Things and stuff – Yohay Elam שטויות בשתי שפות – יוחאי עילם
The Israeli army is getting ready for a war in the summer. The army should always be prepared. No one wants to find that there is no sufficient equipment, and that the soldiers lack the necessary training, in case that a war will break out.
But is the IDF only preparing itself for a possible war, or pushing towards such a war?
Continue reading “Israeli Army wants a war this summer”
Thursday night saw a very big demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. Following the interim report by the Winograd committee, people went out to the streets and called PM Olmert to resign.
Continue reading “Over 100,000 protesters: Olmert go home. Is it enough?”
The Winograd committee pointed a blaming finger at Israeli primer minister Ehud Olmert. The war was unmanaged. Decision making was not done in an orderly way. Going to war was done with haste. Failure.
Mr. Olmert, hand in your resignation.
The Winograd committee pointed a blaming finger at Israeli primer minister Ehud Olmert. The war was unmanaged. Decision making was not done in an orderly way. Going to war was done with haste. Failure.
Mr. Olmert, Go Home.
The committee, appointed by Olmert, published only an interim report, relating to a period ending on July 17th. On this date, Olmert spoke in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and was very popular. Also defense minister Amir Peretz and the chief of staff (at the time) Dan Halutz are seriously criticized by the committee.
The public wanted a national inquiry committee with more authority. This committee’s interim report is enough for a resignation. Add 4 cases of corruption allegations, and less than 10% support. What more can we ask for?
Regarding the war, I don’t see any criminal wrong doing by Ehud Olmert. But publicly, this colossal failure doesn’t allow him to continue as our head of state.
Bring on the demonstrations!
The frequency of dramatic news in Israel astonishes many Westerners. Headlines that fill one day here are sufficient for a whole month in Belgium, Norway or New Zealand..
Today was a good example. A member of parliament is accused of working for the enemy during the war. A report by the State Comptroller recommends to open a criminal probe against the leader of our country – PM Olmert. A senior general admits that the army knew that the war couldn’t return the kidnapped soldiers.
And last but not least: The biggest political “earthquake” could be on Monday: The Winograd committee, appointed by the government to investigate the war, will hand in its interim report. It is long awaited. This report will seriously affect the careers of many politicians, and will hopefully reveal how decisions were made during the war.
For those of you who are interested in the Middle East or still troubled by the stupid war we had last summer, Monday afternoon (morning in the USA) should be even more dramatic.
Today is the national remembrance day for the holocaust. The radio plays the same old songs over and over again. Most of them are too old, and they just remind of standing up for hours, rehearsing for the remembrance day ceremonies at school.
I want to offer a different song. The lyrics aren’t related to the holocaust. It’s the music. When I hear this song, I always imagine that I’m hiding in the freezing cold Polish winter under the barracks, trying not be heard by the Nazi patrol that is barking and flashing their torches. The howling wind hides the sound of my teeth.
Nick Cave – Stranger than Kindness.
[audio:http://yohayelam.com/recordings/Stranger-Than-Kindness-Nick-Cave.mp3]
As a descendant of European Jews that immigrated to Israel in the 50s, many of my relatives were murdered during the Jew’s (and others’) holocaust of WW2. For me it’s something that is mostly in the history books. For my grandmother, and the whole generation, WW2 is still something that they keep talking about. Many conversations feature “I was in that war”.
I’ve visited Auschwitz about 2 and a half years ago, during a trip with my family. That day was a bright warm sunny day. Green fields, birds and empty barracks. That was weird. The might of the evil that happened there in the 40s contrasted the pleasant present. Despite the nice weather, it was quite a hard experience.
Today, there are terrible things happening around us. No, not as horrifying and systematic as the Nazi extermination machine, but do we realyy care or do something about the major massacres in Darfur or the concentration camps in North Korea? Never again?