There was once a time when Israeli songs like A Matter of Habit were routinely written, aired and became hits. These were songs of political commentary or protest, songs of hope and idealism. They represented the aspirations of Israel’s secular liberal (generally Ashkenazi) elite. But that was long ago.
Which is why the popularity of A Matter of Habit is so extraordinary in today’s political context. The song, sung by Izhar Ashdot and written by Alona Kimche, speaks of how an Israeli soldier begins slowly to become degraded to his own humanity and that of the Palestinians among whom he patrols. It’s not only a powerful political and social statement, it has those infectious pop “hooks” that are the mark of a lasting hit. As we used to say way back in the 1960s when such music was popular here: it’s got a message and you can dance to it.
The song’s popularity will no doubt be amplified by a ban that Galey Tzahal, Israeli armed forces radio, slapped on the song for “degrading” the IDF. I’m always amazed that whenever the misdeeds of the IDF are documented and criticized that doing so somehow in itself becomes an inhuman or degrading act. So goes the logic of the oppressor who never knows or understands his own power and oppressive acts.
Here’s a peek into the mind of the military oppressors:
The radio station announced that “Due to the song’s contents, which debase IDF soldiers, the station commander decided that there is no room on Army Radio to publicly celebrate a song that denigrates and denounces those that have sacrificed their life for the defense of the country.”
The statement continued, “the artist Izhar Ashdot is held in high esteem by Army Radio. In this specific case however, we believe with the artistic leeway afforded to artists by this station, Army Radio, as a station of soldiers, where many soldiers perform their military serve, should avoid celebrating a song that demonizes those soldiers.”
It appears that the soldiers of the IDF are so fragile that they cannot withstand even a bit of scrutiny or introspection without collapsing into a morass of self-doubt and moral paralysis. God forbid that any such soldier should question himself or his comrades. The entire military order might collapse leaving Israel defenseless before the massing hordes of Arab enemies.
Here are the lyrics translated into English:
Chorus: Learning to kill is a matter of a push
It begins with something small, then it comes easierPatrolling all night in the Nablus casbah
Hey, what here is ours and what’s yours?
The beginning is an experiment
A rifle butt banging on the door
Fearful children, a terrified family
Then a closure, there’s already danger
Death lies in wait around every corner
You cock your weapon and your arm trembles
Your finger tightens around the trigger
Your heart goes crazy, beats in fright
It knows that the next one will be a lot easier.
They aren’t men or women
They’re only things and shadow
Learning to kill is a matter of routine.Chorus
Tidings from on high fall upon the streets
There’s no chance of life going on
The end is near
Prophecies of terror
Like the cries of ravens
Lock the shutters
Seal yourself in your homes
We’re but a handful
And they are so many
A tiny country devoured by enemies
In their hearts there’s only hatred, evil intent and darkness
Learning to fear is a matter of habit.Learning cruelty is a matter of a push
It begins with something small, and then gets easier
Every boy is a man thirsting for conquests
Hands behind the head, feet spread apart
It’s a time of danger, a time of terror
A solder who weakens isn’t worthy of mercy
Your cousin is like an animal
He’s used to seeing blood.
He doesn’t feel any pain
He’s not a human being.
A field uniform, a jock itch, exhaustion and routine.
The distance between stupidity and evil is short.
The land of Israel is ours and ours alone
Learning cruelty is a matter of habit.Little boy, little boy stop
Little boy, little boy come back
Come to me sweetheart
Come to me my baby
The skies are threatening and it’s gloomy outside
Your tin soldiers are still here under your bed
Come on home little boy
Come home
Come home.Learning to love is a matter of tenderness
With a careful step
Into a gentle cloud
We hesitate and melt
Become soft and round around the edges
Learning to love is a matter of habit.Being a human being is a matter of a push
Conceived like a fetus and then delivered
For a moment to be only here, only today
And to be on the other side of the checkpoint
But our heart’s already become coarsened
Our skin thickened
Deaf and blind in a bubble of this present
In wonder we’ll watch the falling angel
To be a human being is a matter of habit.
The images in the video don’t just represent the lyrics, they expand upon them visually and reinforce them. They’re a work of art in themselves. The last image, as Ashdot sings of a falling angel and being a human being, shows an angel’s wings falling away revealing the bruised back of a tortured Palestinian prisoner. It’s the ultimate subversion of the standard Israeli narrative for the lyricist to picture the Palestinian as the angel and the Israeli as his torturer. This ironic twist brings home the message that we Israelis have become these torturers, but we must strive to be human beings instead.
