150,000 tell Olmert, Peretz: Don't Let the Door Hit You in the Butt On the Way Out (Video)

Today's Headlines:

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• Over 100,000 gather in Tel Aviv to demand Olmert, Peretz resign
• Foreign Minister Livni mulls quitting
• Rolling Stones and Britney Spears set to appear in Israel this summer
  
  
  
  Click on image for latest Israel
  Channel 2 tv news in English
  

Olmert's last gasp?

Click and read on...

Winograd Report

PM Olmert to Israel: Drop Dead - L'etat, C'est Moi!

"Feeling the 'Winograd' Noose"
(Photo: AP)

Ehud Olmert. Go home. You utterly failed and betrayed the people of Israel and the House of Israel in it's hour of need. Take Amir Peretz with you. We are a nation of heroes. You lead a government of craven cowards.
“Good evening. This afternoon I received the first part of the Winograd
Committee report (). The Government established the Committee seven months ago in order to examine the Second Lebanon War.

"I have studied the main points of the report. The report is grave and
harsh. There were achievements. There were failures by the main
decision-makers with myself at their head. Lessons must be drawn. Faults - and they are many - must be corrected. There is much to do. I intend to act in order to correct everything that needs correcting, thoroughly and
quickly."
Ehud Olmert. Go home. You utterly failed and betrayed the people of Israel and the House of Israel in it's hour of need. Take Amir Peretz with you. We are a nation of heroes. You lead a government of craven cowards.
"I intend to convene a special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 2.5.07.  I will propose that a team be appointed to quickly study the report and implement the necessary lessons.

"It would be incorrect to resign and I do not intend to do so.

"This Government made the decisions and this Government will correct the
faults."
Ehud Olmert. Go home. You utterly failed and betrayed the people of Israel and the House of Israel in its hour of need. Take Amir Peretz with you. We are a nation of heroes. You lead a government of craven cowards.
"From our point-of-view, the submission of the report does not close a
chapter in the war.  The submission of the report opens a new - and no less important - chapter, that of correcting the faults and learning the lessons.

"This evening, I am thinking about the bereaved families who lost loved ones in this just and unavoidable war.  I am thinking about the wounded and I am thinking about Udi, Eldad and Gilad Shalit.  Like all of Israel, I believe that it will be possible to bring them back home quickly."
Ehud Olmert. Go home. You utterly failed and betrayed the people of Israel and the House of Israel in its hour of need. Take Amir Peretz with you. We are a nation of heroes. You lead a government of craven cowards.

"Lastly, I would like to thank the Committee of Inquiry - its Chairman,
retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, and its members: Prof. Ruth Gavison, Prof.
Yehezkel Dror, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Menachem Einan and Dr. Chaim Nadel, for
their serious, thorough and dedicated work.”

Honor and thank them by leaving. Ehud Olmert. Go home. You utterly failed and betrayed the people of Israel and the House of Israel in its hour of need. Take Amir Peretz with you. We are a nation of heroes. You lead a government of craven cowards.

Changed Israel At Level Ground URL - and changed it back...

You are still here: http://betbender.blogspot.com for the meantime. Please ignore the following, if you received it in an email:

http://IsraelAtLevelGround.blogspot.com. You used to be at http://betbender.blogspot,com.

Thank you for visiting. Please update your bookmarks, etc.

Can't imagine why I didn't do this sooner.
D



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Posted By Dave Bender to Israel At Level Ground at 4/30/2007 04:37:00 PM

Palestinian human rights advocate slams Arab culture for woes (Exclusive video interview - Updated)

Jerusalem-based Palestinian human rights advocate Bassam Eid on Palestinian suffering:

"It's not because of occupation but because of Arab culture... They could have, at least, built the infrastructure of Gaza strip."

Read the rest here in the The Washington Times.

How he's still alive after repeatedly slamming the Palestinian leadership for years is a mystery to me. Many who have voiced far more neutered criticism of the Palestinians have commonly died in shootings or been found strung up on telephone poles in Ramallah and Gaza.

I have no doubt that voices in Palestinian society and the Arab world would consider his measured (and all the more scathing for that) appraisal of the Palestinian leadership's failings treasonous. I have interviewed Eid, and in my honest opinion, he means what he says, and walks the walk. Any viewer has to give him credit for that.

