I received a joke via e-mail yesterday that I found offensive. I replied to the author to explain why I felt it was wrong. Before sharing my opinion on it, I would love to hear your view as to whether this is a reasonable joke or if it’s in poor taste, and if so, why.
**The gift
**
A few years ago, the terrorist organization Hamas, sent a gift to the President of Israel in an elaborate box with a note. After having the box checked for safety reasons, the President of Israel at the time, Mr. Shimon Peres, opened the box and saw that the content was feces (human excrement). He opened the note which said, "For you and the proud people of Israel.”
Being a wise and experienced person, he decided to reciprocate, sending Hamas a very pretty package and a note. The leaders of Hamas were very surprised to receive the parcel and opened it very carefully suspecting that it might contain a bomb. But to their surprise they saw that it contained a tiny computer chip. The chip was rechargeable with solar energy, had a 1800 Terabyte memory and could output a 3D hologram display capable of functioning in any type of cellular phone, tablet or laptop. It was one of the world’s most advanced technologies: Invented and produced in Israel.
The accompanying note to the Hamas leaders stated very courteously… “Every leader gives the best his people can produce.”
Jokes are circumstantial, and any offenses someone might take to it are also circumstantial.
Are you from Israel? A member of Hamas? Know someone who died in that war/affair? If so, I suspect that you think it’s pretty offensive because it hits you personally. Having absolutely no dog in that fight whatsoever I thought it was pretty chuckle-worthy.
Whether or not it’s offensive is subjective. I say yes it’s offensive if the person who sent that to you knows you would potentially take offense to it, I say it’s probably not if they didn’t/you have no personal stake in the situation
These kinds of “jokes” are usually deemed acceptable by the teller because the target is presumed to be universally held in such contempt that they deserve any antagonism thrown their way. You see stuff like;
“You know who else does — ? HITLER/NAZIS!”
because they’re assumed to be a safe target. If however you are sympathetic to the group in question it’s not really funny at all, at least to you.
Or perhaps you’re offended because you feel no group of people should ever be portrayed in such a manner?
What bothers me is that I felt the implication of the joke was that jewish israelis not capable of producing impressive things while Palestinian people are not. It devalues the intellectual capabilities not just of HAMAS but of the people that Hamas leads.
Given that I have seen that style of joke applied to any two nationalities under the sun… No, I cannot see it as offensive.
The amount of Lepe jokes in Spain making fun of the supposed stupidity of the people from the Spanish village of Lepe is huge.
In France and The Netherlands (I live in the latter) the standard “look how stupid these people are” jokes use Belgians as the go-to recipients of the scorn.
In Latin America, the stupid ones in jokes are the Spaniards (and I have had those kind of jokes told directly at me. I didn’t take offense at them).
In the US there are Polish jokes.
In Russia there are Chukchi jokes.
In Syria there are jokes about the people from Aleppo.
All over the world you will find this kind of joke, wherein some people are being put upon as being particularly stupid. I don’t see them as particularly offensive.
Unless what you feel is that the Palestinians are a poor oppressed minority and therefore it is not allowed to do this kind of joke (even though this one in my opinion touches on that but marginally; I have the feeling that the focus of the joke is actually on Hamas, and it can be argued that the “his people” refers to the members of Hamas, which are definitely not the whole of the Palestinian people – Hamas only governs in Gaza; Cisjordania is under the control of Fatah).
I’m in the ‘not offensive as a joke’ category, but I agree that if someone told it to you knowing that you had interests or connections to that particular conflict, it was in poor taste.
But that isn’t the joke’s fault - you could insert any two countries/antagonists/competitors into the scenario without changing anything, so the JOKE isn’t the one insulting Hamas/Palestine, it’s the person who used those two groups as the focus of the joke insulting Hamas.
NK sends SK a box of poo.
SK sends back computer chip.
Boom - same joke. Supreme Leader is a stupid poopy-head.
US sends Russia a box of poo.
Russia hacks a cow processing plant, which buries it in poo.
Still the same idea at the end. US is stupid poopy-head.
Bronze medalist sends gold medalist a box of poo.
Gold medalist sends back copy of gold medal.
Still no real difference to the joke’s punchline - Bronze winner is a stupid poopy-head.
In other words, don’t blame the joke, blame the teller.
No such thing (for me) as an offensive joke, if it’s funny.
This one isn’t, IMHO - it’s such a weak, clumsy construction that I’d wince to hear anyone try and tell it (and reading it’s not much better). So I’d vote for a comedically reprehensible offence.
Right- more like Hamas sucks so badly as a government that the best thing they have to offer is crap, while Israel can manage this super-duper technological thing.
Nothing about Palestinians per-se.
This is about the equivalent of substituting Detroit and say… San Jose, and then claiming that it’s racist because Detroit is predominantly black, when the point of the joke is that Detroit’s a dysfunctional dump.
I didn’t find this LOL funny, but I guess mildly amusing.
I do have a question about the “punchline” however:
Is the story saying that feces is the best that the people governed by Hamas can produce? Or is it calling the leadership abilities of Hamas into question, because they sent feces instead of finding the best their people could produce and sending that?