J'lem Pair Take Comedy Bat to BDS

Jerusalem, 15 February, 2017 (TPS) -- In wig of black dreadlocks, loose-fitting Jamaican pants and no shoes, Noam Jacobson dances around the stage, singing a Caribbean-style message about the reality of life in Israel, set to the tune of Under the Sea, from Disney’s 1989 movie The Little Mermaid. 

Under the sea, 

Fishes in dozens

No Abu Mazen

Take it from me…

Up on the land they want you dead

But under the sea no one is mad…

At the same time, Gadi Weissbart allows himself to be dragged around in a kitschy, tight I love Israel t-shirt, as if being convinced by anti-Israel activists that that would be the best place for Israel to exist.

The number is part of Stayin’ Alive, an hour-long Weissbart-Jacobson musical comedy production poking fun at the quirks of life in Israel, raising a laugh at serious issues such as “dangerous” Jerusalem (“it’s only really dangerous on Anafa Street in Gilo, and there, just in one apartment building, and even then, only in one room”) and especially laying bare the absurdity of the anti-Israel/ BDS movement.

The show is a mix of traditional hasbara points, mixed with songs and humor: A list of Arab attacks on Israel (1948, 67, 73, 82, and 91, all separated by Jacobson on the guitar with a Bee Gees-like ‘Stayin’ Alive’), rip offs of popular songs such as Jew you really want to hurt me, With or without Jew and others. 

The show has its roots in Weissbart and Jacobson’s pre-army seminary days in the mid-1990s. They’d become friends, but lost touch until 2013 as each went in a separate performing direction. Eventually, they reunited for a two-hour radio spoof of the daily news. The gig lasted a year until they got burned out, but they realized they wanted to continue working together.

“We were together five days a week, two hours a day, living inside the news,” says Weissbart.  “It was energizing, but exhausting. We argued a lot about politics and religion – I’m not religious any more and mainly take a left-wing view of things. Noam is [observant],  and he sees things through that lens. But our arguments and our friendship really showed us all that we had in common, not where we disagreed.

“And that’s where the show was created: We are the side of truth. Is everything perfect in Israel?No. Is there racism? Yes. Are there problems with the Palestinians? Yes. Are there checkpoints? Yes. There are problems, and we know about them. But they are barely visibly when compared to other problems around the world. So it is incredibly hypocritical to accuse us of being the biggest monsters in the world. That’s not a matter of pro- or anti-Israel. It’s a simple matter of truth,” he said.

After a successful premier in London last November, the show has been seen by hundreds of people in Jerusalem, Raanana and last month in Chicago. There are invitations as well to Boston and other cities, and hopes for a tour later in 2017.

Asked who the target audience was for their message, Jacobson says emphatically that they are not speaking to members of the anti-Israel, BDS camp, who he dismisses easily as a “lost cause,”

Rather, by using humor – the ‘oldest Jewishh weapon”, the aim is to provide embattled university Jewish students on campus with a sense of pride about Israel and talking points to respond to hostile elements on campus.

Jacobson and Weissbart also reject the notion that openly fighting against BDS serve to fan the flames of a fire that would otherwise be little threat to Israel. They say that even if anti-Israel elements do not really have an impact on Israel’s economy, there are other issues at hand, including public opinion, and especially the fact that Jewish students’ morale is seriously impacted by calls to boycott Israel.

“First of all, they terrorize Jewish students,” says Jacobson. “They threaten them on campuses – and that’s where international public opinion is created. So when people shout “Free Free Palestine” it causes incredible damage and delegitimization.