Birthday ballyhoo and blues

Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend
When people can be so cold
They'll hurt you, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don't you let them

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend

Such a schlocky theme song for the 60th birthday bash. Oy veh. George Bush and Ehud Olmert made lame duck squawks at one another in front of a gathering of world leaders,who were also subjected to what analyst Calev Ben-David of the Jerusalem Post described as "inappropriate homo-erotic interpretations of Carole King." (hmmmm...a bit harsh, Calev.)
Yesterday, after a sweaty day-trip to the ancient fortress Masada, one of the ultimate Zionist symbols, Bush addressed the Knesset about how peace is nigh in the 'hood, give or take another sixty years. "You have raised a modern society in the promised land," Bush told the legislators, minus the Arab MKS. "And you have built a mighty democracy that will endure forever and can always count on America to stand at its side."
Next the Bushes hosted their own grand reception at the Israel Museum. (Somehow Izzy Bee got snubbed and received no invitation. Sniff.) A fragment of one 2000 year old scroll at the museum reportedly was shown to Dubya, and on it was penned a famous line from the Prophet Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares.” Not that Israelis desire any American plowshares, mind you. On their birthday wish list, under perceived threat from a soon-to-be-nuclear Iran, Israelis definitely want more weapons.
Focusing on that verse is no more ironic than, say, when the New York Slim-Fast tycoon, S. Daniel Abraham, was hauled in yesterday by Jerusalem police for questioning about donations to the fat-cat politician, Olmert. Abraham denied any wrong-doing and insisted Olmert is "one of the best prime ministers we have ever head." Right. Just about as credible as Whoopi Goldberg's endorsement of his Creamy Milk Chocolate shake. So many centuries out of Egypt, but still in denial (d' Nile), as Ms Goldberg might say. But I digress.

Israel's official birthday festivities have continued for three days, with bloated presidential convoys of 30 cars clogging the narrow streets and a spy drone similar to the one from Erez crossing tethered in the sky above the King David Hotel like an albino guppy gone astray. It took five transport planes from the states to bring in Bush's miscellaneous paraphernalia to one of the most security-conscious countries on the planet.
To many Jerusalemites, there is something off-putting and unsettling about gorgeous fireworks booming overhead on the very same day an Iranian-made Grad rocket struck a shopping mall in Ashkelon, maiming 15 shoppers, and five Gazans were killed by IDF actions. Save the pretty booms til the conflict is done. These triumphalist ceremonies may come back to bite us. It is insensitive: they coincide with what the Palestinians call their "Naqba", or catastrophe. SOme 700,000 men, women and children were uprooted from their homes during partition - some fled, some were expelled. So Arabs released 21,915 (to represent 365 days x 60 years) black balloons over the skies of Jerusalem; my Orthodox Jewish neighbor joked that this symbolizes that their grievances are just so much hot air. Amongst them, we spotted a trio of storks gliding on the upcurrents. These big birds might even have been displaced by the presidential helicopter sortie to Masada, where hundreds flock. They appeared mightily confused, and just going in circles. What's the symbolism there, folks?

Bradley Burston, a commentator on Haaretz, acknowledged the Palestinian take on the six decade milestone in a characteristically contrarian style:

It was, all in all, a day to consider what we owe the Palestinians.

Before all else, we owe the Palestinians our respect. They could have rolled over long ago, packed up and headed for Australia, given up. They know that their leaders are execrable, their institutions corrupt and impotent, their ideology self-destructive, their economy in ruin, their international prestige at a nadir.

Still, they are here. Still, they are our occupiers. After 60 years, powerless, in disarray, they occupy our imagination and our politics and our nightmares.

We owe the Palestinians for keeping us honest. We owe the Palestinians for reminding us that we were never alone in this place. We owe the Palestinians what we expect from them: the recognition that they deserve, as a real people.

We owe the Palestinians a state.

Israelity bites.

addendum:
Check out the special report by the Economist's brilliant Jerusalem correspondent, Gideon Lichfield. One of the finest summations of Israel at 60, it is available here.
The prolific Lichfield also blogs away sporadically at fugitive peace.

Does Olmert Make You Gag?

