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West Coast Tiger
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Location: Obviously Concealed
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 Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:29 pm Post subject: Prosecutor orders criminal probe of Israel's Olmert |
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Reuters: Prosecutor orders criminal probe of Israel's Olmert
| Quote: | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's state prosecutor on Tuesday ordered a criminal investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's role in the 2005 privatization of an Israeli bank, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
"The state prosecutor (Eran Shendar) has ordered the opening of a criminal investigation," the statement said.
Olmert's office had no immediate comment.
Olmert's government has been dogged by repeated political scandals and criticism over last summer's inconclusive war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group.
A poll published on Friday showed Olmert's approval ratings have slipped to 14 percent and his centrist Kadima party would lose nearly two-thirds of its strength if new elections were held.
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More at the link.
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~ Rational ravings from a relative stranger in a troubled paradise. ~ |
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al-Qa'bong
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 6041
Location: A monistic vulgarity in which nobility and wisdom have been exchanged for a pale belief in progress
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| Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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And they got Al Capone on income tax evasion.
So it goes...
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi
"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl |
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cueball
Fulltime enMasse Member
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| Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it didn't look like he was going to resign over losing the war, so...
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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Pfff... getting out of it is child's play. He just needs to fake a stroke, see... then they put him into a medically-induced coma for awhile, until events have moved on...
Oh c'mon, it's become all the rage for Israeli government leaders avoiding justice, of late.
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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Israeli PM Olmert announces he will step down
| Quote: | | Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, dogged by corruption probes, said on Wednesday he will step down mid-September in a surprise move that casts a long shadow over Middle East peacemaking efforts. |
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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Tehanu
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 17641
Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Netenyahu is calling for an election in the wake of Olmert saying he was resigning in September. Let's hope the Likud does not get back in.
| Quote: | ... Olmert's departure does not immediately trigger an election, but whoever emerges as Kadima's new leader must form a new coalition to carry out Olmert's term until November 2009.
Opinion polls indicate that if called, an early election would favour Netanyahu, a former prime minister, and his right-wing Likud party, which is known for its hardline stance on security and territorial concessions.
"It doesn't make any difference who heads Kadima, they are all part to a string of failures by this government," Netanyahu told Israel Radio on Thursday.
... The Kadima party will hold its leadership primary vote on Sept. 17. |
CBC. |
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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Tehanu
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 17641
Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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Tzipi Livni appears to have won her party's leadership to become prime minister once Olmert resigns. She had been the foreign minister ... but I don't know much about her. Anyone else?
| Quote: | ... Official results showed Livni winning by just over one percentage point in the Kadima Party primary elections — a far narrower victory than the double-digit romp polls had predicted.
Livni, a political moderate, barely edged out hawkish rival Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister, in a contest that could have far-reaching implications for peace negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria.
Livni said she would launch coalition talks on Friday, even though President Shimon Peres cannot officially ask her to try to put together a government until Olmert resigns.
... A lawyer and former agent in the Mossad spy agency, Livni is already serving as lead negotiator with the Palestinians and is said to be eager to continue diplomatic efforts. Diplomacy, she says, is also her first option for resolving an international impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but military strikes cannot be ruled out. |
CBC. |
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Hephaestion
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Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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I'm sure this is a huge victory for women's rights. 
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 4004
Location: Central USA, Earth
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DSquared
aka Aristotleded24
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 5570
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:27 am Post subject: |
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What next for Livni?
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This is pre-eminently the time, to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 4004
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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Contains noteworthy statements throughout.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1024692.html
Terrorists Tried To Murder Professor Zeev Sternhell By Haaretz Correspondent Jonathan Lis and Agencies; Haaretz (Israel)' September 26, 2008
| Quote: | Israel Prize winner Zeev Sternhell was lightly injured yesterday when a pipe bomb exploded outside his home in Jerusalem, in what police suspect could be a new campaign by right-wing extremists to target prominent left-wingers.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter called the incident "a nationalist terror attack apparently perpetrated by Jews" and said the police would not rest until "those terrorists" were behind bars.
"We should see the explosive as aimed at killing," Dichter said, adding that the attack "takes us back to the days of [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin's assassination."
... |
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Tehanu
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Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
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| Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: |
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Looks like Livni's not going to be able to put together a coalition and is instead going to an election in February. Should be interesting ... because blast-from-the-past Netanyahu looks to be running again.
| Quote: | Israel's prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni has cancelled talks to form a coalition government and will instead recommend an early national election, according to Israeli radio reports.
