Monday, July 11, 2005

What blue ribbons might really signify

After months of the orange ribbon campaign against disengagement, supporters of Sharon's plan have finally responded in recent weeks, adopting blue ribbons (or, alternatively, blue and white) for themselves.

Let's overlook the self-righteousness implicit in this effort to arrogate Israel's national colors in support of a particular political program; they certainly are not the first political movement to wrap themselves in the flag. No, the blue ribbon brigades have a far more substantial cause for concern.

"Blue ribbons" in Hebrew are s'ratim k'hulim. That phrase is in common usage in modern Hebrew, but it usually means something very different: "blue films" - that is, what is euphemistically known as "adult entertainment cinema". Tell an Israeli, "Ra'iti seret kahol etmol", and they will understand not that you saw a ribbon flying from a car antenna, but that you rented a triple-X video.

No doubt Freud would find great significance in this unfortunate verbal coincidence.

2 comments:

Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog said...

or possibly they're feeling blue with arafat dead...

Cosmic X said...

Just as pornography is a degradation of the human body and soul, Sharon's expulsion plan is a degradation of our nation's body and soul.