Israel is "barking on the wrong tree"
- Thread starter SouthAmerica
- Start date
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March 3, 2010
SouthAmerica: Reply to Lucrum
This is the best comment that you could come up regarding this thread?
By the way, the front page of the Financial Times (UK) has a headline that reads:
Death in Dubai - Why Israel at war has the right to assassinate its enemies.
Then the article says: Israel is no more rogue than the US.
...Many countries have carried out peacetime assassinations without their legitimacy being questioned.
...Is that attitude so very different from the pre-emptive targeted assassination of Taliban leaders that Nato carries out by flying drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan today? Yet are Messrs Siegman and Gardner going to call into question America's legitimacy? No, that insult is reserved for only one country: Israel.
********
Talking about a "Pathetic" article this one published today on the Financial Times gets first prize.
*********
Lucrum, now going back to your problem.
Sometimes when I post stuff on this forum the date that appears when I post it is different that the actual time and date when I am posting. The actual server where people post stuff on the ET forum is located at a different time zone than where I am located which is the New York City area.
The date and time that you see when you post stuff on the ET forum is the local date and time where the server is located, and not necessarily the time and date of the location from which I am posting my material.
If you have not noticed that difference in time and date then it is because you are located in the same time zone as this server.
.
March 3, 2010
SouthAmerica: Reply to Lucrum
This is the best comment that you could come up regarding this thread?
By the way, the front page of the Financial Times (UK) has a headline that reads:
Death in Dubai - Why Israel at war has the right to assassinate its enemies.
Then the article says: Israel is no more rogue than the US.
...Many countries have carried out peacetime assassinations without their legitimacy being questioned.
...Is that attitude so very different from the pre-emptive targeted assassination of Taliban leaders that Nato carries out by flying drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan today? Yet are Messrs Siegman and Gardner going to call into question America's legitimacy? No, that insult is reserved for only one country: Israel.
********
Talking about a "Pathetic" article this one published today on the Financial Times gets first prize.
*********
Lucrum, now going back to your problem.
Sometimes when I post stuff on this forum the date that appears when I post it is different that the actual time and date when I am posting. The actual server where people post stuff on the ET forum is located at a different time zone than where I am located which is the New York City area.
The date and time that you see when you post stuff on the ET forum is the local date and time where the server is located, and not necessarily the time and date of the location from which I am posting my material.
If you have not noticed that difference in time and date then it is because you are located in the same time zone as this server.
.
1. We all know the UN is basically a forum of the weak to complain against the strong financed by the strong to make the weak feel better.
So - in the long run - this all you just un smoke and mirrors. we are ask for a meaningless PR move. We know Obama loves to make the US look weak. PR stunt rating 9 out of 10 - importance on world stage 4 out of 10. ability to really change anything 0 out of 10. conclusion - PR stunt.
2. It would be nice if you bought from boeing but do we really give a hoot? Its small countries job to spread their buy orders around so that we do not have a monopoly on Jet fighters. We don't really care where you purchase your inferior goods. Rating - Some PR some sales call. Importance 2 out of 10 Conclusion mostly PR stunt
3. So Brazil understands spanish a little better than we do - Rating -- 100% PR stunt. importance 0 out of 10. conclusion PR stunt.
4. This is perhaps the real reason for deciding to have a PR stunt - if you try to enforce this baloney via the WTO - our farmers will get pissed and blow out the whole wto.
PR rating - low
Importance 6 out of 10.
Conclusion - a real issue - Sort of a reverse PR move. No one really cares because it is covered up by the other stuff.
Overall summary.
Conclusion - this whole meeting was called to make your President look good. It was probably requested by Pres. Lulu and President Obama is going to extract something in private. If Obama is smart. Otherwise this just one more bad international move by Obama to make the U.S. look weak.
I give Obama more credit than that. So this is clearly a move requested by Lulu.
98% PR stunt to benefit Brazillian leader.
Feel free to thank us.
JEMURROW your political correspondent.
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March 8, 2010
SouthAmerica: The Israelis are completely out of control â government hit squads to assassinate people in foreign countries and Gestapo type raids to intimidate children at home.