Elections are expected to take place in February, Israel Radio and Army Radio reported Saturday.
Livni, elected last month to succeed ruling party leader Ehud Olmert, is expected to notify President Shimon Peres on Sunday.
... If she wins, Livni will become Israel's first female prime minister since Golda Meir stepped down in 1974. She faces tough competition from right-wing Likud party Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the favoured choice, according to recent opinion polls. |
CBC. |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 4004
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:23 am Post subject: |
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| The good news, I reacted so anyway, was that polls show her preferred over Nut-And-Yahoo. |
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:51 am Post subject: |
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So far, too close to call. So we all know about Netenyahu (will he ever go away?) but Livni seems to be a bit harder to pin down. Attacking Gaza is hardly a good sign. Worse vs. worser?
Netenyahu may have enough conservative seats to form a governing coalition.
Israel seems to have surprisingly low voter turnout, I notice.
| Quote: | Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was slightly leading former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an electoral contest seen to have major implications for peace negotiations in the Mideast, according to elections officials.
By Wednesday morning local time, the votes had been counted at 88 per cent of the country's polling stations. The votes showed Livni's centrist Kadima Party narrowly in first place with 29 of the Israeli parliament's 120 seats.
The vote was still too close to call, however, with Netanyahu's Likud Party holding 27 seats.
... The exit polls showed conservative parties had won 66 seats, while more liberal parties captured just 54.
... Livni favours a more moderate foreign policy, but she was one of the architects of Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip last month and has been striving to present an image of herself as tough but sensible.
... But voter turnout has been higher than expected, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. As of 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), 41.9 per cent of the electorate had voted, Haaretz reported. At the same point in the last election, only 39 per cent of the electorate was accounted for. |
CBC. |
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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And what a shock, the far right has endorsed Netanyahu. By their friend you shall know them.
| Quote: | Far-right Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday endorsed Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu as the country's next prime minister.
... The move significantly improves Netanyahu's chances of becoming the next Israeli prime minister. If he is selected by Peres, Netanyahu will have six weeks to build a coalition government.
... Livni edged out Netanyahu in the Feb. 10 election, but the Likud leader has garnered more support from lawmakers. |
CBC. |
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The Evil Twin
Stoned Immaculate
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 3746
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:49 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | ... The move significantly improves Netanyahu's chances of becoming the next Israeli prime minister. If he is selected by Peres, Netanyahu will have six weeks to build a coalition government.
... Livni edged out Netanyahu in the Feb. 10 election, but the Likud leader has garnered more support from lawmakers. |
Wait a minute....WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE....Likud had LESS seats than Kadima but are forming a government because they have allies? What the fuck? How could this be? According to Chuck Adler, the Toronto Stun, the National Pest, Freak Dominion and talk radio listeners this is wrong, Wrong, WRONG! In fact this is a COUP against Livni who simply by virtue of getting a few votes above Bibi, has an absolute mandate to rule as if she had a majority for another four years. Hell if Bibi and his militant settler allies keep up this Commie coalition talk, she should just prorogue the Knesset for a few weeks. What's all this cockamamie talk about needing the confidence of the House? Livni don't need no steenking confidence she has a MANDATE! In the meantime, Likud can replace Bibi with another leader (preferably a Russian Count - there are a lot of Russians in Israel so this shouldn't be hard) who will put a stop to all this undemocratic coup talk!
Um...this is the way it's supposed to work, right? Or is there something wrong with my political edumaction? 
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I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hey, that's the way the Only De-mock-racy in The Middle East™ works....
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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elmateo
sleepy.
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Location: socialist corner, ottawa
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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| They are all far rightwing governments as long as the support the oppression and exploitation of the Palestinian people and the occupied territories. |
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:16 am Post subject: |
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Netenyahu has been offered the PMship in spite of having one fewer seat. And now is whining that in spite of offering Livni two cabinet seats in a coalition, she's not playing ball. So he's going with the right and the ultra-right, the nationalists and the ultra-nationalists.
Yeah, things aren't looking like they'll really settle down soon between Israel and the Palestinians. And who's up next for being invaded? Syria? Jordan? Egypt? Lebanon again? I just hope that having a (presumably, hopefully) more informed and less hawkish American president might tighten the reins on Israeli military forays.
| Quote: | ... Netanyahu said he offered Livni two top cabinet posts in his government as an equal partner, but was turned down.
"It is clear that unity requires compromise," said Netanyahu, who was invited by Israeli President Shimon Peres to form a government, despite Livni's centrist Kadima party winning one more seat in this month's general election.
