Grappling with the Katsav verdict
Filed under: A New Reality, Crime, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Social Justice
Does today’s conviction of former president Moshe Katsav on two counts of rape as well sexual harrassment and committing indecent acts show Israel in a positive or negative light?
After all it’s not everyday that a leading public figure is found by judges to be a criminal, guilty of heinous acts. It doesn’t cast a glowing light on the state of our leaders, the neanderthal views toward women by a certain segment of Katsav’s generation of males, or our ability to suss out the bad apples in the barrel.
On the other hand, Katsav’s conviction is a testament to Israel’s vibrant democratic process, in which even the most powerful in the land are not above the law. Most reactions to Thursday’s court findings commented on this dichotomy.
While calling it “a sad day for Israel,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also said that “the court today delivered two clear messages, one being that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and the second the right of every woman to be in control of her own body,”
The state prosecutor Ronit Amiel also referred to the sadness surrounding the event but asserted that the verdict represented a “badge of honor for Israeli democracy.”
And Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch said at a swearing-in ceremony for new judges that the verdict “demonstrates the value of equality before the law.”
Speaking at the same ceremony, President Shimon Peres said: “There are not two States of israel. There is only one State of Israel. There are not two justice systems in Israel. There is only one justice system. There are not two types of citizens in Israel. There is only one type of citizen, and all are equal before the law.”
And the Katsav case is not the only example of the good, bad and ugly of Israeli society. Since 2008, courts have indicted former PM Ehud Olmert for fraud, sentenced former finance minister Avraham Hirschson to five years imprisonment for theft and money laundering, and convicted former health minister Shlomo Benizri of taking bribes.
While we Israelis feel the bile and nausea over the realization that our former president committed depraved acts in the very halls which represent the country’s independence, we can also stand tall amid the legal process that brought him to justice. It was indeed, the worst and the best of days.
The Game is On: The U.S. Presidential Election…What’s Your Vote?
With the U.S. Presidential Election just a couple of days away, do ex-pats in Israel, Israelis and foreigners know which candidate will be better for Israel? For me the best candidate would be the one that said, “Israel we’re just going to stay out of this. No more three-ways, scrappy peace documents, or lame promises–if you vote me for President, I’ll stay the hell out of it and focus on my own country.”
But since that probably is not going to happen, just like a kosher Mexican restaurant popping up in Jerusalem’s city center or a real gym built on EmeK Refaim ain’t gonna happen, my group of kids went to the heart of Jerusalem to find out what other people, besides bitter me have to say.
Check out what these folks had to say about the better candidate for Israel: McCain or Obama?
Originally post on The Big Felafel.
Sarkozy keeps his options open
Ah the French. You can trust the French to sincerely appreciate beauty. Take a look at this video of French president, Nicolas Sarkozy checking out Israeli model Bar Rafaeli at a greetings line up. He may be married to a gorgeous woman himself but he obviously likes to keep his eye on the field.
Towards a Palestinian and Israeli Will and Grace
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, coexistence, General, Life, Politics
What a year it’s been for parties for Shimon Peres. First came his President’s Conference in May, which brought the great and glorious from all over the world to Jerusalem to walk the halls and decorate the foyers of the International Convention Center.
Now it’s the 10th anniversary of the Peres Center for Peace, and while the guest list for the three-day Tel Aviv event is slightly less glamorous this time round, it’s still full of notable notables from the president’s bursting rolodex.
I’ve always been a great admirer of the Peres Center. Set up in 1998 when optimism was running high and peace with the Palestinians looked a whole lot more likely, the center still survived the crushing setback of the intifada, which broke out two years later. Throughout these difficult years it kept pushing through with its message of peace, even when many decent Israelis and Palestinians had all but given up hope.
I went to the anniversary conference yesterday, and sat in on a session with actress Kathleen Turner on nurturing peace through culture and media.
From my own experiences as a journalist I know that spreading good news isn’t easy. Some years ago I suggested a series of articles about coexistence to a national newspaper in England. “Great stories,” the editor told me. “They should be written. But they’re not for us.” Nor for anyone else at the time either. Stories about peace don’t sell.
It’s a problem the guests ranging from Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist, to Prof. Federico Mayor, president of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and Judith Miller, author and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, brought up themselves.
Images of destruction are much more exciting to watch, explained Merav Michaeli, the moderator of the event. “Construction just isn’t that sexy,” she said.
They also stressed the importance of humanizing the other side. According to Aliza Savir, the DDG of the Peres Center, the success or failure of any official peace process is completely determined by the extent to which the public are given the opportunity to see the human side of their foe. “Any peace process should focus on humanization of the other side,” she said. “There’s a need to affect mind sets rather than altering political opinions.”
So what positive images could be sexy on TV? “I want to see a Palestinian and Israeli Will and Grace,” said Miller. “Obama wouldn’t be where he is today if it hadn’t been for the positive images of blacks in comedies and dramas on mainstream American TV.”
Vote for Sisso
The November presidential elections in the US aren’t the only game in town. Next month will also see municipal and mayoral elections in a number of Israeli cities and towns.
Most of the attention has been on Jerusalem, where incumbent haredi Mayor Uri Lupolianski has been replaced on his party’s ticket by longtime MK Meir Porush. Just a couple weeks ago, former Shas leader Aryeh Deri was barred from competing against Porush because the timeout by law following his 1999 conviction of fraud and bribery hadn’t finished yet.
And of course, the great white hope, secular high tech candidate Nir Barkat is hoping to wrest the mayoralty out of the haredi hands. And on the side, Russian mega-rich businessman/shady character and Betar Jerusalem owner Arkady Gaydamak is also running on a ‘speak English only’ platform.
But lots of other cities and towns are also holding elections for mayors, with equally scintillating scenarios. Take the Haifa ‘burb of Kiryat Yam. The mayor there for the last 15 years has been one Shmuel Sisso. The veteran lawyer and former Israel consul general in New York been considered such a popular – or powerful – mayor that nobody had even bothered to register to run against him. That is, until just recently, Sisso’s younger cousin Alon, threw his hat in the ring.
According to a Ma’ariv report, Alon, who is running on a Likud ticket, was really only interested in gaining a seat on the local council, but national Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu advised the 38-year-old attorney to go for broke. Older cousin Shmuel, who is running under Kadima auspices, is not happy with the clan competition. Whatever the results in the Kiryat Yam mayoral elections, it will be all in the family.
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