Israeli TV Station Riles Muslims After Apologies to Christians
The Israeli television station that drew harsh rebuke for the anti-Christian skits that it aired last week is again turning heads, this time among followers of Islam.
Nana10, a website affiliated with Channel 10, carried a clip of Israel's version of the reality show "Survivor" in which contestant Natan Beshevkin refers to his shoes as "Nasrin" and "Mohammed," according to the Haaretz news service in Israel. Nasrin was the name of an Israeli Arab contestant who had clashed repeatedly on the show with Beshevkin and who was voted off early in the season.
Lawmaker Sheikh Ibrahim Tzarzur called the clip a "degrading and ugly campaign" against Islam's prophet and accused Channel 10 of organizing a campaign against Islam and Christianity, Haaretz reported Wednesday. He also said the private television station was "playing with fire."
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Nana10, in defense, issued a statement Wednesday saying that "when people come to judge what is said on a reality show, they should remember that the genre depicts reality."
"Therefore, we have no intent to whitewash reality, even if what it shows isn't perfect," it added.
The clip's broadcast comes just days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a public apology for two segments that aired on Channel 10, in which the Virgin Mary was depicted as a promiscuous teen and Jesus Christ as an obese man who could not walk on water.
The satires, according to late-night show host Lior Shlein, were aired in retaliation to a statement by Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X who has denied that Jews died in Nazi gas chambers during World War II.
Shlein later apologized for the segments following an outcry from Christians in the Holy Land and elsewhere, including the Vatican.
The private television station, meanwhile, has since assured the Israeli foreign ministry that the segment would not be shown again.
At a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Olmert also apologized for the program, condemning it for not showing responsibility and restraint.
"If such comments were made in another country against Judaism they would have sparked a wave of anger," he said.
The recent row happened to break out ahead of a planned visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the Holy Land in May.