Eid, in a refreshingly honest, forthright and exclusive interview, shares his analysis of the state of the Palestinian leadership, power-sharing with Hamas, relations with Israel, and the relative state of freedom to critique Arab society - only available in Israel.

(More clips of my interview with Eid, held in 2004/5 will be posted here during the day. D)
Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

(Click back a bit later and refresh the page (F5) if the videos do not show or play)

Iran threatens 'tens of thousands of missiles'

From The Washington Post:

Iran will strike U.S. interests around the world and Israel if attacked over its disputed nuclear program, a senior official was quoted on Thursday by the official IRNA news agency as saying.

"Nowhere would be safe for America with (Iran's) long-range missiles ... we can fire tens of thousands of missiles every day," said Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr, the deputy interior minister in security affairs.

After Imus: Jewish comics, Lenny Bruce & Sarah Silverman

From Jewish World Review:

For Jewish comics, Dom Imus is no joke.

In the wake of the shock jock's unflattering comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team and his shockingly swift departure from the national airwaves has come a national discussion about the propriety of character defamation in the guise of humor, and predictions that an era of increased civility will ensue.

Today, boundaries are the subject of discussion. What type of language is an acceptable part of a public performance? Are profanity, sexual references and derogatory references to specific minority groups — Imus' downfall — to be banished by overt legislation or covert consensus?

So, ahh, what do we do with the legacy of Lenny Bruce?:

"Children ought to watch pornographic movies : it's healthier than learning about sex from Hollywood." (from How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, 1965)

"I really dig what they do with a homosexual in this country. They put him into a prison with a lot of other men. That's a really good punishment." (Dustin Hoffman in Lenny)

American stand-up comedian and brilliant satirist, who created much controversy in his time due to his use of so-called 'dirty words' in his nightclub comedy act. The black humor of Bruce's largely improvised shows often overstepped the bounds of what was considered in the 1950s and 1960s respectable. Bruce's performances, his fresh and daring way of breaking rules, influenced such comedians as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams.

More on Bruce is here.

Aaaaand while we're talkin', how about Sarah Silverman - will she go on welfare or get a job flipping burgers anytime soon?

“I wear this St. Christopher medal sometimes because—I’m Jewish, but my boyfriend is Catholic—it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn’t burn through my skin it will protect me.”

“I was raped by a doctor,” she says. “Which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl.”

And finally (NSFW - but for a good cause, so, what the hell...):

The New Yorker interview with her is here.

Israel At 59: Megadeath, Hip-Hop Hatikva, 'Human Beat-Box' & Dudu Fisher

There. That got your attention.

Click the flag.

Also from Ynet News, other artists do Hatikva:

• Teapacks

• Zehava Ben

• Rivka Zohar

• Daniel Zamir

And, of course, while we're talkin' odd musical covers in the national anthem, why not try out Megadeath guitarist Marty Friedman, from a recent gig in Tel Aviv:

Happy 59th.

Memorial Day: The heart breaks, the soul mourns

Grieving mother of Israeli civilian
killed in Katyusha strike in Haifa
holds his photo, as her sister looks on.
(Dave Bender)

As Memorial Day in Israel draws to a close and Independence Day enters, The Jerusalem Post offers photos of civilians and solders, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular who were killed during last summer's Second Lebanon War.

A total of 43 Israeli civilians (including four who died of heart attacks during rocket barrages) and 116 IDF soldiers were killed in the Israel-Hizbullah war.

Listening to the achingly sad songs on Galei Tzahal Army Radio via Internet from across the sea, and the heart wrenching litanies of family and friends telling of their fallen friends, comrades, children, parents and loved ones, the heart grieves, the soul feels the pain, loss - and longing to return to Israel soon. To be at home.

In "Wind of Remembrance," colleague Judy Lash Balint writes so movingly about Memorial Day ceremonies in Israel. Go read it, and buy her new book Jerusalem Diaries II.

JerusalemOnline Memorial Day update (Video - Channel 2 TV)

Today's Headlines:

Click to watch Memorial Day ceremony: Israel remembers its fallen Click to watch a Memorial Day commemoration Click to watch a tribute to those who fought and fell for Israel Click to watch the story of an Israeli peace activist killed in a terror attack.

Click on screen for more news