Israeli song strikes a chord with Libyan rebels

By LAHAV HARKOV 

In "Zenga Zenga," musician Noy Alooshe remixes Gaddafi's speech with a hip-hop song and bikini-clad dancers.

"Zenga Zenga," a YouTube clip, has gone viral amongst Libyan rebels in the past few days. What many of those opposing Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi don't realize 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 bikin-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 bikini-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.

"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 "Chovevey Tzion," whose biggest hit "Rotze Banot" set Hebrew words to the Swedish dance song "Boten Anna."