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Send to printer Repercussions of Peres’ Birthday by Arlene Peck September 23, 2003 Funny thing happened on the way to meet a neighbor. I brought up the topic of a column that I had just read written by Arutz-7's own Opinion Editor, Nissan Ratzlav-Katz. He wrote about the truly appalling display of disregard for the citizens of Israel in the then-upcoming eightieth birthday party of Shimon Peres. While Israel is struggling to pay its bills and feed its citizens, Shimon Peres, in yet another example of his self-serving attitude, saw fit to give himself, at tax-payer expense, a glittering celebrity...

Editorial: Happy birthday, Shimon Shimon Peres "Opposition," said William Blake, "is true friendship." We think of that line in the afterglow of Shimon Peres's 80th birthday party, which brought together, among other celebrity mismatches, Moshe Katsav, Bill Clinton, Terje Roed-Larson, and Ariel Sharon for what turned out to be a moving event. If little else, these men share an admiration for Peres in which we join. Outside the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, where the day's formal festivities were held, protesters called for bringing the "Oslo criminals" to justice. No Israeli newspaper has been more steadfast in its opposition to...

Shimon Peres, left, shakes hands with Ariel Sharon, right, as Bill Clinton looks on following a Sept. 21 gala in Tel Aviv marking Peres´ 80th birthday. TEL AVIV, Sept. 22 (JTA) — Shimon Peres is using a gala bash for his 80th birthday to call for renewed unity and moderation in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. In a speech Sunday honoring Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered what many here interpreted as an implied invitation to the Labor Party to join the government coalition. On Monday, Peres, chairman of the Labor Party, responded by telling Sharon he would have Labor’s support if...

Yesterday, Shimon Peres celebrated his 80th birthday. Bill Clinton, who along with the guest of honor, Yasser Arafat and Yitzchak Rabin, gave us "Oslo," attended. So did Mikhail Gorbachev and, yes, Ariel Sharon. Video testimonials came from Jerry Seinfeld, Henry Kissinger, Barbra Streisand and Woody Allen. Our columnist remembers a revealing conversation that he had with Peres following the "handshake heard 'round the world." During the heady days of the Oslo process — when concord between Israelis and Palestinians seemed inevitable and the memory of the handshake on the White House lawn between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime...

I finally found common ground with Shimon Peres. My youngest son and Mr. Peres are celebrating their birthdays on the same day. We’re planning for a modest, but fun affair - complete with balloons and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (funny how the donkey I drew bears an uncanny resemblance to the Labor leader). Due to the overall economic situation, we will probably stick to a bit of ice cream and cake (no pizza this year). And the grave security situation has left me with a zero-tolerance level for excessive revelry - so seven friends of my soon-to-be (G-d-willing) seven-year-old will be allowed to...

A parade of global figures were in Tel Aviv on Sunday to mark the 80th birthday of opposition leader Shimon Peres. "You honestly believe that vision, willpower and ingenuity are all one needs to change the world," said former US President Bill Clinton, who bequeathed the octogenarian his own "comeback kid" monicker during his speech. Locals however tend to view the celebration as in somewhat poor taste, given that Peres is one of the chief architects of the Oslo Agreement that brought the unprecedented current wave of suicide bombings. But despite the Oslo debacle and Peres' never having never won...

LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM Friday, September 19, 2003 Dear Friends, Ten years ago, on August 20, 1993, Shimon Peres celebrated his 70th birthday in Oslo, Norway. According to his book, “The New Middle East”, he initialed “in the wee hours of the night” an Arab-Israeli Accord, which had been arrived at in utter secrecy. According to Peres this Norway setting was ideal. A close-knit group of Norwegian Government people made itself available for passing messages between Israel and the PLO. The group included Foreign Minister Jurgen Holst and his wife, Marianne, and the head of the...

Celebrating 80 Years with Shimon Peres "The Marking of Peres' 80th Birthday is an opportunity to look forward with the man who has his feet firmly planted on the ground as his vision sails to the future." THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF PERES 80 -------------------------------------------------------- THE OFFICE OF SHIMON PERES AND THE PERES CENTER FOR PEACE Contact: YORAM DORI - Beeper: 972-3-610-6666 code: 45544 YAEL LOTAN - LOTAN COMMUNICATIONS E-mail: lotan@lotan.org.il ALIZA GOREN E-mail: aliza@gorenco.co.il JOEL LEYDEN - LEYDEN COMMUNICATIONS (Israel) E-mail: media@leyden.net LINDA RIVKIND - Government Press Office E-mail:lrivkind@netvision.net.il WHY A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR SHIMON PERES? Tel Aviv----September 20……The Israeli...

Our Newspapers Fail Us Editorial - Israel News Agency There is no public relations or public affairs without a carrier. The most established carrier is called a newspaper. And in Israel the only newspapers which enjoy abundant readership and wealth are the Hebrew dailies – Yediot, Maariv and Haaertz. As for the English newspapers here in Israel – one is a mere translation of the Hebrew edition and the other is fifty percent wire service copy. Yes – there are some brilliant writers on these papers but their voices become deluded when you have a lack of proper leadership integrated...

