Israelis vote for Eurovision nuclear apocalypse

Israelis have "voted overwhelmingly" to send a song having a poke at Iran's nuclear ambitions to this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC reports. In a move likely to have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad choking on his Rice Krispies this morning, Teapacks' Push the Button will wow the Helsinki crowds in May with lines such as: "The …

[Anonymous Coward]

Kick them out of Eurovision

Well Israel has no business being in Eurovision anyway, they're not in Europe, we have nothing in common with them, we don't have strong trade links with them, they're aggressive and militaristic and even prominent Jewish people are sick of their constant warmongering:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/british-jews-split-over-support-for-israel/2007/02/05/1170524027276.html

So what do they have? As far as I can see we only treat them nicely because they have influence over the US! This picture pretty much describes the Israel-US relationship, but I don't see why we have to go the same way:

http://www.hatetank.dk/gallery_3D/Nick_BrainSlug.jpg

[GettinSadda]

Shurely Shum Mishtake?

So, let me get this right...

A country, known to have nuclear weapons, is using the Eurovision Song Contest to complain about the danger of another country, known not currently to have nuclear weapons, wiping everyone out with their atomic bombs?

What is the world coming to?

[sconzey]

The difference...

The difference of course being that Israel is a secular democracy, and holds regular, free and fair democratic elections.

[Greg Nelson]

Sign of Armageddon

The surest sign of an inevitable Armageddon is pop culture. Cultural plumage strutted in an ages old rehashing of hormone driven angst. We and the earth would have fared better if we'd stayed in the trees.

[Anonymous Coward]

ahem....

"they're not in Europe, we have nothing in common with them"

we have nothing in common with the rest of europe anyway.. except of course all the imigrants their sending us..

its just a bit of fun anyway so stop whinning and let them get on with it... bound to get more votes than anything the UK can muster up!!!

[jon]

whatever helps you sleep at night sconzey!!

perhaps you should read up a bit more about Israel sconzey, being anything other than a practicing Jew in Israel leaves you as a second class citizen.

Secular my hairy arse mate ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference...?

"The difference of course being that Israel is a secular democracy, and holds regular, free and fair democratic elections."

Ah, I see. So because it's democratically elected it's OK for Isreal to invade other nations' sovereign territory, shoot innocent children and stop people doing an honest day's work by plonking a wall and an impassable roadblock between their homes and offices.

[Anonymous Coward]

Israel is a secular democracy...

"The difference of course being that Israel is a secular democracy, and holds regular, free and fair democratic elections."

Palestinians elected Hamas, so do we included them in the Eurovision song contest?

[Will]

I thought Israel was in the middle east?

I thought the EUROvision was for European tragically rubbish pop acts.

Who next, the US?

(With the exclusion of Lordi, last year's winners!)

[Anonymous Coward]

The world is strange indeed

From a purely logical perspective, the assertion that Israel is a democracy does not lead automatically to it being acceptable for it to have a nuclear arsenal. However, given that Israel is a democracy, and given also that the world generally believes democracy to be a good thing, it is fair to criticise Iran's lack of democracy. That is a different matter.

Having said that though, whilst democracy as they say is the worst political system except all the others, that Israeli TV viewers have voted for a song that stands a good chance of stirring up further tension with Iran demonstrates the limitations of giving political power to the masses. Millions of people, in fact, can be wrong.

Anyway, GettinSadda is quite correct, in my view: a nuclear-power country thumbing its nose openly at the aims of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty perhaps should not be lecturing a non-nuclear power on its nuclear ambitions.

[Anonymous Coward]

The second difference

The second difference is that Israel is never going to drop a bomb on Europe. Can you say the same for Iran?

[Arnold Lieberman]

To The Ignorant Hatemongers

The reason why Israel can take part in the Eurovision is because it is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBU

Is Mr./Ms. Anonymous suggesting that we have more in common with Lithuania than Israel? Or is there some more insidious reason for his/her disapproval?

There are plenty of promenent Brits bitching about this country but that doesn't mean they're right!

[Anonymous Coward]

Europe is not the middle east

"The reason why Israel can take part in the Eurovision is because it is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union"

That just shifts the question to 'why on earth do we allow Israel to be in the EUROPEAN Broadcasting Union'?

"There are plenty of promenent Brits bitching about this country but that doesn't mean they're right!"

