Anyone who has ever been to any beach in Israel knows what Matkot refers to. It’s that uniquely Israeli game where two people whack a hard ball back and forth using paddles. There’s no winner or loser in this uniquely Israeli game. You just stand there and whack the ball. Back and forth. Some have posited that the virtue of the activity is that it is the only game where you try to help your partner keep the ball in play. Other racquet sports encourage players to mess up the other player, and this is seen as being reflective of some noble, uniquely Israeli character trait. But don’t believe it. Matkot is obnoxious. There you are trying to enjoy a day at the beach and instead of being serenaded by the calming waves, all you get is the constant ping ping ping of the matkot players who commandeer the shoreline for their stupid game. Let’s not even talk about the frequent ball and racquet related injuries suffered by many an innocent passerby. Anyhow, enjoy this short film by a couple of Israelis who tried to do something about it, and in doing so learned a valuable lesson about the nature of Israeli activism, bureaucracy and the limits of social media.

I’m serious though. Matkot should die.

About the author

wendy in furs

I live and blog anonymously from New York. If my boss knew this was me, I'd be fired in a nano-second. Ha ha! Screw you boss man!

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