That such a song, summoning Israelis to return to their innate humanity and turn away from the brutes they’ve become, should be censored by Israeli media is the crowning commentary on what latter-day Israel has become. The YouTube video has now been viewed 150,000 times with nearly three times as many Dislikes as Likes. It’s apparently hit a very raw nerve.
For those seeking similar wonderful Israeli songs of protest, read my posts on David Broza’s B’Libi and Chava Alberstein’s Chad Gadya.
Same thing happened with the US Armed Forces Radio. They banned Souljia Boy’s album for one song that had lyrics critical of US soldiers. He even had to apologize for offending the US Army, but they still demanded the song be cut from the album. Not only was his song banned from being on the radio, but all military bases were banned from selling his album.
“degrading the IDF”?! It’ll take more than a song to outshine the degradation the IDF brings on itself.
Only a matter of time before they ban the birds in the sky from singing, if it brings a smile to a Palestinian face.
Beautiful song.
Well, it is not a protest song, it is a hate song. Would you sing a song that tells dark lies about you and calls to hate you?
Another lie, your first paragraph…
I’d definitely sing a song that tells the truth about rightist nationalist haters like you.
Smolmani; “song that tells dark lies about you”
What ‘dark lies’ would they be? Do tell.
A note on Smolani: this is a pejorative term used by the Israeli far-right to mean “dirty leftist bastard” or the equivalent. My comment rules note that I do not approve of commenters using false or deceptive nicknames as he has done. But since his trick is transparent and indicative of the overall duplicity he represents, I’m just letting everyone know of it here.
Useful info, Richard. ‘SmElani’ (as in ‘smelling a rat’) would seem a better choice.
Smolmani; “tells lies about you”
Exactly what lies? Could you ‘expand’ on that, please? Links/facts included. Thank you.
@miss Costello
‘People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell
And on your behalf Miss Costello
You mean the IDF is killing people on her behalf? How’s that? Is she Israeli? Or do you mean the U.S. military is killing Muslim civlians in Pakistan & Yemen in order to keep her safe? Is there a law of nature or human civilization that innocents must die in order to save the lives of other innocents?
Sure — that’s what they tell the soldiers.
Joel; Pardon? How do israeli thugs posing as ‘soldiers,’ (assuming these are your “rough men” and who would argue with that?) – “do violence on MY behalf”? I am an Englishwoman living in the UK. If I was living on the moon I would still need no man OR woman to “do violence” on my behalf or anyone else’s. I leave that to israel. Nobody does it better. Your quote; Why bring George Orwell into it? Do you really think he would want his name sullied by association with the ‘Totalitarian Democracy’ of israel? Everything he loathed and spoke out against. Incidentally, there’s considerable doubt the words you attribute to Orwell were actually his. But none whatsoever these are.
“If you can FEEL that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatsoever, you’ve beaten them”. George Orwell – 1984. Says it all, doesn’t it.
There is a similar Talmudic quote if I recall it correctly. There was a debate among the rabbis whether Jews were permitted to attend Roman circuses because of the bloodshed & death that attended. One rabbi argued that Jews could attend in order to raise their thumb to preserve the lives of the gladiators. “When no one around you is a human being, strive to be one.”
““When no one around you is a human being, strive to be one.”
That is quite beautiful, Richard. If only…..
Thank you.
“do violence on MY behalf”? I am an Englishwoman living in the UK. If I was living on the moon I would still need no man OR woman to “do violence” on my behalf or anyone else’s.I leave that to israel. Nobody does it better”
Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo……….Ambrose Bierce
Madam,
As much as I identify with the song, for it is unfortunately so very true, the encumbrance of scars, both physical and emotional,laid bare before my childhood eyes, require that I remind you of the violence done on your parents or grandparents
behalf and in defense of the British empire…………and believe me they did it better.
May I be so bold as to suggest a little more compassion when judging the predicament that Israel now finds herself in…..and spelled with a capital “I”.
‘The British Empire’. I agree with you. Which is why I described myself as English, not British.
