Thoughts and ramblings of journalist Adam Ross, on the politics of Israel and the Middle East, all contributions are welcome.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Interview with Shahar Peer

Shahar Pe'er is Israel's No.1 female tennis star on the world circuit. In June 2006, Shahar bowed out of the French Open in Paris defeated in the fourth round by former World No.1 Martina Hingis. Despite the defeat, the match raised her profile significantly and catapulted her to become a recognised top 16 name on the female tennis circuit to date.

I made contact with Shahar Pe'er through her trainer and agent. This interview was conducted from the Infolive.tv studios in downtown Jerusalem. Shahar Peer had just arrived back in Israel.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Holocaust Hoax


Auschwitz was liberated 61 years ago, but anyone passing through Teheran this week could well have been benign to the fact. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president is doing his level best to erase the memory of that small Polish town.

101 offensive remarks and a seminar for Holocaust denial later, and don’t be too surprised to learn that the word on the Arab street is that the Shoah, as Elie Wiesel coined it, never happened at all.

To learn more about the Holocaust hoax and the myth of the six million, Infolive.tv took to the streets of Ramallah where we asked for the Palestinian response to Yom HaShoah. The responses ranged from indifference to disbelief.

Over half of those asked were categorical in their denial; the diatribe of radical Islamic education having done the job well. One middle-aged spectacle wearing gent, told our Arab affairs reporter, "there were only 500,000 Jews in Europe at the time," and so he reasoned, quite understandably, "how could six million have been killed?"


After some careful research, you may be surprised to learn, that I for one agree with Mahmoud: the Holocaust is an episode full of lies and deceit; here are just a few choice examples.
To this day, Warsaw cemetery remains a remarkable cradle of life; the only place in the city with even a semblance of Jewish life - untouched by Nazi hands.

During the round up and deportation of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, a myth was spread among the Nazi soldiers who patrolled the city, that the Jewish cemetery of Warsaw was haunted.

A small number of children were discreetly hidden among piles of dead bodies stacked ready to be thrown over the ghetto walls into the cemetery. The plan paid proved a success; not one German soldier dared step foot inside the cemetery. A tiny number of Warsaw's 400.000 Jews survived living in and among the gravestones, creeping out of their hiding places at night to reclaim the food parcels hidden each day among the day's new corpses.


The myth of Warsaw cemetery is joined by others like it - each with one or two survivors able to tell the tale. To hear more of these myths, I refer you back to some choice Islamic propaganda - however a close reading tells not only of myths, but of forthright lies as well:

In the first of a sea of wild lies, writer, educator Dr. Janus Korczak bravely shielded the Jewish children in his Polish orphanage from the reality of Nazi oppression.

On August 6, 1942, the date given for the children's deportation to Treblinka, Korczak spun another yarn: he instructed the children to pack a small bag and prepare for a picnic outing; the children did so and their spirits were lifted. Shortly after the group arrived at Treblinka, Korczak allayed the group's rising fears as they lined up to have their hair and clothes removed.

Later that day in one final bid to spare them from fear, he led the children in a song as they marched to their death. Janus Korzcak was not the only liar of the Holocaust, he is joined by thousands of others who lived and died through those terrible years.


I'm doubtful whether the Iranian President was referring to these or similar incidents in his Yom HaShoah offensive last week, but either way I thank him for jogging my mind.

The true damage and horror of Holocaust denial is not in its injustice to the past, but rather in its injustice to the future; put simply – it is the rape of civilization.

A brief glance towards the radical Islamic regimes across the Mid East and beyond, and at the state of the societies therein, reveals a world of intolerance, repression and wicked cruelty. What irony that the societies who deny the Holocaust most, are those with the most to learn from its unceasing call to human morality.

As we mark 61 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, with our own Persian Hitler not so far away, the importance of perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust only grows stronger.

AR

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Coalition Conundrum



Following fluctuating election results and a media circus surrounding 101 underhand coalition plots, one week after the first exit polls were released, and the shape of the future coalition government looks as everyone expected it would: A Kadima led center-left block with, says Olmert, Labor as a "Senior partner."

One could be fooled into thinking that the speculation of the past week was merely a smoke screen to allow Kadima and Labor to iron out the details of an agreement, but don't be so sure. The decisions facing all of the party leaders, Olmert particularly are far from simple. The hard truth is that these recent elections have left a lot hanging in the air.

