January 18, 2010
Giant Erdogan Dwarfs Barak
Giant Erdogan Dwarfs Barak 
Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 17 January 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Also published at Annie Bannie’s Weblog, Window Into Palestine,Uprooted Palestinians.
Turkey accepts Israeli apology
…Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, said that his country had received the apology it “wanted and expected” from Israel over the dressing down of its ambassador.
“I was told that we received the response that we wanted and expected in diplomatic terms,” Erdogan told reporters at the airport after returning from a visit to Russia.
“The letter includes an expression of apology,” he said.
Ambassador threatAbdullah Gul, the Turkish president, deemed an earlier Israeli apology on Wednesday as insufficient and threatened to recall his ambassador unless a formal apology was made by the end of the day.
“Unless they make up for it by this evening, our ambassador will return on the first plane tomorrow to hold consultations,” Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, was quoted as saying by the country’s NTV news channel….
Read in full here.
Lieberman “Shames” Turkish Ambassador, Torpedoes Israel-Turkish Relations, by Richard Silverstein
In most cases, a country’s foreign minister is responsible for furthering his nation’s economic and political interests abroad. Not in Israel. In that country, the current foreign minister seems responsible for hectoring any country he deems insufficiently supportive of Israel; and in a few instances like Egypt and Turkey he seems hell-bent on destroying relations altogether.
How else to explain the bizarre performance yesterday by Danny Ayalon, deputy Israeli foreign minister and capo di tutti of Avigdor Lieberman, at which he brusquely summoned the Turkish ambassador for a brushing down, and in a highly unusual move summoned press photographers to record the humiliation and pointedly noted that the ambassador was sitting in a lower position than the Israelis and that the latter refused to shake his hand…
Turkey’s prime minister however, is a real national leader and no fool. He’s not playing this as opera and refuses to allow his ambassador to be publicly humiliated. Remember this is the same Erdogan who at Davos dressed down the incipiently senile Shimon Peres when the latter attempted to defend the Gaza war using the most bombastic propaganda. Now Erdogan is kickin’ butt and takin’ down names…
Turkey demanded an apology from Israel on Tuesday over what it called the discourteous treatment of its ambassador, further souring ties between the two regional powers on the eve of a visit by Israel’s defence minister…
Read in full here.
January 13, 2010
The Rat Patrol
The Rat Patrol Edna Spennato 2009.
Photomontage made on 9 February 2009.
Click on image to enlarge
Originally published at Auntie Ziona as The Ratalach Patrol
Also at these links: Window into Palestine, Wake Up From Your Slumber, Uprooted Palestinians.
A second Gaza war around the corner?
Hasan Abu Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 13 January 2010
Israel is once again complaining that its “security” is being threatened by new eruptions of violence along the border with Gaza. About two dozen Qassam rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza in recent days. Although they fell in (and may have been deliberately targeted at) open areas, causing no damage or injuries, Israel took revenge with destructive air raids that did cause damage and killed several people, including a 15-year-old boy.
Before asking who should stop first, one should recall who started the latest ugly round of violence….
More at this link.
Massive Israeli Biological Attack Drill Begins
Al-ManarTV: 13/01/2010 A two-day exercise simulating a response to a biological warfare attack will begin Wednesday in the Dan region. The exercise, which will be the largest of its kind in Israel’s history, will be carried out in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon, seeks to evaluate the ability of the Home Front, medical services, rescue teams and municipal authorities to respond to conditions created by a biological catastrophe caused either by terrorists or by some kind of accident….
Read in full here.
Mundo dos Sonhos 