An Old Puppet Show Mocking Israel’s Ex-Prime Minister Is Going Viral For Its Accuracy Over 30 Years Later
People said that the sketch demonstrated Israel’s longstanding policy of violating the rights of Palestinians, noting that its current genocide in Gaza didn’t start with Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but way before that.
A resurfaced video of a 1989 sketch from the British satirical puppet show “Spitting Image”, satirically mocking Israel’s occupation of Palestine, its expansionist goals and inhumane treatment of Palestinians more than 30 years ago has gone viral, sparking a discussion.
The sketch features a parody of the BBC quiz show “Mastermind”, with a puppet of then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir appearing as a contestant who ironically chose "human rights" as his specialty.
Shamir was then asked what his occupation was, to which he ironically replied, “the West Bank and Gaza.”
He is then questioned on which country had imprisoned more than 5,000 people without trial, killed 540 unarmed demonstrators and shot dead more than 110 children between 1987 and 1989, and wrongly answered “South Africa.”
Shamir is then repeatedly corrected by the host, who informs him the answer is Israel for all three.
Before the occupation of Palestine and Israel's establishment, Shamir was a leader of the Zionist militant group, Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang, that had sought an alliance with fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
He was known for his hardline stance, rejecting the existence of a Palestinian state, opposing a two-state solution and was responsible for the forced displacement of many Palestinian refugees during the Nakba in 1948.
Shamir served as Israel’s foreign minister during the Sabra and Chatila massacres in 1982 and as the seventh Prime Minister of Israel in two terms, including during the First Intifada in 1987, according to Overland.
People said that the sketch demonstrated Israel’s longstanding policy of violating the rights of Palestinians, noting that its current genocide in Gaza didn’t start with Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but way before that.
It also prompted many to note how mainstream media has not been able to criticize Israeli politicians nowadays and sparked a conversation about Western media bias.
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