Today is Election Day in Israel. Most Israelis view it as a day of choice with no real choice at all– Tzipi Livni, who’s considered honest, but is unseasoned; or Benyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, who is viewed as a “failed” former Prime Minister, but who has more experience helming the government and seems to have the most support. And of course, the political parties are doing battle with campaign videos which have made their way to YouTube. Amidst the videos which make serious political charges for or against candidates, there’s also a more mellow, laid-back, chill perspective to be represented in Israel: The Green Party, whose platform consists solely of one tenet: legalize cannabis, and who produced the video below, in Hebrew (and translated here by journalist Lisa Goldman in the Guardian). In it, comedian and Green Party head Gil Kopatsch sits on the grave of first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and has a candid, cannabis conversation with him about why marijuana should be legalized.
David, We haven’t talked for so long. Do you want a drag? Oh yeah, you only smoke cigarettes. You know what, David, there are over a million people in this country who smoke this stuff. Do you know how much it costs me? A fortune! And do you know who grows and produces it? Hamas and Hizbullah! Yes, David, yes. As a former minister of defense, it’s important for you to know this. They’re making a fortune out of this stuff, and they’re using the money to buy rockets to launch at us. Isn’t that a pity, David? Why shouldn’t this be legal? If it were legal we could cultivate it here in the Negev and we could use the money to achieve positive goals!
Maybe, if nothing else seems to work, bringing the mellow to the Middle East might not be the worst idea in the world. It might even be the evolution of the “peace pipe” idea. But purveyors of such a peace plan would have to be sure that the strain of marijuana wasn’t the kind that encourages paranoia, because that’s the last thing the region needs. For hardcore Hebrewheads, check the video below:
