The video: When Israeli musician/journalist Noy Alooshe watched Moammar Gadhafi's vengeance-vowing rant last week, he saw what few others did: A "classic." Alooshe, 31, processed the embattled Libyan leader's voice using Auto-Tune, set it to the 2010 hit "Hey Baby" by U.S. rapper Pitbull, and spawned a viral video. (View below.) The mash-up clip, "Zenga-Zenga" — based on Gadhafi's promise to hunt protesters in alleyways, or "zanqas" — has racked up more than 1 million YouTube views, largely from Libyan rebels and others in the Arab world.
The reaction: Arabs love the video and how it ridicules Gadhafi, says Lahav Harkov in The Jerusalem Post. But they don't love the fact that it was made by a Tel Aviv–based Jew, a discovery that has Arabs asking "whether it is permissible to enjoy humor from an Israeli." Actually, the Arab protesters seemed more bothered by the "scantily clad dancers" in Alooshe's video than by his Judaism, says Mike Vilensky in New York. They asked for a version they could show their parents, and Alooshe complied. So maybe "Zenga-Zenga" can "succeed in doing what years and years of legislation have failed to do: Bring about peace in the region." Here's the "clean" version of the video:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Foreigners in Spain facing a 100% tax on homes as the country battles a housing crisisUnder the Radar The goal is to provide 'more housing, better regulation and greater aid,' said Spain's prime minister
-
Codeword: January 22, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: January 22, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
