Close Encounters of the Surprising Kind
Aussie Dave | Apr 08, 2005 | 5 comments
Israeli President Moshe Katsav sure gets around. At the Vatican for the pope’s funeral, he met not one, but two, Really Evil Dudes (REDsTM).
First up, was a meeting – no, two meetings – with the Dorktator, Syrian President Assad.
President Moshe Katsav shook hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad during a chance encounter between the two at Pope John Paul II’s funeral in Rome Friday.—-The surprising encounter marks the first time a Syrian leader shakes hands with an Israeli president.Katsav, who noticed Assad was seated one row behind him at the ceremony, shook the Syrian president’s hand and greeted him. Assad accepted the gesture, shook Katsav’s hand, and also greeted him.Later in the ceremony, guests were urged to demonstrate a gesture of reconciliation toward those around them. This time, Assad was the one to initiate a handshake with Katsav.
Not content with that, Katsav also spoke with IraniacTM President Mohammad Khatami.
Katsav, who was born in Iran, also bumped into Iranian president Muhammad Khatami and exchanged several words with him in Persian.
I don’t know Persian/Farsi, but I am assuming the words are really, really long.
At the conclusion of funeral services, the Iranian-born Katsav also shook hands with President Mohammad Khatami. The two spoke for almost an hour in Farsi.
In any event, doesn’t this story just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or not, but it actually does give me this warm fuzzy feeling inside. I’m not a very religious person, but images like the Pope at the Wall, or of him hugging Rome chief rabbi Toaff give me that same feeling. I think it would be a wonderful legacy for the pope if following contacts made at his funeral, Israel would have better relations with some of its mortal enemies. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but it’s nice to not always be such a pessimist.
Fuzzy indeed. Warm, I’m not quite sure yet.
I don’t know how there can be any fuzzy at all.
Katsav said:
‘I do not believe this constitutes a breaking of the ice, and I am not attributing the event with political significance; it was a courtesy meeting,’
Then this:
Syrian sources denied reports regarding the handshakes.
The Israelis are operating according to ‘the more you lie, the more people will believe you’ principle, the sources said.
Feigned fuzzy:
Algerian President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika also approached Katsav, hugged him, and shook his hand (and probably asked after his haemorrhoids)
As in “confused and not coherent”, of course.
I can envision Katzav shaking der Fuhrer’s hand had they been seated next to each other in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
I can envision Hitler’s disgust.
The Damn Ass Kiss Kid and the Terror On Turban are more of the same.