Israeli Ban on 2 Palestine Protest Songs Angers Many

JERUSALEM — Israel’s broadcast authority angered pop music fans and leftist politicians today by banning from radio and television two protest songs about the country’s handling of the Palestinian uprising.

The broadcast authority’s board of directors took the unprecedented action against the songs by two of Israel’s most popular women singers on grounds they served the enemies of the Jewish state, the authority’s deputy chairman, Shlomo Kor, said.

“Why don’t they have protest songs against the Arabs killing Jews? These songs depress the state and are propaganda for the Palestine Liberation Organization,” Kor, a hard-line member of the ruling Likud Party, said.

The dovish Labor Party, junior member in Israel’s national unity Cabinet, was outraged by the decision, and authority Chairman Aharon Harel of Labor appealed to Education Minister Yitzhak Navon against the decision.

“One Kid Goat” by Hava Alberstein, a takeoff on a melody sung on the Passover, invokes the history of the Jew as the oppressed victim to protest against the army’s “iron fist” policies in combatting the uprising.

“The Flood Will Follow Us” by Nurit Galron alludes to the biblical story of Noah’s ark. It protests against the nation’s apathy over the 2-year-old bloody revolt.