Monday 8th March, 2010
BigNews Network
Gestapo type raids anger Israeli human rights organization
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=608981
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March 8, 2010
SouthAmerica: The Israelis are completely out of control â government hit squads to assassinate people in foreign countries and Gestapo type raids to intimidate children at home.
Monday 8th March, 2010
BigNews Network
Gestapo type raids anger Israeli human rights organization
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=608981
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March 8, 2010
SouthAmerica: I was reading the latest news when a news item from Reuters called my attention â and I just learned something new, since I was not aware that: Quoting from the enclosed Reuters latest news piece ââ¦since Israel President Barack Obama took office in January 2009â¦
I had no idea that Israel also had elected Barack Obama as its presidentâ¦.
By the way, vice president Joe Biden must have a lot of free time with nothing else better to do for him to waste time making a fool of himself in Israel.
You just can cry wolf (to raise a false alarm) so many times, and after that it becomes a laughing matter.
It is like a joke and only fools would pay any attention to this threat coming from a nuclear-armed Iran.
We have been discussing this subject for the last 5 years here on Elite Trader forum â and the Iranian nukes were supposed to be ready in 6 months that was 5 years ago â and these 6 months never arrive â the Iranian nukes are always around the cornerâ¦
Ten years from now they still will be claiming how the Iranian nukes are almost doneâ¦
Now letâs talk about the sanctions against Iran:
Since the Shah of Iran was deposed 30 years ago the United States and Israel have been playing this sanction game against Iran at the United Nations.
I understand that the first 20 layers of sanctions must have had some negative effect on the Iranian economy.
But after 30 years and after 20 layers of sanctions at the UN â the sanction game also has become like a joke â what will be included on the next layer of sanctions? Other countries wonât be able to sell lollipops for the Iranian kids?
Anyway, with Washington completely paralyzed these days, Joe Biden decided to go and waste his time in Israel instead of in Washington D.C.â¦
******
âComing to Israel, Biden flags U.S. support vs Iranâ
Reuters - Mon Mar 8, 2010
(Reuters) - The Obama administration has boosted U.S. defense ties to Israel and will close ranks with its ally against any threat from a nuclear-armed Iran, Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday ahead of a trip to Israel.
Barack Obama
Biden, the most senior U.S. official to visit since Israel President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, is widely expected to caution his hosts not to attack Iran pre-emptively while world powers pursue fresh sanctions against Tehran.
In an interview with the biggest-selling Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Biden emphasized Washington's efforts to drum up greater international diplomatic pressure on the Iranians, as well as unilateral measures imposed by the U.S. Treasury.
Asked about the prospect of an Israeli attack, he said:
"Though I cannot answer the hypothetical questions you raised about Iran, I can promise the Israeli people that we will confront, as allies, any security challenge it will face. A nuclear-armed Iran would constitute a threat not only to Israel -- it would also constitute a threat to the United States."
The Obama administration, Biden said, "gives Israel annual military aid worth $3 billion. We revived defense consultations between the two countries, doubled our efforts to ensure Israel preserves its qualitative military edge in the region, expanded our joint exercises and cooperation on missile-defense systems."
Israel, which is believed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 and, in 2007, launched a similar sortie against Syria. But many analysts believe its forces are too small to deliver more than disruptive strikes against Iran's distant, numerous and fortified sites.
Those tactical challenges, and U.S. reluctance to see a new regional war, has led some analysts to predict Israel will eventually come round to a strategy of "containing" Iran -- which denies its controversial uranium enrichment is for bombs.
Biden, who arrives in Jerusalem on Monday and departs Israel on Thursday, was not expected to take part in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks that would be spearheaded by Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell, and could be announced during his visit, although he will be briefed on them.
U.S.-Israeli tensions flared over Obama's early push for a complete freeze to Jewish settlement in the West Bank, where Palestinians seek statehood as part of a future peace accord.
Obama has at least temporarily backed off, embracing a more limited, 10-month moratorium on new building announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November.
Many Israelis are distrustful of Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, a priority he highlighted with high-profile visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and, later this month, to Indonesia.
"We certainly believe that when the United States effectively builds bridges with Muslim communities, this allows us to promote our interests, including interests that Israel benefits from," Biden told Yedioth.
