26 September '10
I noted earlier that Obama had addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday. It appears the fact that Obama addressed the UN on Sukkot almost caused problems between Israel and the US:
As Obama spoke about the importance of supporting U.S.-brokered peace talks, television cameras panned to empty chairs at Israel's U.N. desk.But apparently, Jewish Holidays really don't carry much weight.WorldJewishDaily.com notes that journalists have been singularly unimpressed with the idea of Jews not showing up because of a holiday:
Speculation immediately spread across Internet sites and among arm-chair analysts about whether Israel was snubbing Obama and boycotting his speech. Israel has been resisting mounting international pressure to extend the partial moratorium, which is set to expire Sunday. Palestinians have threatened to quit peace talks if construction resumes, though they've also hinted in recent days that they are open to a compromise.
Israeli officials have denied their absence was an intentional slight, saying they were observing the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and had informed the U.S. in advance that they would not be present.
(Read full post)
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Naturally, Israel snubbed Obama.
ReplyDeleteI guess the slight was intentional.
Heh
Yes, I noticed how the ulcer-inducing BBC explained in a rather censorious tone at the end of the segment (as the camera showed those empty seats) that the Israelis were not present owing to "a Jewish holiday". It conveyed the impression to the uninitiated that they had all dashed off to sun themselves on some beach on a sort of Bank Holiday, in a dereliction of duty.
ReplyDelete