Jerusalem – The umbrella organization representing Holocaust survivors in Israel asked YouTube on Tuesday to take down a spoof that shows Hitler throwing a tirade over Tel Aviv’s lack of parking, saying the clip was grossly insensitive to the feelings of elderly Holocaust survivors.
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The controversial four-minute video, which was apparently posted by two Israelis, shows a Hitler enraged over the paucity of parking spots in Tel Aviv after receiving a ticket for illegal parking.
“They [the city’s municipal inspectors] are worse than the SS,” the German-language video with Hebrew subtitles depicts a hysterical Hitler screaming. “NIS 250! They have no humanity!” he roars.
Hitler is then shown saying that Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai is “worse than Stalin.” The video ends with the Nazi dictator concluding that parking can only be found in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva.
“This offensive video hurts the sensitivities of Holocaust survivors,” said Noah Flug, chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors, in an e-mail sent on Tuesday to YouTube officials in the US.
“The usage of Holocaust symbols even as jokes are liable to hurt the feelings of survivors, and it is high time to put an end to such humor,” he said.
About 250,000 elderly Holocaust survivors live in Israel.
This clip is from the German movie “Der Untergang” (The Downfall). It’s a popular thing on YouTube to add funny fake subtitles to this clip.
This YouTube video has been making the rounds for months now. The first time I saw it, hitler was complaining (in German) about unscrupulous real estate agents. What has obviously happened is that someone in Israel, or someone somewhere who speaks Hebrew, dubbed this video, and changed its focus. I agree, ANYTHING with hitler is an offense (or should be) to Jews everywhere.
it should be removed IT IS NOT FUNNY you tube has many clips that are not funny–they are a big joke
I highly doubt that any Holocaust survivor is watching youtube let alone has even heard of it! It is always the complainers who bring unwarranted publicity to issues that otherwise noone has heard of…see 5T billboard etc.
Time for the Israeli police to shape up & have some feeling for others.
Let’s see how long it takes You Tube to complain about taking down that video, like You Tube said the Israeli side is not really watched enough.
Are we being just a bit over-sensitive and obnoxious?
I haven’t seen these meme before I read the NYT article, and let me tell you – the videos are absolutely hilarious, especially the Tel Aviv one.
And no, it’s not offensive. These people are just trying to justify their existence by protesting benign stuff – cf. Al Sharpton over the stupid monkey thing this morning.
I’ts a joke!!
You cant be offended by everything anyone says anymore!
Whether its funny or not, offensive or not, is not the point. Anyone has the right to post anything they want, that’s the deffinition of freedom of speech.
Do we now want any video of girls singing removed from youtube because we dont agree with it, its offensive to the jewish community to have girls singing?
Where do we draw the line?
Maybe vids with bikinis are banned, but one pieces are not? If you’re wearing a tee shirt covering *then* its ok?
Maybe any video showing a cop in a bad light should be removed too, because it offends all the policemen who are NOT corrupt? (all 10 of them :p)
It’s ok if you dont like it, I understand. But it’s too bad on you! Just don’t watch the video. You can’t have it removed because it makes YOU feel bad.
I don’t know how many of the 250,000 survivors are sitting on the web watching youtube, but without trying to be disrespectful i’m ROFLMFTO. The thin line between freedom speech and expression, and the need for censorship when it becomes offensive to me, easily becomes when it becomes offensive to the most offensive people. When censorship starts, it very hard to stop and ultimately it will be used against Jews (That’s where it started with the burning of 23 wagon loads of seferim vav chukas 1228. (1224?)