A Dutch state-funded television show spoofed Israel’s winning Eurovision song, prompting protests by critics who said the parody features antisemitic clichés about Jews and money.
The parody of the song “Toy” by Netta Barzilai was aired on Sunday on the first edition of a new television show “The Sanne Wallis Show” on the public broadcaster BNNVARA, starring comedian Sanne Wallis de Vries.
“We’re giving a party, are you coming? Soon at the Al Aqsa Mosque, it’s standing there empty anyway,” read the lyrics of the Dutch-language song parodying “Toy,” which the performer sang against films showing Israeli soldiers shooting rifles and injured Palestinians.
“Look how beautiful, I’m throwing bombs, Israel again wins, 70 years already the party’s on,” the lyrics also said. And: “No way, no Palestinian is coming in.” The sketch also has a Netta impersonator singing “I hunt Palestinians through the curtains.”
But the part that triggered criticism of antisemitism is: “If your party’s crashed, make sure you cash on embassies, with your ka-ching, ka-ching and your ping-a-ping, with your dollars and cents and your funds, with your ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.”
The Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, which monitors antisemitism and anti-Israel vitriol in Holland, suggested the sketch featured antisemitic tropes.
“You start with Israel and end with what? Jews and money. You made your point, BNNVARA,” CIDI wrote on Twitter. The watchdog also wrote that the sketch was “full of ‘hilarious’ jokes about Jews and money and so on. So funny.”
The Telegraaf daily’s headline on Monday about the parody contained the word “Jew-hatred.”
Sanne Wallis de Vries and BNNVARA have not replied to requests for a reaction to the accusation by CIDI and others on social networks.
