Hadas Tapouchi (Israel)
Studied at Minchar School of Art & Literature, Beit Berl Academy of Arts, exhibited in Israel and abroad
Title: Moel Yad, 2009, 6:00
The Salute(=Hebrew=Moel-Yad).
This presentation, an analysis of Israeli society, is a social experiment that provides an insight intoIsraeli past and present.It asks the question; what are those elements which we have grown up to hate, and taught to fear? Our most despised enemy, which forces us to recall bad things, is now presented as a man, dressed in European Military uniform. The man stands in the center of Tel Aviv in 2009 and observes those
passing by; men, women, and children of Sephardic and Ashkenazi backgrounds, arabs & jews. This soldier is engaging in the act which we identify as the solute to Hitler, but in fact, it is a solute which originated in the Old Testament of the Bible in the Book of Nehemiah. It describes the audience reaction at the words of the Torah ready by Ezra “Ezra blessed the Great God and the people responded by saluting and saying Amen”. This salute, which was practiced by the Romans, was later adopted by Italy during the fascist regime and then by Nazi Germany. Due to its use in Nazi Germany, the salute is now identified with the Nazi regime and other fascist regimes. This form of salute is also popular with Arab terrorist organizations, and with large military militias such as Hezballah and Hamas. For these reasons salute is prohibited in most countries and in some places, its use is punishable by law.