We Con the World
Encyclopedia
We Con the World is an 2010 video clip
that satirizes the purportedly peaceful intentions of the political activists aboard the Turkish-owned flagship, MV Mavi Marmara
, which led the Free Gaza flotilla. The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World
", with actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers while waving fake weapons as they sing in criticism of the activists' attempts to "make the world abandon reason" and ignore facts about Hamas
as they try to breach the Gaza blockade.
The video was produced in 2010 by American-Israeli Caroline Glick
, a columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and Latma TV, an Israeli media satire website she edits. The website is an initiative of the Center for Security Policy
, a conservative organization located in Washington. Glick makes an appearance in the chorus, wearing a keffiyeh
.
that he had decided to respond on the day of the Gaza flotilla raid. "I immediately called the site editor, Caroline Glick, and said to her: 'We have to do something'."
Glick described the video as a parody, featuring the "Turkish-Hamas 'love boat' captain crew and passengers in a musical explanation of how they con the world", and told the press that "We think this is an important Israeli contribution to the discussion of recent events and we hope you distribute it far and wide".
, the Turkish-owned flagship that led the "blockade busting" Free Gaza Gaza flotilla. Actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers wave fake weapons as they sing, with affected Arab accents, "We'll make the world abandon reason / We'll make them all believe that the Hamas is Momma Theresa", "As Allah has shown us / For facts there's no demand". The captain of the parody crew shouts "Ithbah al-Yahud" (اذبح اليهود, i.e. "Slaughter the Jews" in Arabic).
The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World
" by Michael Jackson
and Lionel Richie
. Glick makes an appearance in the chorus, wearing a keffiyeh
.
of the Washington Post quotes a CIA agent who calls it "pretty clever agitprop". Writing in the Huffington Post, journalist Eileen Read called on the Jerusalem Post to fire Glick for making fun of the dead in the "blatantly racist" video.
Iran's state-run Press TV
said the "highly offensive" video thumbed its nose at world anger and triggered a new tide of global outrage when it was circulated two days after the deaths of nine or more on the Gaza flotilla.
Israeli spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister, Mark Regev
, told The Guardian
that "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny. It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it".
YouTube has versions with subtitles in Hebrew, English
, French
, Russian
, Portuguese
and Hungarian
.
Lawrence Solomon opined in the National Post
that "parodies are not subject to a copyright claim" and that "YouTube carries numerous other parodies of 'We are the world' – a search on the YouTube site of 'We are the world spoof' turns up 5,100 results":
Several weeks after the removal the original video has been restored on its channel.
, Noam Jacobson
, Tal Gilad, Shlomo Blass, Elchanan Even-Chen, Karni Eldad, Ronit Avrahamof, Nachum Shteiner, and Yoram Schwartz participated in the video.
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
that satirizes the purportedly peaceful intentions of the political activists aboard the Turkish-owned flagship, MV Mavi Marmara
MV Mavi Marmara
MV is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co...
, which led the Free Gaza flotilla. The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
", with actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers while waving fake weapons as they sing in criticism of the activists' attempts to "make the world abandon reason" and ignore facts about Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
as they try to breach the Gaza blockade.
The video was produced in 2010 by American-Israeli Caroline Glick
Caroline Glick
Caroline Glick is an American-Israeli journalist for Makor Rishon and is the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post. She is also the Senior Fellow for Middle East Affairs of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy.-Life:...
, a columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and Latma TV, an Israeli media satire website she edits. The website is an initiative of the Center for Security Policy
Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....
, a conservative organization located in Washington. Glick makes an appearance in the chorus, wearing a keffiyeh
Keffiyeh
The keffiyeh/kufiya , also known as a ghutrah , ' , mashadah , shemagh or in Persian chafiye , Kurdish cemedanî and Turkish puşi, is a traditional Arab headdress fashioned from a square, usually cotton, scarf. It is typically worn by Arab men, as well as some Kurds...
.
Creation
Latma TV director Shlomo Blass told a reporter for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth AhronothYedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
that he had decided to respond on the day of the Gaza flotilla raid. "I immediately called the site editor, Caroline Glick, and said to her: 'We have to do something'."
Glick described the video as a parody, featuring the "Turkish-Hamas 'love boat' captain crew and passengers in a musical explanation of how they con the world", and told the press that "We think this is an important Israeli contribution to the discussion of recent events and we hope you distribute it far and wide".
