College removes ‘racist’ video

The student union at the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion was embroiled in controversy over a video on its website.

The union filmed and uploaded a video promoting Funjoya, its annual student party in Eilat over the weekend. The four-minute clip shows a group of attractive students on a bus heading to the party in Eilat. After taking a wrong turn on a desert road, they encounter a threesome of lecherous Arabs with terrible teeth and unibrows who order them off the bus. The students tell their captors about the party, and are allowed to continue on their way, but not before leaving behind one of the students who’s identified as homosexual.

Students at the college quickly criticized the video as racist. An Israeli Facebook page entitled “I too am a Leftist Traitor” urged students to write to the student union expressing their outrage, calling the clip “one of the most racist and shameful creations we’ve seen in recent times.” The student union’s Facebook page also filled quickly with complaints.

Critics claimed that while the students were portrayed as attractive, the video presented Arabs as ugly and brutish. They also contended that the clip was offensive to homosexuals.

A frame from an Israeli college’s promotional video that critics say promotes anti-Arab steroetypes (photo credit: YouTube)

The clip was quickly taken down by the student union, which said it would exercise more caution in the future while insisting that the film had been taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

“The clip is meant for comedic purposes only, and it was only meant to entertain while getting the students excited about the traditional vacation in Eilat that will take place this weekend,” the union said. “In less than one day, the video received thousands of positive reactions alongside criticism. We had no intention of hurting any population, and if someone was offended from the video directly or indirectly we sincerely apologize.”