouta. Well, this is one of the reasons I am writing this, which is to clarify once and for all that this is a completely fabricated satire video, and not a real newscast.

Israeli spokesmen rarely are rude, and yes their names are ridiculous (remember the guy called Shitreet?), but believe me they wouldn’t qualify for the job if their name meant ‘son of a prostitute’ in Arabic. These usually ultra-smooth and sneaky Zionist wolves have received extensive media training, and would never say things like ‘we squeezed their balls’, which is one of the many reasons why I thought that no one would take this as a serious newscast. Still, many did, and although I am over my astonishment now, this for a while had me truly flabbergasted.

The second misunderstanding was of a different nature, namely that of taking this video too seriously while being well aware that it is not a real broadcast. Some responders went to extensive lengths to make it clear that according to their sources, Sweden had not retracted nor watered down its plans to recognize the Palestinian state. My response to these people is quite simply that it doesn’t really matter whether they have, or have not.

I suppose that satire is risky business, and prone to giving rise to misunderstandings. Satire is meant to provoke, make people laugh, and keep everyone sharp. It is under no obligation to be as factual as a true newscast, since it utilizes fictitious premisses in many respects, often including the actual truth of the news item. What sparked the creation of this video was news reported by Ynet, which stated that Sweden had more or less retracted its plan.

This later appeared to be nothing but the tendentious mind-games of Ynet trying to undermine Sweden’s credibility in its brave plans to single-handedly move towards recognition of the Palestinian state. Ha’aretz later published a report where Israeli Labor Party chairman and opposition leader Isaac Herzog stated very clearly that Sweden is not backtracking on its intentions, and that it is merely seeking a dialogue on the issue with ‘Israel’, and has no date set for its plan of recognition.

What we see here is politics in play: statements have been made, and are subsequently being explained in whichever way suits the goals of those who give a public explanation to them. The bottom line is: when given the benefit of the doubt, apparently Sweden is sticking to its plan to recognize Palestine, and we of course applaud this move wholeheartedly. Go ahead and sign the petition in support of Lofven’s government here! Go Sweden!

Fortunately, there were also quite a few people who had really understood the gist of this playful Zionist-bashing video.

My satirical video focuses on the workings of a Zionist mindset, and on exposing what many of us believe goes on behind the scenes in such a situation. That is all. The video is not a criticism of Sweden; on the contrary, it portrays the Israelis as the conniving warmongers and aggressors that they really are.

Are you curious now? Well, go and have a look, you can find it posted here below. Just promise me you won’t watch this as if you are watching Al Jazeera English or CNN, but watch it with an open mind for some sense of humor. And if you don’t think it’s funny, believe me, that is completely fine. I’m not a comedian whose mission it is to make people laugh. I just made a quick little video that resulted from my playful creativity, and all I can say is: I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and by the way: this article is by no means meant to be understood as satire.

Transcript of the video:

Doc Jazz: In a surprise move, the Swedish government has backtracked on its announced plans to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state, apparently after having been put under pressure by the Israeli government. In our studio, we now have a live connection with Shlomo Ben Sharmouta, spokesman for the Israeli regime.

Mister Ben Sharmouta, what is your opinion on the Swedish government’s position?

Ben Sharmouta: Their position is clear: they like the Khamas, they love the Khamas, they support terrorists who want to destroy the state of Israel. But they forgot who really has power in this world, and of course we were not going to sit back idly and watch them supporting the Khamas, so we moved in and we squeezed their balls. Tightly, and firmly.

Doc Jazz: Ummm … you squeezed their balls? Can you elaborate on that?

Ben Sharmouta: There is no need to get into details. You know what balls are, and you know what squeezing means. We squeezed the hell out of them, and they backtracked.

Doc Jazz: I see. And are you satisfied with the current Swedish statement?

Ben Sharmouta: Of course not. We have had issues with Sweden ever since our brave fighters killed Count Bernadotte in 1948. That Swedish prick was a so-called mediator, but what he was really going to do was undermine the interests of the Jewish state with the intention of destroying it, so we had to deal with him. We do not take such things lightly. You get in our way, we get rid of you.

Doc Jazz: Just like that? What about human rights, and international conventions?

Ben Sharmouta: That type of paperwork does not interest us. They can write down anything they like; we will do what we want. And have you ever seen them being able to impose International Law on us? We laugh in their face, because we have them by the balls, and all we need to do is squeeze, and we are very good at squeezing.

Doc Jazz: Interesting. Thank you Mr. Ben Sharmouta, is there anything you would like to add?

Ben Sharmouta: Am Israel Chai. Your time will come, Doc Jazz. You are a pain in the butt.

Doc Jazz: Yes, sure, always happy to be of pain to you. Thank you Ben Sharmouta, and say hello to your mom.

Dear viewers, thank you for watching this episode of Musical Intifada News. See you next time: this is Doc Jazz.