Tel Aviv: Popularity of Israeli cartoon series "Ahmed & Salim" boomerangs. Strengthens stereotypes of Jews as Islamphobes

Posted on 26 April 2009. Tags: Ahmed and Salim, Islamphobes, Israeli cartoons

‘We don’t care if people are offended’ Or Paz and Tom Trager Israeli creators of Islamophobic cartoon series

There is a fine line between parody and bigotry. It seems that line has been crossed in the holy land. It is hypocritical to note that one can make fun of one religion but not another. Islamphobia is profitable. Talking against Muslims gets you Dollars and in this case it gets you a lot of Shekels. Many try to build stereotypes of Jews. It is a sad commentary on our times where these stereotypes are confirmed by opinion polls and cult like following of shows which denigrate a religion and deprecate a religious group.

“Ahmed and Salim”, a provocative animated web series that uses very dark humor to describe the life of the two sons of an Arab arch-terrorist, is becoming increasingly popular with surfers, while at same time stirring much controversy.

The series was created by two Israelis, Or Paz and Tom Trager, who define it as “a sitcom about terrorists.” The two are responsible for all stages of the series’ production, an impressive fact given the fact that both of them have full-time jobs: Trager is a journalist and graphic designer and Paz works as a video editor.

Six four-minute episodes of “Ahmed and Salim” have already been uploaded to the internet. In addition to the series’ website, the two cartoon terrorists also have their own Facebook accounts and a user’s page on YouTube.

The series includes extreme scenes, which some viewers find offensive. In one of the episodes Ahmed falls in love with a Jewish girl, who in turn develops a crush on younger brother Salim. The brothers’ concerned father resolves the conflict by shooting the girl dead.

In another episode, which was taken off YouTube following complaints by shocked surfers, the father dreams he has become a “stinking Jewish rabbi,” and his sons do what they were taught to do when encountering a Jew and shoot him in the testicles.

Over half a million surfers have already watched the first episode, which went up in January, and yielded 3,000 responses from registered users. The other episodes boast lower, yet also impressive figures of 20,000 viewings in average.

Paz and Trager hope to eventually be able to turn the series into a television production, but admit that so far no one has made them an offer to this effect.

Of course Rupee News can enjoy a good joke. But let us see if others would find it funny if the roles were reversed? Heard the one about the Rabbi walking into a bar with his bed-sheet with a hole in it?…or have you heard the one about the Curling iron and the Hasidic…and so far soo good… now let us see if the following paragrah is still funny and confroms to freedom of speech norms?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXMIQDVOs98

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXMIQDVOs98]

What if a cartoon series called David and Joshua denied the holocaust? What if the cartoon series made fun of the Yarmaka and the Orthodox Jewish tradition of shaving the women’s hair and the men wearing curlers? What if an Arab TV network began a series of David and Joshua portraying Jews as bloodsucking money lending egomaniacs who want to control the word’s financial and media outlets based on the “Elders of Zion”? There would be uproar from Washington to London. The UN would be “angered” and the Rupert Murdock Media empire would be holding 24/7 news programs condemning the series as racist bigotry.

When an Israeli news channel produces a cartoon series which tries to build stereotypes of Muslims, the world media is silent. Where is the outrage?

JERUSALEM – Ahmed and Salim spend hours in front of their computer posting crude updates on Facebook and playing Wii. They jam with Guitar Hero and watch bad American sitcoms. They bicker and call each other names.

These stars of an incendiary new Internet cartoon series also try to bomb Israeli buses, gun down Jewish girls and incinerate crowded cafes. In the three months since their debut, their caricature of Islamic extremism has attracted a cult following in Israel.

Its creators and fans see a humorous series that resembles the TV cartoon South Park – at least visually – and mocks terrorism. Its critics see a series that uses stereotypes to dehumanize Muslims.

“What they do is strengthen old stereotypes of the Arabs and Muslims as radical and stupid and terrorists,” said Yizhar Be’er, the executive director of Keshev, an Israeli media-monitoring group. “These episodes are so full of hatred that if an Arab did this about Jews, immediately the Anti-Defamation League would make big noise about it.”

ADL officials in Israel said they hadn’t heard of Ahmed and Salim. However, Phyllis Gerably, director of the group’s Israel office, said it sounded “counterproductive.”

The United Arab Emirates has banned Ahmed and Salim, and Palestinian bloggers have denounced it. YouTube removed one of the first six episodes and warned the creators that it could ban the series if new episodes are too offensive.

Created by two Israelis, 21-year-old Tom Trager and 20-year-old Or Paz, Ahmed and Salim are the petulant pawns of a rabidly anti-Semitic father who’s constantly trying to send his sons off on terrorist missions that inevitably go awry.

In their three-minute debut, which has been viewed more than 600,000 times on YouTube, the boys’ father complains that his sons haven’t gone off on a suicide mission and killed lots of Jews.

“Why can’t you two die already and make your father happy?” the father says before shooting one of his many veiled wives in a fit of rage. Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers. Israel cartoon ‘Ahmed and Salim’ paradies Islam, but some aren’t laughing, 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 26, 2009, Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8iUwsylyAg

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8iUwsylyAg]

Obviously the cartoon is serious business. This type of humor is reserved for making fun Islam and Muslims. It is tragic that the state of Israel allows deprecating one of the biggest religions of the world.

Profits can be made in many ways. Is it necessary to insult Islam and Muslims in doing so. How about a series call David and Salim which would use humor in a positive way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBAuOGQ4ijM

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBAuOGQ4ijM]