D’apologist
';Ha’aretz reports:
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema termed the assassination of Imad Mughniyah “terror” in an interview to be published Friday in the popular Italian weekly L’espresso. He also said that Israeli assassinations of Hamas officials “serve as an alibi for terror.”
Concerning Mughniyah’s killing, “by my definition, the car bomb in the middle of Damascus was terror,” he said.
A definition that apparently has great nuance.
Following Hamas’ January 2006 victory in the Palestinian elections, d’Alema said that ‘while the organization is in fact extremist, the terror attacks it wages on Israel are part of the Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.’
Meanwhile, if you read the whole Ynet article linked above, you will come across this anecdote that sums up D’Alema’s views:
A woman who accompanied the new Italian foreign minister during his visit to Jerusalem in 1999 said that upon his arrival she greeted him by saying “welcome to Israel,” to which he responded, “welcome to Palestine.”
Welcome to the reality of the new Italy-Israel relations.
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An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I find the term “Palestine” offensive because it was given to the land of Israel by the pagan Romans to erase its connection with G-d.
In fact the Quran only mentions the land in connection with “Israel” and condemns the Romans.
Can we not expect some political correctness and ask today’s Romans not to use anti-Semitic terms introduced by their ancestors?
Or is that too much to ask from the people of greater Carthago?
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Other good names for Italy:
1. East-Gaul
2. South-Germany
3. West-Greece
4. Visigothia
5. Vandalia
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I was going to suggest he’s using an old English mandate map, but Andrew is probably right. He’s using old Roman ones. And carries his bias a million generations later
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Idea. Every country in Europe will be called Germany. After the expansionist policies of the third Reich. So when someone says, “Welcome to Italy, no welcome too…”
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Sorry, someone had my idea before me. Or maybe it took a while before it processed in my mind. I guess we’re on agreement. Southern Germany it is.
And ditto for all European countries when appropriate. And South America, northern Africa, etc…
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
“I was going to suggest he’s using an old English mandate map”
I think those maps showed it as “Palestine (Land of Israel)”, no?
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I do not know. But if that is true, not only does it invalidate my joke, but it invalidates all the palestinian arguments also.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Look at the writing on a 1939 Palestinian Pound:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_pound
The Hebrew writing on it says:
PVNT PLSTYN’Y (’Y)
The Aleph Yud (’Y) is short for “Eretz Yisrael”.