By Debbie Schlussel

If there were a Suliman Al-Cowell and Joumanifer HaLopezad in Gaza, they’d be unemployed and hurting for cash.  Ditto for Samer Tyler.   That’s because HAMAS just canceled an “X-Factor”/American Idol”-style show in Gaza, deeming that it was “indecent.”  Since there is no detail on what was “indecent” about the show, “New Star,” I’m thinking maybe there weren’t enough songs like Smoky Al-Jihadinson’s “The Tears of a Jew” or Kafiriner’s “I’ve Been Waiting for 72 Girls Like You.”  Or maybe someone sang, “Young Turks,” and HAMAS was disappointed that it wasn’t about the terrorists on the Gaza flotilla who injured and tried to murder Israelis.

GAZA CITY– The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has banned residents of the coastal enclave from participating in the national reality singing show “New Star.”

The first episode of “New Star,” which follows the format of popular shows like “American Idol” and “The X-Factor,” was recorded in Gaza City via video link in December, and around 120 people turned up to audition.

But the successful contestants will not be able to continue in the competition as the Gaza government media office has since banned the talent show, which is produced by Ma’an TV and broadcast on the Ma’an-Mix satellite channel.

Hasan Abu Hashish, who heads the media office in the Hamas-run government, told Ma’an’s public relations director Ala al-Abed that the program was “indecent.”

The contest contradicts the customs and traditions of the Gaza community, Abu Hashish said, adding that singing was the passion of a few and not in the interests of the majority of the community.

The show is in its second season. Singers from Gaza participated in the first series without incident.

Welcome to Islamic “democracy” and springtime Arabism. As I always say, you can’t call theirs v. ours “a clash of civilizations,” because that assumes that there are two civilizations.

And you can’t exactly call what goes on in the Islamic world, “civilization.”