"I was prepared to go a very long way toward achieving unity."
For her party, Livni, who served as Israel's foreign minister under the previous government of outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, insisted the differences between the two parties following the talks were still too great to overcome.
... Among the issues dividing the two leaders, Livni and Netanyahu have differed greatly in what direction they believe Israel should take in peace talks with the Palestinians. |
CBC. |
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gunnar gunnarson
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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Uri Avnery cites a school of thought which holds that Israel simply has to pass through this phase in order for its citizens to see where an exclusively right-wing, irredentist government is going to lead them. In other words, it has to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Full article here and here.
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elmateo
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Location: socialist corner, ottawa
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| But "worse" is all relative. I mean the person who lives in the country that doesn't shoot missiles at children and civilians that only live at most a few hundred KMs away, might actually perceive such a situation to be "bad enough" to change direction. I find that argument "it has to get worse, before people realize they need to get better" to be silly. If someone is going down the wrong path, it will always get worse till people realize they should make it better. That moment of realization is unpredictable and potentially irrational, but you would think slaughtering hundreds of children would have been such a moment. It will only get worse because enough Israeli citizens believe they will be 'safe' only when they kill more people. Sounds all too familiar. |
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Hephaestion
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Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: | | Netenyahu has been offered the PMship in spite of having one fewer seat. |
Whaaaaaaaaat???!!! Alert the Canadian media! This is Undemocratic! This is Unconstitutional! This is a COUP!!!1!!!11!!!!
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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Cartman
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Location: OMG! They killed Jason Kenney!
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Hephaestion wrote: | | Tehanu wrote: | | Netenyahu has been offered the PMship in spite of having one fewer seat. |
Whaaaaaaaaat???!!! Alert the Canadian media! This is Undemocratic! This is Unconstitutional! This is a COUP!!!1!!!11!!!! |
Call Rutherford!!!! Call Adler!!!!! This is why the stock market crashed again!!!!! Blame Jack Layton! |
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The Evil Twin
Stoned Immaculate
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
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Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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Well as I said upthread, perhaps Livni should find a way to prorogue the Israeli Knesset to stop this "coup" by the rightwingers. 
On a more serious note, thanks for the Uri Avnery aricle Gunnar. I've always liked Avnery. While I favour a one state solution, I think a two state solution could be workable (with justice for both Jews and Arabs) if people like Avnery (or Amira Haas, another Israeli I respect) were in charge of Israel rather than the current rotating troika of Likud, Kadima and the so-called "leftwing" (ha, yeah right) Labour. 
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I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford |
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The Evil Twin
Stoned Immaculate
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Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:00 am Post subject: |
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From the Uri Avnery column:
| Quote: | | Obama has not yet passed a real test on any issue. It is already clear that there is a marked difference between what he promised in the election campaign and what he is doing in practice. In several matters he is continuing the policies of George Bush with slight alterations. That was, of course, to be expected. But Obama has not yet shown how he would act under real pressure. When Netanyahu mobilizes the full might of the pro-Israel lobby, will Obama surrender, like all preceding presidents? |
Yes, he most certainly will.
| Quote: | | And world public opinion – how united will it be? How much pressure can it exert? When Netanyahu declares that all criticism of his government is “anti-Semitic” and that every boycott call is an echo of the Nazi slogan “Kauft nicht bei Juden” (“Don't buy from Jews”) – how many of the critics will stand up to the pressure? How much courage will Merkel, Sarkozy, Berlusconi et al be able to muster? And on the other side: will a world-wide boycott not intensify the paranoia in Israel and push all the Israeli public into the arms of the extreme Right, under the time-worn slogan ”All the World is against us?” |
Yes again, it most certainly will.
I'm not optimistic at all.
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I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. - Assclown Rob Ford |
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DSquared
aka Aristotleded24
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 5570
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:20 am Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: | | Attacking Gaza is hardly a good sign. Worse vs. worser? |
The unfortunate thing about Israeli politics is that attacking the Palestinians is effective. Even Labour governments have done so for political advantage, and now they're part of the coalition.
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This is pre-eminently the time, to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Israeli ex-PM Olmert indicted for graft: prosecutor
| Quote: | Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has been indicted on three counts of corruption, becoming the first ex-premier to face criminal charges, the attorney general's office said on Sunday.
[...]
Olmert's personal secretary Shula Zaken was also indicted, it said. A spokesman at Mazuz's office said that Olmert becomes the first former prime minister in Israeli history to face criminal charges. |
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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