"The construction freeze was a unilateral decision by the Israeli government, and it is not part of an agreement with the American administration or with the Palestinians," he said.
"It is not everything that we wanted, but it is an important action that has significant impact on the ground."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6271YE20100308
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March 8, 2010
SouthAmerica: I was reading the latest news when a news item from Reuters called my attention â and I just learned something new, since I was not aware that: Quoting from the enclosed Reuters latest news piece ââ¦since Israel President Barack Obama took office in January 2009â¦
I had no idea that Israel also had elected Barack Obama as its presidentâ¦.
By the way, vice president Joe Biden must have a lot of free time with nothing else better to do for him to waste time making a fool of himself in Israel.
You just can cry wolf (to raise a false alarm) so many times, and after that it becomes a laughing matter.
It is like a joke and only fools would pay any attention to this threat coming from a nuclear-armed Iran.
We have been discussing this subject for the last 5 years here on Elite Trader forum â and the Iranian nukes were supposed to be ready in 6 months that was 5 years ago â and these 6 months never arrive â the Iranian nukes are always around the cornerâ¦
Ten years from now they still will be claiming how the Iranian nukes are almost doneâ¦
Now letâs talk about the sanctions against Iran:
Since the Shah of Iran was deposed 30 years ago the United States and Israel have been playing this sanction game against Iran at the United Nations.
I understand that the first 20 layers of sanctions must have had some negative effect on the Iranian economy.
But after 30 years and after 20 layers of sanctions at the UN â the sanction game also has become like a joke â what will be included on the next layer of sanctions? Other countries wonât be able to sell lollipops for the Iranian kids?
Anyway, with Washington completely paralyzed these days, Joe Biden decided to go and waste his time in Israel instead of in Washington D.C.â¦
******
âComing to Israel, Biden flags U.S. support vs Iranâ
Reuters - Mon Mar 8, 2010
(Reuters) - The Obama administration has boosted U.S. defense ties to Israel and will close ranks with its ally against any threat from a nuclear-armed Iran, Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday ahead of a trip to Israel.
Barack Obama
Biden, the most senior U.S. official to visit since Israel President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, is widely expected to caution his hosts not to attack Iran pre-emptively while world powers pursue fresh sanctions against Tehran.
In an interview with the biggest-selling Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Biden emphasized Washington's efforts to drum up greater international diplomatic pressure on the Iranians, as well as unilateral measures imposed by the U.S. Treasury.
Asked about the prospect of an Israeli attack, he said:
"Though I cannot answer the hypothetical questions you raised about Iran, I can promise the Israeli people that we will confront, as allies, any security challenge it will face. A nuclear-armed Iran would constitute a threat not only to Israel -- it would also constitute a threat to the United States."
The Obama administration, Biden said, "gives Israel annual military aid worth $3 billion. We revived defense consultations between the two countries, doubled our efforts to ensure Israel preserves its qualitative military edge in the region, expanded our joint exercises and cooperation on missile-defense systems."
Israel, which is believed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 and, in 2007, launched a similar sortie against Syria. But many analysts believe its forces are too small to deliver more than disruptive strikes against Iran's distant, numerous and fortified sites.
Those tactical challenges, and U.S. reluctance to see a new regional war, has led some analysts to predict Israel will eventually come round to a strategy of "containing" Iran -- which denies its controversial uranium enrichment is for bombs.
Biden, who arrives in Jerusalem on Monday and departs Israel on Thursday, was not expected to take part in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks that would be spearheaded by Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell, and could be announced during his visit, although he will be briefed on them.
U.S.-Israeli tensions flared over Obama's early push for a complete freeze to Jewish settlement in the West Bank, where Palestinians seek statehood as part of a future peace accord.
Obama has at least temporarily backed off, embracing a more limited, 10-month moratorium on new building announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November.
Many Israelis are distrustful of Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, a priority he highlighted with high-profile visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and, later this month, to Indonesia.
"We certainly believe that when the United States effectively builds bridges with Muslim communities, this allows us to promote our interests, including interests that Israel benefits from," Biden told Yedioth.
"The construction freeze was a unilateral decision by the Israeli government, and it is not part of an agreement with the American administration or with the Palestinians," he said.
