Honk if you have an opinion!

September 26, 2008 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

I wrote yesterday about not endorsing candidates publically. That probably means I shouldn’t have a bumper sticker on my car proclaiming my candidate of choice. That’s fine – I’ve never really been much of a bumper sticker person.

Except… I do enjoy Shirat HaSticker (“The Sticker Song”) by the Israeli group Hadag Nachash. Written by Israeli author David Grossman, the song includes 54 phrases from bumper stickers in Israel. The New York Times tells the story of how Grossman came up with the idea… Basically Grossman was driving and saw a car on the side of the road. The driver of that car was trying to remove his bumper sticker that said “Rabin is a Murderer.” It was 1995, and Rabin had been murdered a few days prior.

Grossman realized how significant bumper stickers are in Israel. Compiling 120 of them, Grossman seemed to be tapping into the contrasts and diversity of Israeli life – and the strong opinions of Israelis. I lived in Israel in 2003-2004, and it’s definitely a diverse country – where everyone has an opinion. I admire that.

You can watch a video of the song (with subtitles that have the translation) – it’s from YouTube.

It goes by quickly – so if you want, printed lyrics are here.

You’ll see the contrasts immediately – the first four stickers mention the desire for peace – but also for the army (IDF – the Israeli Defense Forces) to “mow them down.” Now that is not a very peaceful image. “Draft for All” is juxtaposed with “Exemption for All.” There are religious references (“The Holy One, Blessed Be He”), news media references (“CNN lies”), political references (“the Left Helps the Arabs”), violent references (“to Annihilate”), and much more.

Some of the images probably go over our heads if we are not Israelis – but the overall amalgamation of these images makes quite the statement. Israelis have a lot to say – and they can stick to their words.

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