On Yom Ha’aztzmaut/Independence Day yesterday, some 800,000 people visited JNF parks, forests, and campsites throughout Israel, with 450 tons of garbage being collected.
I wonder how many tons of meat were barbecued.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)?
8:40PM: Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on the Obama administration’s pressuring of Israel on Jerusalem.
Interesting aside: According to Wikipedia:
Ros-Lehtinen’s maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews from Turkey who had been active in Cuba’s Jewish community. Her mother later converted to Catholicism.
5:10PM: Brian of London has more on Israel’s iPad ban.
3:48PM: Yet another sign of tension between the US and Israel.
United States administration officials have voiced harsh criticism over advertisements in favor of Israel’s position on Jerusalem that appeared in the U.S. press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s encouragement. The authors of the most recent such advertisements were president of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. “All these advertisements are not a wise move,” one senior American official told Haaretz.
In the advertisement, Wiesel said that for him as a Jew, “Jerusalem is above politics,” and that “it is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture – and not a single time in the Koran.” Wiesel called to postpone discussion on Jerusalem until a later date, when there is an atmosphere of security allowing Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live in peace.
And if that was too subtle for you, former US Ambassador to Israel (and former Australian) Martin Indyk is more explicit.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said on Wednesday that if Israel is a superpower that manages alone, then it can make decisions alone.
In an interview with Army Radio, Indyk said that if Israel sees itself as a superpower that does not need any aid from the United States, then it can make its own decisions. However “if you need the United States, then you need to take into account America’s interests,” said Indyk.
Indyk, who is currently the vice president and director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, and also serves as an adviser to Mideast envoy George Mitchell, emphasized these interests in a New York Times op-ed published on Monday.
Advertisement“This is no longer just about helping a special ally resolve a debilitating problem. With 200,000 American troops committed to two wars in the greater Middle East and the U.S. president leading a major international effort to block Iran’s nuclear program, resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a U.S. strategic imperative,” wrote Indyk.
“Given Israel’s dependence on the United States to counter the threat from Iran and to prevent its own international isolation, an Israeli prime minister would surely want to bridge the growing divide. Yet the shift in American perceptions seems to have gone unnoticed in Jerusalem,” he continued.
Speaking to Army Radio, Indyk also said that Israel’s main problem isn’t Interior Minister Eli Yishai or Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, but rather the issue lies within the Likud party.
“The shift in America’s Middle East interests means that Netanyahu must make a choice: Take on the president of the United States, or take on his right wing. If he continues to defer to those ministers in his cabinet who oppose peacemaking, the consequences for US-Israel relations could be dire,” wrote Indyk in the New York Times article.
12:55PM: Ma’an News reports that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly very ill.
President Mahmoud Abbas is in poor health, an Arabic-language newspaper reported Tuesday.
The London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that Abbas visited a private hospital in Jordan several times in recent weeks.
According to the report, Abbas has received treatment in a special wing and has asked that doctors keep his illness under wraps.
Fatah Central Committe member Azzam Al-Ahmad dismissed reports of any serious illness, but confirmed that doctors had indeed asked the Palestinian leader to rest for a few weeks.
Last month, Abbas was lightly injured after falling in his hotel room in Amman, Jordan.
No doubt if this report turns out to be true, the “mystery illness” will be blamed on the Mossad.
6:15AM: In this report on Hamas smoking burning recreational drugs smuggled into Gaza, the AFP can’t help blaming the popularity of such drugs amongst palestinians on you-know-who.
The drug’s popularity in Gaza has grown in recent years as the quality of life has plummeted. Hamas seized the territory from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, and Israel and Egypt imposed a strict blockade in 2007, causing shortages of many basic goods.
In late 2008, Israel launched a three-week offensive in Gaza to stop militant rocket fire on Israeli towns. The war killed about 1,400 Gazans and left vast swaths of the Strip in ruins.
The violence and hardship only increased demand for Tramadol, which Gazans who take it recreationally say takes their minds off their worries. Other say it delays ejaculation, enhancing sex.
Notice how the sex-enhancing qualities of the drugs are mentioned at the very end, almost as an afterthought, even though it might be the main reason for the drug (we already know the palestinians have a huge problem with premature explodation).
Meanwhile, this BBC report indicates that the UN is also blaming the drug use on Israel.
The United Nations in Gaza says many people are taking drugs because of the trauma and stress caused by a major military incursion by Israel last year.
Besides the sex benefits discussed, who’s not to say many people in Gaza are taking the drugs due to the stress caused by Hamas’s strict imposition of Islamic law, as well as honor killings. But I guess mentioning that would not fit the UN’s agenda.
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