Three Cheers for Frankie Boyle
It’s quite extraordinary, given how offensive some of their content is, what the BBC chooses to apologise for. Invite a fascist on flagship programming; proud commitment to free speech. Let a comedian tell a joke about appalling human rights violations; a step too far.
So three cheers for Frankie Boyle for not just objecting, in eloquent and passionate terms, but using the opportunity to raise the plite of the Palestinian people.
In case you missed it, the jokes in question are: ‘I’ve been studying Israeli Army Martial Arts. I now know 16 ways to kick a Palestinian woman in the back. People think that the Middle East is very complex but I have an analogy that sums it up quite well. If you imagine that Palestine is a big cake, well…that cake is being punched to pieces by a very angry Jew.’
The situation in Palestine seems to be, in essence, apartheid. I grew up with the anti apartheid thing being a huge focus of debate. It really seemed to matter to everybody that other human beings were being treated in that way. We didn’t just talk about it, we did things, I remember boycotts and marches and demos all being held because we couldn’t bear that people were being treated like that.
Reader Comments
Criticism of Israel is one thing, but surely labelling every Jew as an evil fascist thug who’s part of some worldwide conspiracy is every bit as bad as labelling every Muslim as a terrorist? I mean, who is this ‘angry Jew’ that Boyle is talking about here – Alexei Sayle? Woody Allen? Both of whom happen to be Jewish, and both of whom are very critical of Israel.
I also find Boyle’s inference that the BBC is controlled by Jews as quite disturbing. Isn’t that exactly Nick Griffin’s argument in ‘Who are the Mindbenders?’? Boyle claims to be left-wing, but by using the term “Jew” instead of “Israeli” it’s fairly obvious that he doesn’t consider Jews to be equal British citizens to himself – another far-right argument.
Am I absolutely sure that Boyle isn’t using the Palestians as an excuse to vent his own personal hang-ups about Jewish people in general? Um…no, I’m not actually.
What’s more, having neo-Nazis (whose ideaology dictates thats ALL semitic peoples – Arabs as well as Jews are racially inferior to the point of being subhuman) hijack genuine criticism of Israel and concern for the plight of the Palestinian people so that they can exploit it to their own evil ends should make genuine human rights campaigners extremely angry.
@Becky: Maybe I’m being obtuse here, but I certainly didn’t get anything resembling the points you’re making from Frankie Boyle’s piece. The ‘angry Jew’ would presumably refer to an Israeli Jew actively involved in what Boyle regards as apartheid. Surprisingly, many people in Israel are jewish. I don’t really think it goes beyond that, and he’s certainly not labelling every Jew as an evil fascist thug. He’s using humour to convey the vast difference in power and ability between Israel and the Palestinians through the metaphor of the incredibly violent martial art studied by the Israeli military. Yes, there is a difference.
And where did you get Boyle’s ‘inference’ that the BBC is controlled by the Jews? He’s saying that they’re cowardly and afraid to address serious issues because they’re terrified of giving offence to people, especially those points of view with powerful lobbying interests behind them.
And the only point he uses the word ‘Jew’ instead of ‘Israeli’ is once in the joke, in the aforementioned phrase ‘an angry Jew’. Personally I would see that as a stylistic thing regarding the delivery of the joke (plus it is obvious from context he’s not referring to all Jews across the world everywhere), and it’s certainly not an argument that all Jews are evil, as you suggest.
what does the man have aainst cakes? that’s what I want to know.
Exactly Adam, fantastically put.
Becky, I’m genuinely baffled at how you were able to read that into Boyle’s comments. Presumably this is the psychology that caused the complaint in the first place.
I’m just not sure why it’s such an issue.People in the entertainment business insult everyone all the time.Still haven’t figured out what was so bad .Heard Frankie be much more offensive before.
“Presumably this is the psychology that caused the complaint in the first place.”
Which one? Yours or mine?;)
“Personally I would see that as a stylistic thing regarding the delivery of the joke”
Yes Adam, maybe it would go down much better with any potentially far-right fans of Frankie Boyle if he used the term “Jew” instead of “Israeli”:)!
The psychology problem is yours Becky, with the accent on psycho