Geffen says he stands behind every word of controversial poem
Gidi Gov apologizes for mocking Liberman’s accent over scandal.
By AMY SPIROUpdated: JANUARY 25, 2018 09:55Lebanese and Palestinians gather for a protest calling for the release of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi(photo credit: ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Songwriter and poet Yehonatan Geffen told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday he stands behind every word of the controversial poem about Ahed Tamimi he posted on Instagram earlier this week.“Of course I stand by my words and I’m happy to see that the occupation is back in the headlines,” he said via text message.He added that he would not agree to an interview because the poem speaks for itself.Geffen ignited a firestorm this week and a war with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman after he compared 16-year-old imprisoned Palestinian Ahed Tamimi to Anne Frank and Hanna Senesh. In response, Liberman ordered Geffen’s songs banned from Army Radio, though Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit then told Liberman he had no such authority to do so.In deliberate defiance of Liberman, Razi Barkai opened his Army Radio show Wednesday morning with Geffen’s song – sang by Yehudit Ravitz – “The Prettiest Girl in Kindergarten.”On his radio show on 102FM on Tuesday, singer, actor and TV host Gidi Gov mocked Liberman’s behavior over the scandal, and called him “a new immigrant with a Russian accent.” On Wednesday, Gov apologized for his words which he said were made “in the heat of the moment.”“I want to retract my words and apologize for my insult to Russian immigrants,” Gov wrote on Facebook. “That was not my intention.”Nevertheless, Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovski asked Mandelblit to open a criminal investigation into Gov for incitement and racism.“Gidi Gov’s words hurt me personally and hurt about three million citizens who at one point or another in their lives were ‘new immigrants’ with an accent,” she said.
Related TagsAhed TamimiRussian Immigrants
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