It doesn't mean they're wrong either. I don't see why we don't invite Palestine or Iran to join the 'EUROPEAN Broadcasting Union' then we could have a fun sing off between Israel and Iran.

Anythings better than Lordi.

[Anonymous Coward]

Is the BBC allowed to show propaganda?

"The second difference is that Israel is never going to drop a bomb on Europe. Can you say the same for Iran?"

You mean apart from this time they dropped this bomb and killed an Austrian and a Finish person:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5216230.stm

I thought the BBC is obligated to show a balanced viewpoint. If Israel does this propaganda song, doesn't the BBC also have to show a counter balance song from Iran?

That sounds like the best solution, invite Iran to submit an entry too, have a sing-off, see who gets the most votes, declare them the winner! ;-)

[Daniel Ballado-Torres]

They are not Nena

Hm... this sounds like a corny attempt to copycat Nena's one-time hit: 99 Luftballons.

Except Germany had lots of nukes that were not *their* nukes: they were US and USSR nukes. So if they were shot, they would be fired from *and upon* them, by other countries. No bias there.

That's why this version would look so lame: this one's biased.

[Arnold Lieberman]

Read the Link!

"That just shifts the question to 'why on earth do we allow Israel to be in the EUROPEAN Broadcasting Union'?"

Good question. Same could apply to these other non-European members:

Algeria

Egypt

Jordan

Lebanon

Libya

Morocco

Tunisia

or the countries that might be soon:

Azerbaijan

Liechtenstein

Syria

Kosovo

"Well Israel has no business being in Eurovision anyway, they're not in Europe, we have nothing in common with them, we don't have strong trade links with them, blah blah blah"

Actually, we do more trade with Israel than with Austria (£1.35bn vs. £1.32bn). I hope you're not using a Pentium M CPU, cos that was designed there...

Still, don't want to let too many facts get in the way of a good hate session.

[Anonymous Coward]

Null Points

"Same could apply to these other non-European member"

Shouldn't call it EUROvision if it's not Europe! Seems easy to understand to me.

"Actually, we do more trade with Israel than with Austria"

We do £2billion+ trade with India, should be include India in the EUROvision song contest? If we do, shouldn't we also include Pakistan for balance?

"Still, don't want to let too many facts get in the way of a good hate session."

Don't like Israel, too warmongering, too militaristic, unhealthy influence on USA policy, and I don't see why we include them in a EUROpean contest.... null points.

[1865]

Daft Punk

"Don't like Israel, too warmongering, too militaristic, unhealthy influence on USA policy, and I don't see why we include them in a EUROpean contest.... null points."

Null points indeed. I guess you may be a teensy bit militaristic yourself if all your neighbours denied your right to exist and your biggest neighbour vowed to wipe you from the face of the earth.

Nice to see the Israelis manage to retain some humour about this promised armageddon; perhaps something you and the Iranian theocrats could benefit from too?

[Anonymous Coward]

UK is not Europe

Whether the UK does more trade with Isreal or Lithuania or has stronger links with one or the other is irrelevent, one is in Europe and one isn't.

It's not up to the the UK to decide who is in and who isn't (despite what some here seem to think).

The whole idea of the eurovision was to strenghen relationships within Europe allowing other countries sorta defeats the purpose.

A Kiwi :)

[Paul Murray]

Deomcracy

"The difference of course being that Israel is a secular democracy, and holds regular, free and fair democratic elections."

A country is not a democracy unless all who live there - in particular, all who have to obey laws laid down by that government - have the right to vote. Israel is no more a democracy than the american confederacy was.

[Anonymous Coward]

Spot on

Millions who were herded into the Gaza Strip on account of their religion do not get the opportunity to vote for or against the government which so tightly controls their movements and economic and political lives.

Israel is not a democracy.

The majority of the inhabitants of Palestine did not vote for their land to be rent asunder by fundamentalist marxist-inspired foreign immigrants who had no business invading Palestine.

Pakistan is, of course, the prime global danger when it comes to rogue states in possession of a nuclear arsenal, but Israel is distinctly in second place.

I notice your correspondent "Lieberman" characterising all who criticise Israel as "hateful"........nothing new there, then - same old propaganda, same old lies....we can all see where the hatred breeds, and this story demonstrates yet again who is responsible in that particular part of the world.

[Arnold Lieberman]

Well here's something the BBC forgot to mention

"A country is not a democracy unless all who live there - in particular, all who have to obey laws laid down by that government - have the right to vote. Israel is no more a democracy than the american confederacy was."

