I Hate Israel (thing)

'I hate Israel' is the name of a song that became an instant hit when it was released in Egypt in 1999, selling over five million copies. It is sung by Shaaban Abdel Rahim, a middle aged ironer who has given a voice to the anger many Arabs feel towards their neighbour. Shaaban has become a celebrity in Egypt, although many of his songs have been banned from the airways by the Egyptian censors, this act obviously can only heighten his appeal. The song was actually written by Ismail Khalil, a writer and schoolteacher. Here is a translation from Arabic of part of the song

I hate Israel
I’ll say it if asked
Even if I die or if I’m imprisoned
I hate Israel, I love Hosni Mubarak¹ because of his broad mind
..........
I hate Israel, and I hate destruction, it loves destruction
I love Yasser Arafat and he is very dear to me
Egyptians are sad
I hate Israel and I love Amr Mousa²
I hate Israel and Shimon and Sharon
Why should the children suffer why should they die everyday
People carrying weapons and others carrying slingshot
I hate Israel, and we all do
We are all mad, Al Quds matters to us
I hate Israel and Ehud Barak because no one can stand him
Egypt puts up and stands till the end but when it got mad it pulled back the ambassador
I hate Israel because of south Lebanon, Al Quds, Iraq, Syria and the Golan?
I hate Israel and I say it even if I will be arrested

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of these sentiments, there can be no doubt that they are shared by many Egyptians, and indeed other Arabs, and is an important reflection on the present climate and culture prevalent in the middle east. Israel has used the fact of the songs popularity to demonstrate the difficulty they still face to feel secure in their position, and indeed it is worth saying that if an Israeli singer had released a song called I Hate Egypt then the news would spread through the world like wildfire.

Shaaban himself has enjoyed immense media interest and his albums have been selling constantly. McDonalds even hired him to star in an advertisement for their new McFalafel, but the advert was never used after the Jewish lobby complained.

Shaaban had another song capture popular feeling in the Arab world in early 2003 with Al Darb Fil Iraq or Hitting Iraq (with lyrics again provided by Ismail Khalil), which was released prior to the 2003 war, and contained a chant of 'enough, enough, enough' as its chorus. The sentiments of the song were that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction but also criticism of Saddam Hussein. The story briefly flicked around the Western media agencies but once the war started interest died down although the song and video remained popular in the Arabic arena.

General disclaimer about not hating any persons anywhere, regardless of race, colour or religion.....

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