"It is not everything that we wanted, but it is an important action that has significant impact on the ground."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6271YE20100308
.
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March 13, 2010
SouthAmerica: You know that your country has lost most of its âPrestige and Influenceâ in international affairs when even your closest ally at the United Nations is âHUMILIATINGâ the vice president of your country in public - when he comes calling and visited your country with good intentions in mind.
âObamaâs lack of Mideast muscleâ
When Joe Biden visited Jerusalem to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, all the US vice-president got was: a great deal of public âHUMILIATIONâ.
Only idiots would continue to keep friends like thatâ¦.Today the entire world is laughing of the United States and its âPatheticâ relationship with Israel.
Note: I feel sorry for Joe Biden, since he is one of the most charismatic members of the Senate, and he seems to be a genuine nice guy.
*****
âObamaâs lack of Mideast muscleâ
Financial Times (UK)
March 12, 2010
When Joe Biden visited Jerusalem to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, all the US vice-president got was a kick in the teeth from his host, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After a year of false starts, Barack Obamaâs administration had made Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree to discussions â not direct ones, but âproximity talksâ through George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East. But the announcement that 1,600 new homes would be built in a Jewish Orthodox settlement in occupied East Jerusalem â just hours after Mr Biden reiterated the âabsolute, total and unvarnishedâ US commitment to Israelâs security â led Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president, to cancel the talks.
This may have been what Israel intended, or it may not have cared what the consequences would be. In either case (and even if it was, unbelievably, a bureaucratic accident) it showed Mr Netanyahuâs lack of concern for making others trust his interest in a peace deal.
The point was not missed on the Americans, at whom this provocation was directed. In the strongest language this administration has used against Israel (and in contrast to his earlier paean to US-Israeli friendship) Mr Biden âcondemnedâ the act for âinflaming tensionsâ.
Mr Obama has himself to blame. He staked his foreign policy on improving relations in the Middle East. Early in his presidency, Israeli leaders worried that US policy towards them may turn less forgiving. But when Mr Netanyahu flouted US demands on settlements last year, secretary of state Hillary Clinton blinked.
Whereas Mr Biden says there is âno spaceâ between the two countries on security, the rather wider space between the White House and Congress weakens both Mr Mitchellâs and Mrs Clintonâs hands.
Mr Netanyahu, counting on support on Capitol Hill, reckons he can win any game of chicken with the White House. He may be right that Congress will not stop aid; but Mr Obama has other levers. If he took a leaf out of the Bush-Baker book in 1991 and signalled that Israel could no longer take unconditional US support for granted, Mr Netanyahuâs domestic support would quickly evaporate.
The settlement expansions risk elevating a conflict over land â which can be settled â into an irretrievably more potent war of religion. That would end the hope for justice for Palestinians, security for Israelis, and Mr Obamaâs goal of unclenching fists across the wider Middle East. It is time for him to become more muscular.
*****
âIsraelâs dysfunctional coalitionâ
By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: March 12, 2010
Financial Times (UK)
If there were a prize for abysmal political timing, a little-known Israeli government body called the Jerusalem district planning and construction committee would surely be a hot favourite to win the trophy.
The committee struck late on Tuesday, approving a plan to build 1,600 new homes in a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.
That the move defied repeated calls by the international community for Israel to stop expanding settlements was bad enough. Worse, it came hours before Joe Biden, the US vice-president, was due to sit down for dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. The intimate soiree was part of a high-profile visit by Mr Biden, who came to bolster ties between the old allies and prepare the ground for a new peace effort with the Palestinians.
Even more damaging, the provocative decision came just a day after the US proudly announced that the Palestinian leadership had finally dropped its opposition to a new round of peace talks after months of patient US diplomacy.
With the stroke of a pen, the committee managed to damage Israel's vital relationship with the US, cause personal offence to Mr Biden, provoke fury among Arab and Palestinian leaders and deal a blow to the latest peace effort before it had even begunâ¦
.
March 13, 2010
SouthAmerica: You know that your country has lost most of its âPrestige and Influenceâ in international affairs when even your closest ally at the United Nations is âHUMILIATINGâ the vice president of your country in public - when he comes calling and visited your country with good intentions in mind.