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, first bolted from the Likud, his new party promised to win the hearts and minds of a third of the nation. A drop from 44 seats to the princely sum of 29 at the almost-final count leaves the acting prime minister hoping to achieve twice the amount that Sharon was able to, with half the amount of support behind him.

If he is to be a fraction of the bulldozer that Sharon was, he will need at least 61 Knesset members in favor of a unilateral withdrawal from the majority of the West Bank - for that he knows only too well, he needs Amir Peretz and his 19 or 20 Labor party colleagues. This however is where the conundrum really begins. Amir Peretz is unlike any labor leader the country has known before, a hard line socialist and brave defender of the working class - Peretz suggests an economic platform that many fear could seriously destabilize the economy.

Mr Olmert could find himself stuck between a rock and a hard place; he needs Peretz to push through the unilateral withdrawal he promised Kadima voters, but the Labor man, wants control of the economy.

Benjamin Netanyahu's economic reforms and drawing back of the welfare state have enabled the country to offer attractive incentives to western firms to invest more in Israel. Although the country has never seen more soup kitchens, ironically the Tel Aviv stock exchange has never been healthier.

So, thinking away from a Labor-Kadima alliance, many point to the religious parties and Israel's right wing factions as possible coalition bed fellows but thoe options don’t provide for such plain sailing either. Israel's Ultra Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism will be easily pacified in the short term, with a key to the Ministry of the Interior and some increased funding for their religious institutions however no one is quite sure if they can be relied upon to place their combined 18 seats behind Olmert's Disengagement plan II.

It's true that UJT sold out on Gaza in July 2005, but like Shas, their party's support base leans to the right and many in both parties could find a second and much larger unilateral withdrawal impossible to stomach. Shas Leader Eli Yishai has already made his opposition to such a pull-out clear. And so with the religious parties decisively unpredictable, all that remains is looking further to the right. Although Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu would happily sit with Olmert in a coalition block, they would rejoice in toppling the government as and when the West Bank withdrawal plan is tabled in the Knesset; so that too is a dead end.As to be expected in Israeli politics there is always another opinion, and in this case it looks to be in the shape of some shrewd negotiations on Olmert's part to convince Mr Peretz to join the good ship Kadima, onwards and forth to a further disengagement, with the proviso that the larger than life labor leader becomes a silent "senior partner," and agrees not to meddle too much with the economy. Practically speaking that would mean placating the Labor party with the education ministry and other ministries less delicate than the treasury.

Square pegs and round holes don’t usually compliment each other, but rumors suggest Mr Peretz could even land himself the job of Defense Minister even though his stated aim is to slash the defense budget. This would set Olmert up nicely to form the center left government he needs, however it depends on Peretz selling out on his 'Robin Hood policy package' for the poor after what has been an almost one track election campaign.

Tuesday's announcement that Kadima and Labor will stand together, answers some of our questions, but with both men refusing to speculate on the division of ministries, and the stock market trembling in the meantime, there is still so much about Israel's 17th Knesset hanging in the air. AR

Monday, February 27, 2006

WHO ELSE DOES HE LOOK LIKE?



Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Irving Behind Bars

When the prison walls feel cold and lonely, just pretend they just don't exist. Pretending is easy isn't it David.

6 million Jews are dead, but not according to you. Please, tell us all, if they weren't sent to the Crematoria, then where are they now?

When the prison walls feel cold and lonely, just pretend your somewhere else; pretending is easy isn't it David.

Three years in Prison; Try Denying that.

Menace to the World


Fancy A One-to-One with This Man?

Friday, January 27, 2006

Waking up to a new reality

A fortnight later, and the fatigued figure of Omri Sharon emerges from his father's bedside to thank the medical team for their skill and dedication and Israelis for their outpouring of concern and good wishes.
The media frenzy camped outside Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center has reported every moving finger, hand and foot as and when it happened. While it's still too early to speculate on the damage the prime minister has sustained, what's clear is that there is now a very different reality in the Middle East.

With the noted exception of some in the Arab world, no one is keen to discuss a world without Ariel Sharon. However, after six years of dominating Middle Eastern politics, one can't but help ask how this part of the world will look like from here on.

