Israeli’s Gaddafi spoof strikes chord with Libyan rebels

In "Zenga Zenga," musician Noy Alooshe remixes Libyan leader’s speech with hip-hop song.

gaddafi parody 311 (photo credit: Screenshot)
gaddafi parody 311
(photo credit: Screenshot)
“Zenga Zenga,” a YouTube clip, has gone viral among Libyan rebels in the past few days. What many of those opposing Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi don’t realize, however, is that the video, a mash-up of Gaddafi’s speech and the hip-hop song “Hey Baby,” is from Israel.
The clip shows Gaddafi’s speech on a balcony in Tripoli, and uses Autotune to turn his words into a song. In the chorus, the Libyan dictator “sings” that he will clean Libya “inch by inch, house by house, room by room, alley by alley.” It also features bikini-clad women shaking their hips in time to the music.
The video, which had nearly 400,000 hits on its original version and another 40,000 in the women-free version, was created by Israeli musician Noy Alooshe.
Nearly all of the comments on the video are in Arabic, with viewers debating in the talkbacks whether it is permissible to enjoy humor from an Israeli.
Click for full Jpost coverage of turmoil in the Middle East
Click for full Jpost coverage of turmoil in the Middle East
“The Arab world is crazy about it,” Alooshe told Channel 2 news. “The opposition [in Libya] is using the clip to make Gaddafi look ridiculous.”
Alooshe added that the clip was featured on Libyan rebels’ websites.
Alooshe is a member of the Israeli techno group Chovevei Tzion, whose biggest hit “Rotze Banot” set Hebrew words to the Swedish dance song “Boten Anna.”