Every year Israel sends off its representative for the Eurovision contest. The following audio is the song Israel will be sending this year (English and Hebrew lyrics below- if anyone can tell me the Arabic lyrics, it’s much appreciated), featuring the Jewish Achino’am Nini and the Arab Mira Awad:
Your Eyes
Achino’am Nini, Mira Awad and Gil DorThere must be another
Must be another wayYour eyes, sister
All that my heart desires- they say
We’ve walked, till now, a long path
Such a hard path
Hand in hand
And the tears drop, run in vain
A nameless pain
We only wait
For the day after, to comeThere must be another way
There must be another way[Arabic]
There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another wayA long path – we will walk
Such a hard path – together to the lightAnd when I cry
I cry for both of us
My pain has no name
And when I cry
I cry to the merciless sky and say
There must be another wayAnd the tears drop, run in vain
A nameless pain
We only wait
For the day after, to comeThere must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way
Israeli Pop Culture as Propaganda
With the first line; "There must be another way", I already realized I was in for yet another pseudo-pacifist ride, courtesy of the Israeli Hasbara. Make no mistake, this is the Hasbara at it’s finest: Israel is sending two of its most talented and educated, to deliver a message of peace to the world- one a Jew, one an Arab. The icing on the cake- being too good to orchestrate- is the physical role-reversal: Take a good look at that image, folks. Can you guess which of these two lovely ladies is the Jew and which is the Arab? (I’ll give you a hint: The Jewish Nini is of Yemen decent, while the Arab Awad is half Bulgarian.)
The rest of this piece of Hasbara cynicism talks about these non-identical " sisters’ " common "hard path", which they have walked "hand in hand". A complete disregard for facts is blatantly stated. As if Jews didn’t kill people in 1948 and ran the rest out, in fear for their lives. The remaining, being today’s Israeli Arabs- second rate citizens, who are fair game for all kinds of abuse. We are not in the summer of love and this ain’t Woodstock. Don’t play innocent. "Another way" is not something illusive and mystical, it’s a choice you make.
Typical Israeli Pacifist Ignorance and Patronization
I just wrote an article about the political aspects of the film Waltz with Bashir. Much of the analyses applies to the above song. This song demonstrates the typical Israeli ignorance towards the plight of the Israeli-Arab (resulting from the consistent brainwashing).
Nini is known for political statements. Her latest was an open letter to the Gazans (as published in Yedi’ot Acharonot), demonstrating exactly what train of thought brings you to write such an ignorant piece of work (limited by my translation):
"A letter to my Palestinian brothers in Gaza and everywhere,
I write to you with a heavy heart. Gaza is burning. The border with Israel is under fire. Children of both sides of the wall ["fence" in Hebrew] are terrified, scared for life, injured in body and soul. Life is lost, blood is spilt! Pain and tears and sorrow in every corner.
How familiar is this, my brothers? How well we all know these pictures, the fear that grips our thoughts, the hope that disappears from our hearts?
We have a common enemy, a terrible enemy, and we all must work together to eradicate it!
The enemy is the fanaticism. This enemy is extremism, in all its ugly forms of expression. The enemy is that which places god above life, that claim god to be their sword and shield, that claim god to be on their side. Jews, Muslims, Christians, all share this. All have fallen to this destructive, terrible extremism at some point in their past and the results were horrendous.
Now I see fanaticism raising its ugly head… I see her black eyes and her chilling smile. I see blood on her hands, and I know one of her many names: Hamas
You know her, too, my brothers. You know this ugly monster. You know she rapes your women and brainwashes your children. You know she preaches hate and death… She lives on your blood and yells Allah’s name in vain, using you, tormenting you and holding you hostage.
I see you in the streets sometimes, demonstrating with the monster, yelling "death to Jews, death to Israel", but I don’t believe you! I know where your heart really is. Your heart is where my heart is, with my children, with the land, with the sky, with music, with hope! You don’t want this but you have no choice. I see this from beyond your wall of fear, my brothers, from beyond your veil! I embrace your hope, as it is my hope.
I know that deep in your heart you pray for the death of the monster who’s name is Hamas, that casts terror and murdered you, that turned Gaza into a garbage pile that’s all poverty, sickness and despair, that in the name of Allah sacrificed you on the bleeding alter of honor and greed.
I can only pray for you that Israel will do the job that we all know needs to be done and eradicate this cancer for you, this virus, the monster who’s name is fanaticism, who’s name is Hamas and that these murderers will find a bit of compassion within their heart and stop using you and your children as a human shield for their cowardice and crimes.
And then, insha’allah [Arabic for "god willing"- in common use by Israelis], we’ll have a chance to step one towards the other, again, to extend a hand and say "Shalom, Saalam, enough"
With a broken heart that still hopes to love,
Your friend,
Achino’am Nini"
Typical Arab Pacifist Battered-Wife-Syndrome
I’ve observed this many times in both Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. These people are so desperate to just get on with their lives, they are willing to extend a hand no matter how clenched the fist is. I saw it in Dr. Izz el-Deen Aboul Aish, I saw it in this Z article and I see it in Mira Awad.
Granted, Awad may be able to live considerably comfortably for her European appearance, but I doubt she doesn’t know what it means to be an Arab in Israel. I also doubt she agrees with Nini on the Gaza issue. In her own words, from her MySpace page:
"… the village I grew up in- called Rama. it’s in the Upper Gallillee, it lies on the side of the Haidar mountain, it has alot of up-hill streets to keep you fit, but no Gyms, it has lot’s of trees and green, but no parks, it has culture but no cultural facilities, it has lot’s of fresh air but no proper sewage system…"
Interestingly enough, Awad decided to top her Myspace page with a different song than the one that’s competing in the Eurovision contest. A Nini-Awad collaboration that- I thought- was much more honest, deserving and realistic (and musically intriguing):
Bahlawan-Acrobat
(translation for Arabic lyrics will be much appreciated)
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