Those who feared that the country would fall to pieces have been shushed by a democratic process that has done the State of Israel proud. While Captain Olmert does his best to keep the Good Ship Kadima afloat, the stock market is continuing to ride high. Things here rarely grind to a halt except of course for the conversations on the buses when the driver notches up the volume for the news.

So, where and to whom will Israel look to now for leadership? Maybe the past holds the key to the future; the long and rich list of talented leaders of the State of Israel should inspire hope, but it's also important to remember that so many of our past leaders were shaped by history.

In the early years of the state, it's doubtful that very many Israeli's made the career decision for a life of politics as many in the West do today; and as Ariel Sharon told the United Nations in a memorable post-disengagement speech, "I am at heart a lover of agriculture, I had always intended to be a farmer." A youth spent fighting in the Haganah and three successive wars for survival later and we can start understanding the Ben-Gurions, Rabins and Arik Sharons of this world.

It would be sad to suggest that the country needs to fight another bloody war to produce another generation of leaders, but, that being said, Israel's next prime minister - be it Ehud Olmert, Benjamin Netanyahu or someone else entirely - will have the significant problem of an Iran bent on developing nuclear weapons sitting dangerously near its doorstep.

Should Hamas trump the Palestinian elections as many think they will, the good old days of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations will be over. Hamas have declared that should they achieve a convincing win next week, Israel will find that unilateralism is not so much a controversial choice, but rather, the only choice. It's easy at least to see where the challenge lies, but less easy to see who will ride Israel through the storm.

The very name 'Kadima' - Forward was indicative of a prime minister who saw his ideas as being inherently pro-active within what he saw as a stagnating political arena. With at least a third of the country resolved that they had no better ideas, and were happy to support the one man that did, many Israelis will now realize the extent to which they had absolved themselves of the need to make decisions on key issues.

Sharon's unilateralism may well endure beyond his tenure, even if that means more disengagements. As the old saying goes, "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem,' and in being so bold with his hands-on approach to governing the county's future, Israeli voters may not be willing to accept anything else.
And so, with, the Palestinians on the verge of openly electing an organization that calls for the destruction of the Jewish State in every forum save its official platform, and an Iran baying at Israel's door, it may be time for the leaders of Israel to tell the people of Israel something that they will not want to hear: that it's time to hunker down. The struggle will be long and difficult, and for the time being the idea of peace in our time may have to be shelved.

In coming days, along with what we hope is more encouraging news of our prime minister's condition, it's clear that Ariel Sharon is not the only who will be waking up to a new political, and strategic reality.

Ariel Sharon: An icon in our times

In recent years, Israeli politics has more or less, been the Ariel Sharon show. Few others if any, have really made an impact. Even former prime ministers still active on the political scene pale into insignificance in comparison.

In Israel, Sharon's cult of personality out-grew the system. In the Likud party he accused all around him of a political narrow mindedness incompatible with his unique broad vision for the future. What many say here, if not in public then certainly in private is that Israel will now be left lacking a leader that can provide the stability and direction that the country so vitally needs.

The best peace makers are those who once also knew to how make war; and Sharon was no stranger to the battlefield. His bulldozing reputation instilled the fear and trust of so many in the political arena. He was all at once, a staunch defender of the Israeli nation and also, a nemesis to the Arab world. But this one time war horse, had mellowed, and in his latter years developed something that so many others must have envied; a vision. He was the man who intended to set the final borders of the state, and impose in his own formidable way, his ideas, whether the region liked them or not.

The controversial disengagement plan saw him depicted as both hero and villain. The blue ribbons screamed their applause and admiration while the orange camp tore their clothes, cheated and dejected. Many suspected, that the withdrawal, like a bulldozer, would not be stopped by anyone or anything; many people tried many things but those pundits were right.

Sharon is not the only leader in the West to have been re elected, Blair in Britain is serving his 3rd term and George Bush is serving his 2nd in the United States, but neither of these figures or any other in the international system, have anywhere near the iconic status that gave Sharon such presence on both the national and international stage.

