The problem with the middle east is - ok, there is more than one problem - but a big problem is how it has seemed to kills our ability to appreciate ironic humour. Or any multi-lateral thought process. Oy, are we all doomed to become literal thinkers? I don't think it's a translation problem. I think maybe ppl don't get how surviving in Israel means laughing at your own foibles. If we can't laugh at ourselves, life is truly intorlerable.