Sharon regime aims to impose Orange-Free State

By Reuven Koret    July 10, 2005

Criminal activities (AP Photo)

The Sharon government has decided to aggressively expand criminal sanctions against the use of the color orange and insults against public officials.

The decision to "defend democracy" by criminalizing nasty remarks is reflected in a decision to indict Women in Green co-founder Nadia Matar for a remark comparing "Disengagement Authority" czar Yonatan Bassi with Jewish leaders who collaborated with the Nazis in deporting Jews from their homes. Matar was charged with "insulting a public official" and could be jailed for several years.

There is evidence that "insulting public officials" is on the rise in Israel, and the government appears intent to use all legal means to prevent its expression. As a result, the government is considering closing the Knesset, eliminating television and newspapers, and placing all Israeli citizens under house arrest because of the "reasonable suspicion" that all of the above "insulted someone important" at one time or another, as one government official put it. "Government officials must be free to do their important work unhindered. Unflattering comparisons and nasty remarks divert us from our important work and weaken respect for the law."

Officials, however, apparently are not free from sanction. Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu may also be indicted, an unidentified government source said, for "saying mean things" about the Prime Minister. There is reported legislation in the works to indict any minister who votes against the government. "This an essential time for national unity, and those who publicly disagree with or criticize the government shouldn't be there. They should be in prison, and tried by the courts if necessary.

The government crackdown on "deviant expressions" is also expressed in tougher action against illegal use of the color orange. Last week, an orange banner with the blue Star of David was confiscated and its owner threatened with legal actions for "disgracing the national flag." This follows the banning of people wearing orange shirts or scarves from entering the Knesset or, in several instance, entering the country.

The government is reportedly considering the extension of criminal legislation against the color orange. Steps reportedly under consideration include confiscating the licenses of drivers who attach orange ribbons to their antennae or mirrors. "This is a distraction of attention on highways and a threat to public safety," one government official said.

Additional steps being weighed including eliminating the orange light in traffic signals, orange warning signs and striping on the highway as well as oranges and mangoes. "These fruit, given the current state of national crisis, are inflammatory."

Also reporting on the chopping block are certain vegetables, including pumpkins and carrots, the latter considered particularly dangerous because of their potential to be used in offensive gestures.

The Jewish mind should be able to figure out a way to change the color and shape of these fruit so they become more politically correct, an unnamed official said."

The government reportedly called on the Orange cellular phone company to change its name and logo. Zoos have been instructed to kill or expel their tigers or at least dye their hair. The Syracuse University basketball team, known as the "Orangemen," may be disinvited from a planned game with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Diplomatic discussions are underway with the United States to revoke its "orange alert," recently imposed in the wake of the London terror attacks. "This could be misunderstood, and give aid and succor to opponents of the Israeli government," one official said.

The Israeli government's "war against orange," however, is creating some diplomatic unease. The Ukraine, which also used the color orange to successfully protest government corruption and abuse of power, has expressed its displeasure with the anti-orange steps. And a South African official objected to the Israeli desire to create an Orange-Free State, saying "discrimination on the basis of color hearkens back to the bad old days of Apartheid."

Israeli officials, however, are undeterred by the consequences of discriminating against certain colors. "Orange is being used by the settlers as a weapon, and every government has the right to defend itself against inflammatory hues."

Asked whether the government's anti-orange ban was not perhaps a bit idiotic, the official considered the question to be insulting and -- as happened last week to two TV correspondents filming embarrassing scenes of male security forces violently manhandling young religious girls passively protesting -- handcuffed and booked the reporter.

Yet even the arresting official admitted that there appeared to be some practical limits on the ability of the Israeli police to enforce the widening orange ban, and the government is considering imposing the wearing of blue-tinted sunglasses to prevent exposure to the offending color.

"I think we may have problems with sunsets," he said.

But not, it would seem, insults to the intelligence.

Government officials are hereby reminded of a literary practice known as satire, of which this is an example.

The AP contributed to this report.