âObamaâs lack of Mideast muscleâ
When Joe Biden visited Jerusalem to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, all the US vice-president got was: a great deal of public âHUMILIATIONâ.
Only idiots would continue to keep friends like thatâ¦.Today the entire world is laughing of the United States and its âPatheticâ relationship with Israel.
Note: I feel sorry for Joe Biden, since he is one of the most charismatic members of the Senate, and he seems to be a genuine nice guy.
*****
âObamaâs lack of Mideast muscleâ
Financial Times (UK)
March 12, 2010
When Joe Biden visited Jerusalem to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, all the US vice-president got was a kick in the teeth from his host, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After a year of false starts, Barack Obamaâs administration had made Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree to discussions â not direct ones, but âproximity talksâ through George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East. But the announcement that 1,600 new homes would be built in a Jewish Orthodox settlement in occupied East Jerusalem â just hours after Mr Biden reiterated the âabsolute, total and unvarnishedâ US commitment to Israelâs security â led Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president, to cancel the talks.
This may have been what Israel intended, or it may not have cared what the consequences would be. In either case (and even if it was, unbelievably, a bureaucratic accident) it showed Mr Netanyahuâs lack of concern for making others trust his interest in a peace deal.
The point was not missed on the Americans, at whom this provocation was directed. In the strongest language this administration has used against Israel (and in contrast to his earlier paean to US-Israeli friendship) Mr Biden âcondemnedâ the act for âinflaming tensionsâ.
Mr Obama has himself to blame. He staked his foreign policy on improving relations in the Middle East. Early in his presidency, Israeli leaders worried that US policy towards them may turn less forgiving. But when Mr Netanyahu flouted US demands on settlements last year, secretary of state Hillary Clinton blinked.
Whereas Mr Biden says there is âno spaceâ between the two countries on security, the rather wider space between the White House and Congress weakens both Mr Mitchellâs and Mrs Clintonâs hands.
Mr Netanyahu, counting on support on Capitol Hill, reckons he can win any game of chicken with the White House. He may be right that Congress will not stop aid; but Mr Obama has other levers. If he took a leaf out of the Bush-Baker book in 1991 and signalled that Israel could no longer take unconditional US support for granted, Mr Netanyahuâs domestic support would quickly evaporate.
The settlement expansions risk elevating a conflict over land â which can be settled â into an irretrievably more potent war of religion. That would end the hope for justice for Palestinians, security for Israelis, and Mr Obamaâs goal of unclenching fists across the wider Middle East. It is time for him to become more muscular.
*****
âIsraelâs dysfunctional coalitionâ
By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: March 12, 2010
Financial Times (UK)
If there were a prize for abysmal political timing, a little-known Israeli government body called the Jerusalem district planning and construction committee would surely be a hot favourite to win the trophy.
The committee struck late on Tuesday, approving a plan to build 1,600 new homes in a Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.
That the move defied repeated calls by the international community for Israel to stop expanding settlements was bad enough. Worse, it came hours before Joe Biden, the US vice-president, was due to sit down for dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. The intimate soiree was part of a high-profile visit by Mr Biden, who came to bolster ties between the old allies and prepare the ground for a new peace effort with the Palestinians.
Even more damaging, the provocative decision came just a day after the US proudly announced that the Palestinian leadership had finally dropped its opposition to a new round of peace talks after months of patient US diplomacy.
With the stroke of a pen, the committee managed to damage Israel's vital relationship with the US, cause personal offence to Mr Biden, provoke fury among Arab and Palestinian leaders and deal a blow to the latest peace effort before it had even begunâ¦
.
Some people are not that smart and they require further clarification otherwise they don't understand the point that is being made.
Note: I feel sorry for Joe Biden, since has been for a long time one of the most charismatic members of the Senate (and since January 2009 he has been and still is today the vice president of the United States), and he seems to be a genuine nice guy.
.
Note: I feel sorry for Joe Biden, since has been for a long time one of the most charismatic members of the Senate (and since January 2009 he has been and still is today the vice president of the United States), and he seems to be a genuine nice guy.
.
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March 19, 2010
SouthAmerica: Here is the dumbest thing president Lula has done since becoming president of Brazil â an official trip to Israel.
