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iram — window with a view III
Published: 2012-03-13 08:04:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 425; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 0
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shelter viewRelated content
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(smile) it's the color of the walls
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these are soft beautiful colours. But the larger story is really overwhelming for me, and I just wish you were not in a place where you have to have a bomb shelter, elegant or not! I heard today a ceasefire had been negotiated, hope it holds. Take good care of yourself
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Sorry for the delay in taking up this thread again - it's been Easter here, and ofcourse, that means Passover for you too
...the difficulty stems from the political landscape in countries like Egypt, where historically political opposition was crushed by strong leaders - to all intents and purposes dictators - and the only remaining structure where dissenters could organise tended to be within the religious infrastructure - mosques, churches, etc.
This is what happened in Iran too, isn't it? No-one thought the Shah would fall, and strong repressive leaders who kept order - and oil flowing - were not just left alone, they were courted by our governments here in the West. I know in Iran - where I have a friend who's also a keen photographer - a young woman doctor - that there is immense opposition to the regime, but it's obvious that it is going to take a long time for things to change there. But I'm sure they will change. The majority want change - the majority are young. Remember the green revolution? Those young people haven't changed their minds and given up. They hate their current leaders.
I read an interesting article in Spiegel about the Israeli government's attitude to events in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere: [link]
Does this ring true to you? It's always hard to tell from this far away!. Here in the UK we have heard very little about Israel's stance on the Syrian uprising, which is interesting. Sticking with "the devil you know" is tempting, and goodness knows, we in the West do just that far too often, but there has to be an opportunity for Israel here with all this sudden desire for self determination, and democracy.
Opening talks with the main players in the forthcoming Egyptian elections just seems like common sense. It's hard to believe that it isn't happening. Accommodations have to be reached eventually. It would be good to see some preparations, negotiations, talking - so that it can happen sooner rather than later
But being in the eye of the storm is a hard place to be. I'm sure it is a question of time, but how long it will take... surely it cannot be long. People everywhere want the same things - peace and security for themselves and their families.
xx
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hi
I read the artical (thanks for the link). I can say (in general) it describes well the atmosphere here...
I can also say, that I'm far of approval our gavernment's attitude towards our neighbors these last years... one of the problems is that most of our leaders are former military men, so they see everything through a lense of intimidation... another problem is our prime minister, Netanyahu, who prefer always not to do anything, as if the problem will be forgotten, therefore will disappear... and he has a strong coalition which supports him... (the internal politics in Israel is another big problem, but I don't want to bother you with it now).... so, we do nothing, we say nothing, we sit on the fence and keep our ass...
I must assure you, that among the Israeli people, there are much wider acceptance of the peace prosess and the will to make painful renouncements, but it doesn't show in the way people vote in alections, because of other internal issues... and that's a BIG shame!.. because Netanyahu is strong enough to do nothing, and as things look right now, he'll take the next elections as well...
regarding Syria - it's true, our leaders sit on the fence, watch silently and wait to see what will happen... if Assad will stay, we already know him. if he'll fall - you can never know who will take his place, maybe the Muslim Brotherhood, which are the long arm of Iran in the middle east... so I guess Netanyahu and his advisors are afraid of this option to become true...
but more surprising than our quiteness, is the silence of the Israeli Arabs, whos brothers are slaughtered in Syria... why do you think they don't say anything, protesting?...
I don't know... living here is like living on a shaky ground, intimidated by an earthquake all the time... I'm quite pessimist regarding our well existance here... it goes worst all the time...
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Now that's a good question - what about the Israeli Arabs - sometimes it's easy to overlook them.
I googled the question you posed - and well, to say they appear divided is not to do them justice! Some Israeli Arabs are posting that they support the rebels. But there appear to be a significant number who believe the uprising in Syria is the result of a plot hatched by Israel, the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, so they support Assad. There is support for this view apparently from Hizbollah in Lebanon.
I'd heard something about this purported US-Israeli-Saudi-Qatari conspiracy theory before, when Hamas were reported here to have moved their HQ to Qatar, and cut links with the Iranian regime ..although this was interpreted here as a political move to strengthen their own position domestically. But it doesn't take long to uncover conspiracy factions, does it?
We have heard very little here of what takes place in Israel since Netanyahu came to office. He is not well thought of in Europe, for the reasons you laid out so well. I suppose there is a kind of stability in having a government that does so little to promote peace, but his inertia doesn't seem to stem from being risk averse, if his bellicose statements about attacking Iran are to be taken seriously. I wonder if it all has more to do with internal politics, and the need to keep his coalition together.
When he visited her a year or so ago, he gave an interview about voting systems, which was interesting. He felt the Israeli form of PR made it harder to govern because it gave small parties disproportionate power within governing coalitions. But he's obviously not prepared to do anything to change that. A distinct lack of vision there, sadly, because if there is one place in the world where politicians need to be adaptable, to advance the interests of their people, then surely it's there...
I'm so sorry you feel so gloomy about the future...although I certainly can understand why. I've no doubt that if I lived on the same shaky ground as you, I would feel the same. Every day seems to bring more bad news at the moment. I suppose I'm optimistic because things have yet to settle - it's a period of huge change and upheaval, and I can't help but think we're only just witnessing the first stages of a new dispensation across the region. And there are enough people who want positive change, to a broadly secular society, with "western" freedoms, for the storm that surrounds you now to eventually dissipate, and the change which follows will be for the better.
Even the Muslim Brotherhood could change. To survive in a country like Egypt where there is a strong history of secularism, and such strong support for it now, (not to mention the military), I believe they will have to.
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"a significant number who believe the uprising in Syria is the result of a plot hatched by Israel, the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia so they support Assad." -
well, that's a good joke!... if I have told you this in advance, I'm sure you could not believe it's their way of thinking... that's really the most farfetched thing I heard recently... why to look for Israeli blame in everything??? that's really frustrating.... and instead of taking care of their own brothers, they look for a stupid conspiracy motivation...
as for Netanyahu - "I wonder if it all has more to do with internal politics, and the need to keep his coalition together" -
I think he's a coward, and much weaker person than he thinks of himself... he could take advantage of his strong coalition in order to solve some of our major problems once and for all... all our PM in the past, who made big steps towards peace, never had strong coalitions as he has... and thinking of a peace prosess, he could have wall-to-wall support of the opposition as well...
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yes it's a good one isn't it?!
I agree about Netanyahu. I reckon you're spot on there. He's no leader. I admired Rabin, who truly had the courage of his convictions, and overcame his personal feelings which were obvious. He was very wary, and the efforts he made for peace must have seemed against everything he had fought for, as a military commander. It was so moving watching him push himself to take the lead for peace. There's been no-one like him in recent years. Barak ...I used to think might have done it, but no-one knows how close a deal really was back then. But now?
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well, Barak is a mess... one of the most smart/clever of our leaders ever, but lack of any ability to communicate to people... he'll not survive the next elections, unless he'll join Netanyahu (which contrasts his political agenda)...
what will be now?
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I like this shelter series a lot, Ilil. this is my favorite of the three - it's beautiful.
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