Ban the Button

The Eurovision song contest management has decided not to disqualify the Israeli song "Push the Button" (see my blog entry from March 5th). But now the Iranian government is demanding the the song be banned.

Initially the Eurovision management claimed the lyrics where "overtly political" in that they attacked "a specific country or politician" - Iran and its president Ahmadinejad. But a careful review of the lyrics, as well as singer/composer Kobi Oz's explanation that the song is not about Ahmadinejad, but about "living in the shadow of danger and laughing in the face of terror" convinced them to allow the song to participate in the contest.

Now, Tehran's state-run Iranian television has condemned "Push the Button" as an "insult" to Iran. The television said the song, with its references to nuclear warfare, was clearly a song directed against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and therefore an insult against Iran.

Since Iran claims to have no nuclear weapons and not interested in acquirement any, this seems like a strange claim for them to be making.