Brazil has nothing to gain from involving itself in that mess in the Middle East between Israel and the Arab countries.
That is a big waste of time and a connection that in time will make Brazil look as bad as the United States in the global arena.
The Brazilian people are wondering what a hell Lula is doing in Israel trying to play peace maker and making a fool of himself, since that mess with Israel still be around 100 years from now.
On the other hand, here we have another major example of the lightning and fast decline in âPrestige and Influenceâ of the United States in world affairs.
Just last week the Israeli government humiliated in public the vice president of the United States Joe Biden during his official visit to that country - in another major example of the declining âPrestige and Influenceâ of the United States in world affairs â it is an obvious trend mainly when you take in consideration that one of your closest allies is treating you in public like a piece of shit.
*****
Part 1 of 2
Middle East
Asia Times - Mar 18, 2010
âBrazil steps between Israel and Iranâ
By Pepe Escobar
Talk about a Via Dolorosa. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is the first Brazilian president to visit Israel officially. Lauded for his charisma, swing and formidable negotiating powers - United States President Barack Obama refers to him as "the man" - little did Lula know that to engage his hosts this week he would have to give the Prophet Abraham a run for his money, no less.
In the end, he stood his ground. He made no concessions. And unlike United States Vice President Joseph Biden last week, he even managed not to be publicly humiliated by his hosts.
Lula is no stranger to tough neighborhoods. Former bouncer turned hardline politician Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, boycotted Lula's speech at the Knesset (parliament) as well as Lula's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The reason: Lula did not visit the tomb of Zionism founder Theodor Herzl. But neither did France's President Nicolas Sarkozy or Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when they visited Israel.
Brasilia - as much as Paris and Rome - knows very well that a visit to the tomb is not mandatory on presidential trips. Yet a choir of the Likud/settler hardcore Zionist faction in Israel carped that this would fatally wound the Brazilian government's drive to become a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After being grilled in the Knesset - including by Netanyahu - for his policy of non-confrontation and dialogue with Iran, Lula did not flinch. He condemned both the Holocaust and terrorism; he reminded his hosts of Brazil's and Latin America's stand against nuclear weapons; he stressed "dialogue" and "compassion" to solve the Middle East conflict; he defended a viable two-state solution for Israel and Palestine; but he also did not refrain from criticizing the expanded colonization of East Jerusalem. He received a standing ovation and, according to some members of parliament, "more applause than [former US president] George W Bush".
The tropical prophet
Not even at his Abrahamic best would Lula have been able to mollify Zionists and assorted hardliners. Anyway, Lula told the Israeli daily Ha'aretz what every serious player in the Middle East already knows; the "peace process" is going nowhere, and bringing new mediators such as Brazil to the table is the only way forward.
And the same applied to the Iranian dossier: "The [world] leaders I spoke to believe that we must act quickly, otherwise Israel will attack Iran." Lula is convinced that further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program are counter-productive. And this quote is bound to resonate globally, "We can't allow to happen in Iran what happened in Iraq. Before any sanctions, we must undertake all possible efforts to try and build peace in the Middle East."
The official Brazilian government view - echoed by much of the international community (that is, not the exclusive club of Washington and the usual European suspects) - is that everything is still to be negotiated with Iran over its nuclear dossier. Lula is adamant: Iran has a right to develop a peaceful nuclear program in terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which it is a signatory.
Brazil is currently a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council. As much as China, it will not support new US-driven sanctions on Iran - regardless of US Secretary of State Robert Gates spinning that the US has enough backing to advance a fourth, tough round of sanctions, with Saudi Arabia finally persuading China. China will never vote against its own national security interest - and Iran is a matter of Chinese national security. Lula will be in Tehran in May and will meet - again - with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Hardline Zionists are - what else - fuming.
Lula knows very well that so-called "smart sanctions" that would apply mainly to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - in charge of the bulk of economic and political power in Iran - would also affect millions of civilians connected to IRGC-controlled businesses, and thus the population at large, which is already paying the price for the current sanctions. The IRGC controls at least 60 ports in the Persian Gulf. Preventing Asia from doing business with Iran would imply a naval blockade - and that's a declaration of war.
.
March 19, 2010
SouthAmerica: Here is the dumbest thing president Lula has done since becoming president of Brazil â an official trip to Israel.