“laid bare before my childhood eyes”- All I see laid bare before MY eyes are the victims of unspeakable cruelty (see links)carried out by sadistic, israeli thugs, which no doubt you will either deny with ease or have no problem at all with – then expect ME to ‘have compassion’! The words ‘compassion’ and ‘israel’ have no place in the same sentence, any more than israel had any right to invade, occupy, drive out / imprison and terrorize another people IN THEIR OWN LAND-PALESTINE-for sixty four years and counting.The ‘predicament’ israel finds itself in is of its own repugnant making. ‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap’. Bring it on. Ps. In MY book, there is NOTHING ‘capitol’ about israehel.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/new-report-documents-systematic-abuse-palestinian-children-israeli-military-detention
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/26/israeli-soldiers-mistreatment-palestinian-children
http://digitaljournal.com/article/331579
Yes, yes — Miss Costello, but how do you feel about Israel?
Miss Costello, your comment reminds of one of my favorite on the subject by Gandhi.
““Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French…What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct…If they [the Jews] must look to the Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the goodwill of the Arabs… As it is, they are co-sharers with the British in despoiling a people who have done no wrong to them. I am not defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regard as an unacceptable encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.”
Mahatma Gandhi, quoted in “A Land of Two Peoples” ed. Mendes-Flohr.
Given that George Orwell was not exactly a “might makes right” kind of guy, I’m sure that the above quote, if genuine, was meant in the following way:
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because of a false perception that the violence done by rough men supposedly on their behalf makes them more safe, when in reality that violence makes them less safe as it creates enemies for them.”
Andy; well said! I prefer your version of the quote. To the best of my knowledge, it isn’t actually a quote at all , but a sentence from an article written for the Washington Times in 1993 by Film Critic Richard Grenier. The confusion arose from Orwell having expressed similar sentiments relating to a work of Rudyard Kipling, inevitably resulting in the quote attributed to him. The fact Grenier didnt use quotation marks in the article (unthinkable, had it been a genune quote of Orwell’s) would seem to confirm the validity of this view.
Richard writes: ” So goes the logic of the oppressor who never knows or understands his own power and oppressive acts.
It seems that they have cloned “American Exceptionalism” and NOW have an “Israeli Exceptionalism”
What do you mean, “NOW”?
You are absolutely right, fiddler.
The US is certainly NOT the first nation to suffer
the ‘favored nation” or “chosen people” syndrome.
What is “chosen people” syndrome?
A syndrome is a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.
The Chosen People Syndrome is a pathological belief that one’s own race, ethnic group or culture has been specifically selected by nature or g-d for dominion or hegemony over the earth.
It should not be seen as particularly aggrandizing the group, but ALSO humbles and degrades the group, since there accomplishments are only through the intervention of nature or a supreme being.
I prefer using the term exceptionalism or supremacism. I don’t mind the term Chosen People as long as it’s understood as a sense of moral obligations & principles rather than as a sense of entitlement or superiority.
Unfortunately, the term, irrespective of how it is “understood”, it has ALWAYS been exercised as an entitlement and superiority. ALSO unfortunately, those who view themselves as superior are always singled out for selective disdain.
What findings including physical signs and lab tests could a doctor use to diagnose “The Chosen People Syndrome?” What is the patient’s chief complaint? Are there treatments or cures for this ailment?
It is the same exceptionalism, the logic of dominance and exploitation of others and their property. There is no other explanation for the destruction of Iraq…and Palestine.
Israeli exceptionalism has been going strong for a long time, not just since now. The (albeit dubious) excuse that existed up to 1948, when the situation of European Jewry truly was exceptional, has long – at the very latest since 1967 – lost its validity. Ever since, Israeli exceptionalism is fuelled by the denial of this fact, by the forceful continuation of the meme of the Jews as the eternal victim, even when at the same time, paradoxically enough, the image of the macho sabra emerged.
American Puritan settlers may well have nourished a similar victim mentality at the time – victims of both European persecution and economical hopelessness and the violent resistance of the native “savages” – but Americans are way past that now. So I wouldn’t say contemporary Israeli and American exceptionalisms are alike, rather that Israel seems determined to repeat, in a way, American history, including its depredations.
Davey wrote:
>What findings including physical signs and lab tests could a doctor use to diagnose “The Chosen People Syndrome?”
It ISN’T a viral infection or congenital condition, but it IS contagious,to those without genuine personal self-esteem . One does NOT have to be a proctologist to recognize an ass hole when one sees one.
> Are there treatments or cures for this ailment?
In some cases, yes. but it requires honesty and an open mind. Something that EVERYONE does NOT possess.
Hey, lighten up! I understand your angst and capitalized words, but I intended only a moment of bemusement.
