Satirical PA TV Show Makes a Joke Out of PA's Blaming Israel for Problems

By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Palestinians are used to hearing their leaders blame Israel for all the problems in Palestinian society, as Palestinian Media Watch has reported, but some Palestinians are not accepting this excuse anymore.

During Ramadan, a satirical PA TV show made a joke out of the PA's blaming Israel. In the skit, a young Palestinian woman complains to her boyfriend that he was late because he was cheating on her. The man responds that he was held up because of an Israeli roadblock, blaming "the [Israeli] occupation": "You must know that I've never ever cheated on you. It's the [Israeli] occupation! The occupation killed our beautiful moments together, and kept me from getting to you."

This TV parody seems to be a response to the PA's routine blaming of Israel for every failure of PA society and often for the failings in the Arab world as well. In recent years, the PA has blamed Israel for initiating Hamas missile attacks, for drug addiction among PA youth, for AIDS among Palestinians, and for "spreading boars to destroy PA agriculture," just to name a few. The PA has also accused Israel of orchestrating pan-Arab troubles such as the civil war in Lebanon, the division of Sudan, the civil strife in Yemen, the massacre of Christians in Iraq and the persecution of Palestinians in Iraq.

A similar voice speaking out against the PA's automatic blaming of Israel was heard in the Palestinian paper Al-Quds in an article about problems with water supplies in Jerusalem: "However, the occupation cannot be blamed every time for every failure and shortcoming, since it is not responsible for the unfair allocation of the water, for water pollution, for citizens having to pay 'air prices' because of [faulty] water meters (according to the writer, the meter readings are too high because of air in the water pipes. - Ed.), for delays in repairing faults, or for most problems that could be fixed if the existing failures and faults that cause citizens great suffering, were dealt with." [Al-Quds, Aug. 13, 2012]

Following is the transcript of the video: Amanda: "Where have you been, Jose? I waited a long time for you, and you didn't come."

Jose: "I was on my way to Ramallah, Amanda. The roads were packed and the [Israeli] roadblock was shut and crowded. Very crowded. I tried to convince the soldiers that you were waiting for me, but it didn't help."

Amanda: "Jose! You're always apologizing. While you were having a good time with her, you left me waiting a long time for you."

Jose: "You must know that I've never ever cheated on you. It's the [Israeli] occupation! The occupation killed our beautiful moments together, and kept me from getting to you. Damn!"

Amanda: "Jose! You always go back to the same old excuse: The [Israeli] occupation! The occupation! The occupation! Was it the occupation that made you spend all that time with her?" [PA TV (Fatah), July 26, 2012]