Well here's something the BBC forgot to report:

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=312322007

(Israel has an Arab president).

Oh, and all Israeli citizens have the right to vote (regardless of ethnicity):

http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic2_eng.htm

[Arnold Lieberman]

Eligibility

"The whole idea of the eurovision was to strenghen relationships within Europe allowing other countries sorta defeats the purpose."

From the Wiki (so it must be true), and ignoring political issues (which have no place on an IT website):

The European Broadcasting Area is defined by the International Telecommunication Union:[18]

The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the western part of the USSR, the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Iraq, Jordan and that part of the territory of Turkey lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area.

and

It should be noted that eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision" – nor has it anything to do with the European Union. This explains the inclusion of Israel in the Contest, despite its not being a part of geographical or political Europe. In 1980, Morocco — a North African country — participated in the Contest.

So, all comments about which countries should or should not be included could more usefully be redirected ot the ITU and the EBU, m'kay?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahummm...

"I notice your correspondent "Lieberman" characterising all who criticise Israel as "hateful"........nothing new there, then - same old propaganda, same old lies....we can all see where the hatred breeds, and this story demonstrates yet again who is responsible in that particular part of the world."

Yes indeed, I think we all know that between Israel and Hamas, Hamas are the human-right-loving peaceniks.

It really boggles my mind that people can get bring up such a rousing defense for people who routinely send dynamite-laden teenagers into nightclubs and cafes. And even then, the only defense is that Israel is somehow oppressing them by stuffing them into the Gaza strip - this despite the fact that *Israel has attempted to concede land and soverignty to the Palestinians at least five times in the past fifteen years.*

But hey, I'm not sure why I'm bothering - I've never seen a few provable facts get in the way of rah-rah "poor helpless palestinians have no choice but to murder Israelis every day" sentiment. By all means carry on with your lies, and don't mind the elephant in the room.

[Arnold Lieberman]

Focus on the facts

"I notice your correspondent "Lieberman" characterising all who criticise Israel as "hateful"........nothing new there, then - same old propaganda, same old lies....we can all see where the hatred breeds, and this story demonstrates yet again who is responsible in that particular part of the world."

Start with a false premise, then attach it to your adversary etc. etc.

Let's get this clear, I do not characterise any criticism as hateful. What I characerise as hateful is ignorant quotes like " we have nothing in common with them, we don't have strong trade links with them, they're aggressive and militaristic and even prominent Jewish people are sick of their constant warmongering:".

Ideas from anonymous correspondents like "Millions who were herded into the Gaza Strip on account of their religion..." completely ignores the millions of Moslems and Christians who are full Israeli citizens, including the current president. How many Jews are allowed to live in the Palestinian territories, or any other Arab country unhindered? If you want to see people being ethnically cleansed, do a google and find out what happened to the Jews of Iraq, or the Asians of Uganda a few decades ago. These people have resettled and got on with their lives.

From https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html

Ethnic groups:

Jewish 76.4% (of which Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%), non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004)

But then I could quote facts (from authorised sources rather than polemical websites) and provide links all day which will be totally ignored because certain groups on the far left and far right aren't interested in the reality of the situation, only demonising a group of people for whatever reason gives them kicks.

[Brennan Young]

Tasteless

Sounds like an utterly tasteless contribution to the a competition which is hardly noted for good taste.

GettinSadda makes the best point. Israel has nukes, Iran doesn't, but it's telling that a few Danish satirical cartoons taken out of context caused a massive international brouhaha. I doubt this is going to cause more than a ripple, but let's see...

[duncan parkertron]

f

Israel!

Iran!

Palastine!

Eurostein!!

[Ray]

Fact & Fiction

Fact - Before the UN partitioning of Palestine, there was no modern state of Israel.

Fact - If some idiots decide to kick you & your family out of lands you have been living on for generations because a whole of lot countries feel sorry for a a group of people persecuted in the latest global wars - you'll feel pretty pissed off too.

Fact - If at that time of the partitioning, the governing body for that state was to be drawn from the Jewish people as opposed to from all citizens (Arabs & Jewish) where's the democracy?

Fiction - The continued charade maintained by Israel that they don't have nuclear arms.

Fiction - The so called democracy available to non Jewish citizens of Israel.

Fiction - That we all actually give a hoot about Eurovision.

Fact - We contribute to this debate 'cos Top Gear isn't on 24x7.