The song demonizing the army and soldiers hurts the morale is clearly not appropriate for army radio . I am sure the army radio in the USA would also ban a song like that.
PS. 686 likes, 1,488 dislikes not as you say “Interesting also that the song has 460 “Dislikes” and only 330 “Likes.”
The song doesn’t demonize the army or soldiers. It’s actually deeply sympathetic to them & their plight. If you think your soldiers don’t suffer from the pain they inflict on the Palestinians you’re a dolt. The song does demonize something: the Occupation. That’s what you’re really defending. Not the army or the soldiers. Let’s be clear on that.
A Yid wrote:
“I am sure the army radio in the USA would also ban a song like that.”
WHAT “army radio in the USA” ???
Armed Forces Radio Network, is specifically barred from broadcasting
over the United States.
THAT, of course doesn’t mean the the US government doesn’t
control (to a considerable degree) the M.S.M. !
First, Yizhar is among the greatest active Israeli musicians. This song defiantly delivers the message and has good artistic quality.
And yet, should the Radio of the IDF spend taxpayers money to convey this controversial (is Israeli terms) messages? I think It’s crystal clear why they won’t.
And anyone wishing (Including me, great song!) may still listen on Youtube or buy the album.
Where is it written that Israeli media may not air “controversial” messages? What is Israeli media if it can’t do this? Is it little more than North Korean patriotic marching tunes aired 24 hours a day to lull the masses to sleep? Don’t be ridiculous. As for cheering Ashdot, if you were a true fan you’d be outraged.
GLZ is not an ordinary Israeli media. It belongs to the IDF, 50% of it’s budget comed from the IDF and most of it’s workers are soldiers. So I understand why the IDF won’t spend taxpayers money on such messeges, which anger many Israelis (“hit a raw nerve”).
As for the rest of the media – that’s something different. Unlike North Korea, there IS other media.
There was a time when the IDF was truly a diverse microcosm of Israeli society. But now 50% of the officer corps is religious & many of those are settlers. The IDF is no longer diverse, hence it’s current right wing or worse orientation. If the IDF truly was the people’s army Galey Tzahal would represent diversity on air. It doesn’t.
Michael wrote:
“And yet, should the Radio of the IDF spend taxpayers money
to convey this controversial (is Israeli terms) messages?”
Are you KIDDING?
It is BECAUSE it is “taxpayers money” that they have NO right
to censor the message of ANY segment of the population.
What taxpayers are we talking about, Israeli or American? Misguidedly for sure, Barbara Streisand donates to the IDF and she can afford sizable gifts.
Davey wrote: “What taxpayers are we talking about, Israeli or American?
It doesn’t matter. The funds that American taxpayers are forced to contribute to the State of Israel (et al)
is another issue altogether; best directed at the U.S. government.
>”Barbara Streisand donates to the IDF and she can afford sizable gifts.
Not really relevant; What Streisand does with HER money is HER business. HOWEVER, as long as Israeli taxpayers support IDF radio their views, ALL THEIR VIEWS, should be include.
A good comparison is NPR in this country. There are hundreds of thousands of “members” who contribute differing sums, BUT it STILL receives government money and as long as this is the case they must legally reflect the views of the general population.
Whereas, NO broadcast facility CAN reflect ALL of the opinions of the population, it SHOULD be entirely private.
That is why I have NEVER contributed to NPR.
I intended only to call attention to the funding. So much exogenous funding flows into Israel, I would not be surprised if it finds its way (or otherwise permits, money being fungible) the funding of the station. It is relevant. The funding is always relevant. But, it is a different issue, I agree.
If the song is of any positive indication, it does show us that the real spirit of the Jewish goodness still exists in some , and it did not just vanish from all of Israel and Jews. That is hope!
Noevil9; Agreed. There are many brave, dedicated Israelis /organisations, (Jews /Christians alike), who put themselves at risk on a daily basis to stand side by side with the Palestinians in their fight for freedom and justice. And paid the price for doing so.
the day in which the hatered will be taken out of the palestinian syllabus will be the day i shall be able to swallow this tablet
The day on which hatred will be taken out of Israeli society will be the day I won’t call you a racist.
And the day the word ‘NAKBA’! will be ALLOWED, ACKNOWLEDGED AND TAUGHT IN iSRAELI SCHOOLS, ALONGSIDE THE HOLOCAUST, will be the day israhel doesn’t breed ignorant bigots such as you.