Dogs and Disengagement

As some of you may know, the anti-disengagement camp in Israel has adopted orange as their color. Curiously, this seems to have been done in the spirit of the Ukrainian protestors of the successful “Orange Revolution,” with which the settlers and their supporters have nothing in common. Be that it as it may, it’s orange all around here. The most hair-raising manifestation of it was when some of the settlers sported orange Stars of David, fancying themselves to be the like the victims of the Holocaust who bore yellow Stars of David before they were gassed, shot, worked to death, etc., This being a country founded by Holocaust survivors, the PR campaign backfired big time. Sometimes, the Israeli flag is defaced by being painted orange, though I think that most disengagement opponents have figured out that this doesn’t go over well either. More commonly, they just tie an orange ribbon next to the flag instead of dumping orange paint on it.

Government security, however, has sometimes gotten a little too paranoid at the sight of the color, like the time they blocked an Indian delegation bearing gifts of orange. As Jewish Week reported back in May:

This week the color foibles reached a peak when a delegation of Indian lawmakers arrived at the Knesset bearing gifts: a bagful of orange scarves, orange being the official color of India’s largest opposition party and believed to represent the Lotus flower, which brings good fortune to its wearer.

Knesset guards refused to allow the scarves in the building, and the Indian lawmakers had to enter sans gifts, picking them up as they left.

A spokesperson in the Knesset office said in response to the orange scarf scandal, as it came to be known in Israel, that while the guards were following orders, they may have been a little overzealous, according to Israeli press reports.

“It is absolutely prohibited to enter the Knesset with placards or any other propaganda material,” the office was quoted as saying. “Upon examination of the incident, we nevertheless conclude that there has been a certain degree of exaggeration in refusing to allow our Indian guests to enter with their scarves.”

Yesterday, I saw a little dog with an orange ribbon around its neck. I have seen toddlers wearing anti-disengagement t-shirts and so on, but this was the first time I saw a pet expressing his views on the withdrawal from Gaza. Yes, they say that the owner and pet come to resemble one another over time, but who knows? Maybe the little dog would rather be sporting Peace Now gear? In any case, I don’t know about Barney’s (The First Dog) views on disengagement are -- though I have a feeling that like President Bush he is pro -- but it looks like he can multiply pretty darn well. Never thought I would live to see the day when American dogs help out the English with their math homework. Yes, you too can send in your question to the First Dog and get all things Barney on his website. I highly recommend seeing the Barney Cam II (2003), which you can find under Barney’s Films on the right-hand side, it’s hilarious. Let’s just say it involves Karl Rove and Christmas lights... Do see the 2003 film and NOT the most recent one, which sucks. All of this pet talk makes me want to read Mo Rocca’s All The Presidents’ Pets which promises to shed some light on the real influence of First Pets in American politics. It is at times like this when I wonder if I should devote my writing non-talents to blogging about more substantial things like world hunger and so on…