Description
The video satirizes the purportedly peaceful intentions of the political activists aboard the MV Mavi MarmaraMV Mavi Marmara
MV is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co...
, the Turkish-owned flagship that led the "blockade busting" Free Gaza Gaza flotilla. Actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers wave fake weapons as they sing, with affected Arab accents, "We'll make the world abandon reason / We'll make them all believe that the Hamas is Momma Theresa", "As Allah has shown us / For facts there's no demand". The captain of the parody crew shouts "Ithbah al-Yahud" (اذبح اليهود, i.e. "Slaughter the Jews" in Arabic).
The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
" by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
. Glick makes an appearance in the chorus, wearing a keffiyeh
Keffiyeh
The keffiyeh/kufiya , also known as a ghutrah , ' , mashadah , shemagh or in Persian chafiye , Kurdish cemedanî and Turkish puşi, is a traditional Arab headdress fashioned from a square, usually cotton, scarf. It is typically worn by Arab men, as well as some Kurds...
.
Response
Robert Mackey of the New York Times characterizes the video as "suggest[ing] that the activists on board the flotilla were, in fact, violent provocateurs". Jeff SteinJeff Stein (author)
Jeff Stein is the SpyTalk columnist and blogger at the Washington Post. Previously, he was the SpyTalk columnist and National Security Editor for Congressional Quarterly's website, CQ Politics, from 2002-2009. He specializes in U.S. intelligence, military, and foreign policy issues...
of the Washington Post quotes a CIA agent who calls it "pretty clever agitprop". Writing in the Huffington Post, journalist Eileen Read called on the Jerusalem Post to fire Glick for making fun of the dead in the "blatantly racist" video.
Iran's state-run Press TV
Press TV
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Iranian government. Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with bureaux in Beirut , Damascus , London , Seoul and Washington DC ....
said the "highly offensive" video thumbed its nose at world anger and triggered a new tide of global outrage when it was circulated two days after the deaths of nine or more on the Gaza flotilla.
Diplomatic kerfuffle
The video attracted attention when the Israeli Foreign Ministry press office sent it to a list of journalists, and three hours later sent an apology describing the emailed video as having been "inadvertently released". Iranian Press TV characterized the video release by the Israeli Press Office (GPO) as "add(ing) insult to injury".Israeli spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister, Mark Regev
Mark Regev
Mark Regev , formerly Mark Freiberg, is an Australian-born Israeli diplomat and media spokesman. He is currently the spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel and an advisor on foreign press and public affairs, a position he has held since his appointment by the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert...
, told The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
that "I called my kids in to watch it because I thought it was funny. It is what Israelis feel. But the government has nothing to do with it".
Viewership and translations
The video achieved worldwide attention, getting over three million views in less than a week.YouTube has versions with subtitles in Hebrew, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
.
Copyright controversy
A week after the parody appeared, it was pulled by Youtube "due to a copyright claim by Warner/ Chappell Music, Inc." Glick argued that it was legal and permissible to use copyrighted material under the fair use doctrine for purposes of parody.Lawrence Solomon opined in the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
that "parodies are not subject to a copyright claim" and that "YouTube carries numerous other parodies of 'We are the world' – a search on the YouTube site of 'We are the world spoof' turns up 5,100 results":
"YouTube’s real problem with this viral hit is the virus of anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. 'We con the world', which portrays terrorists on the Gaza flotilla’s ship, the MV Mavi Marmara, explaining how they’ll con the world, hits too close to home for many HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
sympathizers, who mounted a successful campaign to cow YouTube".
Several weeks after the removal the original video has been restored on its channel.
Participants
Caroline GlickCaroline Glick
Caroline Glick is an American-Israeli journalist for Makor Rishon and is the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post. She is also the Senior Fellow for Middle East Affairs of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy.-Life:...
, Noam Jacobson
Noam Jacobson
Noam Jacobson is a musician, singer, songwriter and bandleader from Ramat Gan, Israel.Jacobson is a regular on the Israeli satirical television program Latma where plays such characters as Tawil Fadiha, the “Palestinian Minister of Uncontrollable Rage,” Rashid Hamumani, "Iranian minister of...
, Tal Gilad, Shlomo Blass, Elchanan Even-Chen, Karni Eldad, Ronit Avrahamof, Nachum Shteiner, and Yoram Schwartz participated in the video.