The timing couldn't have been worse. Bigwigs are jetting in for Israel's 60th birthday bash, yet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's dodgy propensity for bribes and favors takes the proud sheen off of the festivities. It's not the first time the top combover has sullied the Promised Land with his distasteful sleaze factor, and he may well wriggle free of any penalties. Definitely, he makes Israeli journalists gag. Or tried to with a domestic gag order. The veteran journalist Alan Abbey explains:

Gag Orders, Global Media and the Internet


When an Israeli court said Israeli media couldn't cover an investigation of Ehud Olmert, the NY Post broke the ice.
In Israel, police are investigating Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for allegedly accepting bribes or illegal campaign contributions in the late 1990s from an American businessman. The police requested -- and an Israeli court granted -- a gag order on media coverage of this investigation. But that gag order is the latest victim of the Internet and global media.
Ostensibly, this gag order was intended to enable Israeli police to continue their investigation unimpeded. The Israeli media are notorious for reporting every scrap of information, rumor and innuendo. In this case, the gag order did not stop leaks and speculation about the case, including what may or may not have been learned, the potential political impact -- even though details were missing and few hard facts were available.

The Israeli court gag order left the media here winking, nodding, and nudging their audiences by saying, "We know what is going on, but you don't." But even that didn't last. On May 6 the New York Post broke the story of the name of the alleged "bag man" for Olmert cash payments. They followed it up on May 7 with a few new details. Also on May 7 the New York Times weighed in with a better story.

By May 8, the pressure on the Israeli cops and courts from domestic media was too much, and the gag order was partially lifted. What kind of pressure? Well, the Israeli was media saying things like, "We can't tell you what's going on, but go to the New York Post."

The gag order was officially lifted May 8 at 11 p.m. Israeli time. Minutes later the media went public with stories that had been sitting in the can for two days, and Olmert made a statement on TV addressing the matter and declaring his innocence.

Since then, the mystery donor Morris Talansky has claimed the money he gave to Olmert wasn't a bribe and pooh-poohed reports that he was scared Olmert might harm him.

In an interview in English with Israel's Channel 10 news, Talansky referred to Olmert as the o"prince of the Likud" and ridiculed speculations that he was part of a right-wing conspiracy to sabotage Olmert and his peace talks with the Palestinians.
Quite a sideshow for Rupert Murdoch, Jon Voight, George W. Bush and the bunch who are here to celebrate six decades of the Jewish democracy. Israelity bites.

Sabra selling techniques

This vintage SNL clip of Tom Hanks is circulating among Middle East analysts this week, to mark the celebration of Israel's 60th birthday. It mocks the stereotypically brash Sabra vendors in New York with a 'Price is Right' sketch: contestants are forced to buy products they don't want because they can not resist the high pressure come-on, and haggling commences.
This heavy-handed bizarre bazaar manner does persist in some Israeli shuks, and even is remarked upon in the article (below) by a cabby who is put off by the loudmouthed antics of Israeli immigrants inside the US.
But on Izzy Bee's last visit to the states, only gentle Sabras were encountered, and always inside suburban malls, inevitably hawking cut rate Dead Sea salts and mud-packs with a smile. No bargaining. How times change.

Love me, do. Israel lifts ban on The Beatles

Israel is penning an apology and asking the surviving half of The Beatles to come celebrate the country's anniversary with George Bush and a host of other celebs, some 43 years after it banned the rock group from the Promised Land, reports the BBC.

The Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, has met John Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, in Liverpool.

He has invited the Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and relatives of Lennon and George Harrison to come to Israel in May for the 60th anniversary.

Israel banned the Beatles in 1965, fearing they would corrupt young fans.

But the Mr Prosor - who is in Liverpool after marking Holocaust Memorial Day there - is a big fan of the Beatles and would like them to be part of the planned birthday celebrations.

"I would be very happy to have them come on Israel's 60th anniversary," he said.

"Lots of music lovers in Israel, both young and young-at-heart - and that means me - are really waiting for them."

The invitation has been passed to the director of the city's Beatles Story museum, Jerry Goldman.

Mr Goldman said: "I've got close ties to Israel, so I'm thrilled. It would be fantastic if they did visit."

But he added: "I know how difficult it was to get them to Liverpool. So I think there's only a slim chance of them going to Israel."

Ringo Starr launched Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in January.

He opened proceedings with a drum solo from the top of St George's Hall, before singing his latest single Liverpool 8.

Sir Paul is due to be the star attraction in June with a concert at Anfield which is expected to draw more than 30,000 people.

Liverpool is trying to develop cultural links with Israel, including the possibility of building a new museum dedicated to Jewish music.

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.