Brazil has nothing to gain from involving itself in that mess in the Middle East between Israel and the Arab countries.
That is a big waste of time and a connection that in time will make Brazil look as bad as the United States in the global arena.
The Brazilian people are wondering what a hell Lula is doing in Israel trying to play peace maker and making a fool of himself, since that mess with Israel still be around 100 years from now.
On the other hand, here we have another major example of the lightning and fast decline in âPrestige and Influenceâ of the United States in world affairs.
Just last week the Israeli government humiliated in public the vice president of the United States Joe Biden during his official visit to that country - in another major example of the declining âPrestige and Influenceâ of the United States in world affairs â it is an obvious trend mainly when you take in consideration that one of your closest allies is treating you in public like a piece of shit.
*****
Part 1 of 2
Middle East
Asia Times - Mar 18, 2010
âBrazil steps between Israel and Iranâ
By Pepe Escobar
Talk about a Via Dolorosa. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is the first Brazilian president to visit Israel officially. Lauded for his charisma, swing and formidable negotiating powers - United States President Barack Obama refers to him as "the man" - little did Lula know that to engage his hosts this week he would have to give the Prophet Abraham a run for his money, no less.
In the end, he stood his ground. He made no concessions. And unlike United States Vice President Joseph Biden last week, he even managed not to be publicly humiliated by his hosts.
Lula is no stranger to tough neighborhoods. Former bouncer turned hardline politician Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, boycotted Lula's speech at the Knesset (parliament) as well as Lula's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The reason: Lula did not visit the tomb of Zionism founder Theodor Herzl. But neither did France's President Nicolas Sarkozy or Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when they visited Israel.
Brasilia - as much as Paris and Rome - knows very well that a visit to the tomb is not mandatory on presidential trips. Yet a choir of the Likud/settler hardcore Zionist faction in Israel carped that this would fatally wound the Brazilian government's drive to become a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After being grilled in the Knesset - including by Netanyahu - for his policy of non-confrontation and dialogue with Iran, Lula did not flinch. He condemned both the Holocaust and terrorism; he reminded his hosts of Brazil's and Latin America's stand against nuclear weapons; he stressed "dialogue" and "compassion" to solve the Middle East conflict; he defended a viable two-state solution for Israel and Palestine; but he also did not refrain from criticizing the expanded colonization of East Jerusalem. He received a standing ovation and, according to some members of parliament, "more applause than [former US president] George W Bush".
The tropical prophet
Not even at his Abrahamic best would Lula have been able to mollify Zionists and assorted hardliners. Anyway, Lula told the Israeli daily Ha'aretz what every serious player in the Middle East already knows; the "peace process" is going nowhere, and bringing new mediators such as Brazil to the table is the only way forward.
And the same applied to the Iranian dossier: "The [world] leaders I spoke to believe that we must act quickly, otherwise Israel will attack Iran." Lula is convinced that further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program are counter-productive. And this quote is bound to resonate globally, "We can't allow to happen in Iran what happened in Iraq. Before any sanctions, we must undertake all possible efforts to try and build peace in the Middle East."
The official Brazilian government view - echoed by much of the international community (that is, not the exclusive club of Washington and the usual European suspects) - is that everything is still to be negotiated with Iran over its nuclear dossier. Lula is adamant: Iran has a right to develop a peaceful nuclear program in terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which it is a signatory.
Brazil is currently a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council. As much as China, it will not support new US-driven sanctions on Iran - regardless of US Secretary of State Robert Gates spinning that the US has enough backing to advance a fourth, tough round of sanctions, with Saudi Arabia finally persuading China. China will never vote against its own national security interest - and Iran is a matter of Chinese national security. Lula will be in Tehran in May and will meet - again - with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Hardline Zionists are - what else - fuming.
Lula knows very well that so-called "smart sanctions" that would apply mainly to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - in charge of the bulk of economic and political power in Iran - would also affect millions of civilians connected to IRGC-controlled businesses, and thus the population at large, which is already paying the price for the current sanctions. The IRGC controls at least 60 ports in the Persian Gulf. Preventing Asia from doing business with Iran would imply a naval blockade - and that's a declaration of war.
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