Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 January 19

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January 19

Natan Zahavi who?

Who is this Natan Zahavi? What is his personality? All I can undedrstand is that he is a hardcore secularist, hardcore anti-Mizrahi and hadrcore anti-Arab. What other personality does he have? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.54.66.66 (talk) 23:48, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Huh? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bliever1 (talk • contribs) 00:25, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

His page in the Hebrew Wikipedia begins: "Natan Zahavi (b. 27 Oct. 1946, Tel Aviv) is an Israeli journalist, photographer, commentator, radio broadcaster, actor and film producer... known for his outspoken style and for excoriating the Establishment." He received Israel's prestigious Sokolov Award for journalism (2000). He presently hosts a talklistener call-in show, "Zahavi 'Atzbani" (Hebrew: irritable or restless/nervous/anxious/worried Zahavi), on Israeli Radio 103FM ("Radio le-lo Hafsakah;" non-stop radio). A Facebook page bearing the show's name and his, includes the description: "...one of a vanishing breed of journalists who fight corruption and seek justice." -- Deborahjay (talk) 13:16, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

(ETA) I've been corrected by a listener: his above-mentioned radio program is the call-in type. I'm curious how the OP formed the impression of that peculiar cluster of "hardcore secularist/anti-Mizrachi/anti-Arab" characterizing N. Zahavi. Perhaps this was taken out of context or based on a "Devil's advocate" argument with a caller? -- Deborahjay (talk) 16:59, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

The reason I came up with that context is that I have listened to three episodes: one where he called Shas party "Sephardi sluts", second where a caller was a Mizrahi from Algeria and he (Zahavi) called him a slur and third where he was talking to an Arab and (Zahavi) saying that he was a terrorists or something like that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.54.66.66 (talk) 03:12, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

What you describe is consistent with the behavior of a shock jock persona. According to his biography on the Hebrew Wikipedia page, he has decades of solid Israeli-leftist credentials, awards for social activism, and is quoted as identifying with the Meretz party. -- Deborahjay (talk) 05:53, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Also consider that your reporting "he called [the] Shas political party "Sephardic sluts" - if this last word is your understanding of the Hebrew word זונה, in the context of disparaging a political party it's far more likely that the correct translation is "whore", a common derogatory epithet for politicians who "prostitute" themselves, i.e. sell out for money. There's no conceivable reason that "slut" is what was intended. If you listen to Zahavi's program again now that you know his background and positions, you're likely to understand when he's being sarcastic, faux naïf, using figurative language, etc. -- Deborahjay (talk) 10:57, 22 January 2014 (UTC)