The parody
Israel lodges formal complaint over 'disgraceful' Toy parody
Dutch show's 'Toy' parody deemed 'disgraceful,' 'biased' and with 'anti-Semitic hints' by Israel, who files complaint in response; broadcaster airing the show denies it being an 'indictment against the Jewish community,' stressing it was meant to criticize Israel's policy in regards to the Palestinians.
Israel has filed a formal complaint Tuesday over a parody of Netta Barzilai's Eurovision winning song "Toy," which it claimed "crossed a line" by making jokes "in bad taste" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict many deemed as anti-Israeli and even anti-Semitic.
The parody song, which aired on Sunday during Dutch comedian Sanne Wallis de Vries' satirical show "Sanne Wallis the Show," was a satirical rendition of the Israeli song that mocked the Israeli Palestinian conflict and recent bloody border clashes and implied that the US’s opening of its new embassy in Jerusalem was yet another way to make money.
In response, Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands Aviv Shir-On wrote a letter of complaint to the Dutch Foreign Ministry and to the public broadcaster airing the satirical show, BNNVARA, in which he said that while "freedom of speech, freedom of the press and satire, are important elements of a democratic and pluralistic society… in that show you went too far."
The parody
"Israel has to defend itself since it was founded 70 years ago because the Arabs have rejected, to this day, every square centimeter of Jewish independence. In recent weeks Israel was defending itself once again," he added, referring to recent Hamas-sponsored protests on the Gaza border which claimed the lives of more than 100 Palestinians.
"Again people paid with their lives and you made a joke out of it. Showing sad and depressing videos in the background of the Israeli Eurovision winning song was not only bad taste it was wrong and disgraceful.
"This is a sad and depressing situation that has lasted for many years. We don’t rejoice when Palestinians are killed. When people lose their lives, and it doesn’t matter on which side, we don't laugh. You shouldn’t either.
"We can live with criticism, we do it ourselves often and intensely, but we do not cross the lines. You did."
Parody of the song 'Toy'
Shir-On than stressed that while the performers' rendition was "good and well performed," the rest of it was "very problematic."
"It was not only biased against Israel, it included unfortunately also some anti-Semitic hints like mocking kosher food or referring to money in the old anti-Jewish way,” he added. “It is not only unacceptable, it is dangerous."
While de Vries refused to comment on the criticism, BNNVARA issued a statement denying the performance was in any way anti-Semitic, stressing it was instead meant to criticize Israel's policy in regards to the Palestinians.
Netta Barzilai performing at the Eurovision contest (Photo: Reuters)
"In Sanne Wallis the Show, events of the past week are discussed in a satirical manner," the channel stated. "Last week Israel winning the Eurovision song contest coincided with a flare-up in the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
"The parody brings Israel's policy up for discussion and is emphatically not an indictment against the Jewish community."