Many Israelis never believed that they would ever willingly vote for Ariel Sharon, nevertheless, in the shadow and ashes of the failed Oslo Accords, he secured a landslide victory. The bullish manner in which he rode the country through the intifada against a torrent of international criticism meant that the nation slowly began to relate to Ariel Sharon as more than a politician. Somewhere during those years, the nation began to rest on his shoulders and certainly before 10.30pm on Wednesday night this was still very much the case.
Sharon, didn't need a platform to convince his many supporters. His face on a poster was enough to give his party Kadima, all of the direction it needed. This will now be playing on the minds of those Kadima party members, that left their natural homes on the right or the left to join Sharon's new party.

Many will now suggest that Kadima was built so much on Sharon's cult of personality, and without him there would be little left to attract the voters. Kadima, possibly under the leadership of Ehud Olmert, or maybe someone else would no have to present a party platform that can re assure the supporters that have given the party such a lead in recent opinion polls.

Many pragmatists will quote the old saying that tells of the graveyard full of people of whom it was said were irreplaceable. But in Israel that is just the point; so many will be scratching their heads this week and asking, from where can such charisma, such direction; such a leader emanate?

AR

Iran and the Lion of Judah

As Iranian President Ahminejad continues to stoke the anti-Zionist flame, hiscomments have grown similar to those of Osama Bin Laden. He speaks, aghast, theworld reports, the world condemns and the pattern repeats. It's getting rathertiresome. But we shouldn't pass these sound bytes off as just another tyrantletting off steam; the threats, the antagonism are all driven by the samepoisonous genocidal logic.If the Holocaust and the Jewish claim to a homeland is a fabrication, then theJews are merely common thieves on a grand scale - and in Iran, thieves arepunished harshly.In the West, most level-headed people see holocaust denial as low-gradegutter-talk but it seems President Ahminejad for one is indifferent toEurope's blood-stained history. With a nuclear program quite clearlyunderway, the onus is now on the international community to act; particular theEuropean Union who at least should consider Ahminejad's holocaust denial enoughof a motive as any.In the meantime, how should Israel respond? In the days after Prime MinisterAriel Sharon's stroke, with the cameras rolling and the nation watching, ActingPrime Minster Ehud Olmert addressed his old mentor and asked, "Arik, what shallwe do?" and then he answered in his name: "Arik, we will carry on as you haveshown us." And so with this looming Iranian threat to wipe the State of Israelfrom the face of the Earth, Olmert must be wondering exactly what a healthierSharon would have done.As far as we know, Sharon didn't leave a manual for Olmert entitled 'What to doin times of crisis,' but in the last few years, Sharon's words were always wellconsidered. Olmert could do worse than remember Sharon's address to the UnitedNations in the weeks after last summer's Gaza disengagement.It was on that world stage in New York, where Sharon mapped out at least someform of direction for the future.Those watching would have seen Sharon in an intense moment. This was a speechthat Sharon desperately and deeply wanted to give. Maybe also a speech meant notonly for the leaders of the world, but for the State of Israel as well.He began the same way that the American journalist Daniel Pearl, beheaded inPakistan ended, "I am a Jew." Sharon continued: "The Jewish People have a longmemory," he chanced biblical quotations from Genesis through to the Prophets,repeating and stressing the deep connection of the Jewish People to the land ofIsrael. He recalled journeys, citing, Mt Sinai, Moses and G-d. He spoke ofmemory, tradition, of yearning and of struggle.Interestingly enough, for President Ahminejad, Sharon mentioned the Holocaustonly once: Sharon's logic for Israel's existence was not dependent on the crimesof Nazi Germany.Olmert take note: the night before the soldiers moved in to Gush Katif, theprime minister spoke frankly to the nation, and there stressed his own logic fordisengagement. With disengagement, he pledged, would come an opportunity for thePeople of Israel to look inwards rather than outwards; to engage with each otherintrospectively and, "Heal the rifts between the people."From that auspicious stage in New York, came a Prime Minister's call to hisnation to revitalize its national strength and identity. A warrior turnedstatesman telling Israel in no uncertain term to brace itself for the yearsahead. What a tragedy, that his health has robbed a people of some much neededinspiration.As the wheels of the UN Security Council slowly begin to turn, Ehud Olmert, theprime minister's protégé, would do well to remind a nervous Israel thatsometimes the best way to look forward is to look back; and for a people withthe long memory that Sharon would have us recall, there may be reason to believein ourselves yet.