Unite to Prevent an Ayatollah NukeBy Shimon PeresWall Street Journal | June 25, 2003 Of the three countries that composed the axis of evil -- Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- without a doubt it is Iran that represents a double axis of evil: It serves as the largest terror nucleus in the Middle East, and also possesses a selection of nuclear resources -- plutonium, enriched uranium and centrifuges. Iran is right behind North Korea in realizing its nuclear capabilities, involving a huge financial investment, in a country rich in oil, but whose citizens are condemned to poverty.Americans are just...

Feb. 24, 2003 Labor MKs say they are sick of Mitzna By GIL HOFFMAN Advertisement After only three months on the job, Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna has already overstayed his welcome and many Labor MKs cannot wait for his ouster, senior party officials said, following a Labor faction meeting on Monday that erupted into a shouting match for the second day in a row. While Sunday's meeting was stormy from the start, Labor MKs talked peacefully for two hours on Monday, before Mitzna began insulting the MKs and blaming them for the party's downfall. Mitzna's erstwhile rival, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,...

Peres questions France permanent status on Security Council By The Associated Press (Israeli) Former foreign minister Shimon Peres on Thursday criticized France and Germany for their opposition to a U.S.-led attack on Iraq, and questioned France's status as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also criticized recent mass demonstrations around the world against a possible U.S. attack on Iraq. "Why didn't they demonstrate when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, or invaded Kuwait?" Peres told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "That was a war. It cost a million lives."...

Peres Slams Belgian Decision(IsraelNN.com) MK (Labor) Shimon Peres, a former prime minister and foreign minister, slammed the Belgian High Court decision that once out of office, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may be tried for war crimes. Peres stated that Belgium has not endured what Israel has endured and it may not place itself as the judge of history. Arabs are using the Belgian international jurisdiction law to have Sharon held accountable for war crimes related to the 1982 massacre in Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon.

Jan. 30, 2003Mitzna rejects Shinui appeal to join ranks in a Sharon gov't By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFFLabor Party leader Amram Mitzna today rejected a proposal from Shinui head Yosef Lapid to join ranks in a Likud-led government. In their first meeting after Tuesday's election, Lapid, now the head of Israel's third largest party, suggested that Mitzna bend on his refusal to join a government under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and present him with a list of demands for a partnership. Mitzna stood fast to his refusal to join a government with Sharon, and asked Lapid to join him...

Shimon Peres warns against repeat of 1930s appeasement By Nathan Guttman WASHINGTON - Foreign Minister Shimon Peres warned that a failure on the part of the international community to stop Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be similar to the mistake made by Europe vis-a-vis Hitler in the 1930s. The veteran statesman also leveled serious criticism against Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's handling of his people's political aspirations. Speaking to reporters following a meeting at the White House on Friday, Peres voiced Israel's support for the U.S.-led war against terrorism and predicted that the Middle East would become "either peaceful or...

The official Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida chose the anniversary of the Moslem 9/11 attacks on the United States to print two political cartoons ridiculing the U.S. The first cartoon shows the date “September 11” attached to a pair of legs chasing Uncle Sam as he runs away in fright. The second one depicts the US response to 9/11 as immoral by portraying the Twin Towers over a mass of dead bodies - supposed “victims of American imperialism.” The famous date is shown by the word “September” and the towers in the form of number 11. One of the towers...

King Abdullah to urge Bush to adopt a plan that provides for a Palestinian stateMon Jul 29, 4:42 PM ET By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON - King Abdullah of Jordan will ask President Bush ( news - web sites) on Thursday to adopt a timetable leading to the establishment in three years of a Palestinian state on land held by Israel. The king will also ask that international monitors be stationed in the area to oversee actions by Israel and the Palestinian Authority ( news - web sites) and he may try to discourage Bush from approving an...

Old soldiers don't die; they fade away. This famous dictum fits Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to a T. With each passing day, he becomes a little less relevant to what's happening, or, more to the point, what isn't happening. Outside of Israel, Peres is showered with respect. He goes in and out of palaces, hobnobbing with counts and kings, having deep discussions with ministers and foreign ministers, acting as if he's hot on the ball. But as everyone knows, his influence over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon amounts to naught. Peres speaks eloquently of initiatives and political vistas, but Sharon does...

<p>April 6, 2002 -- Three of the five members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee have just publicly condemned a past winner for his efforts to forge a Middle East peace - saying he's condoning violence.</p> <p>In fact, says one of the officials, they wish that - in his case - the prize could be revoked.</p>

(April 5) - More than half a century ago, the British writer George Orwell made a famous statement that can still serve as the beginning of wisdom for anyone trying to unravel the tangled relation between the war against terrorism being waged by the United States and the attitude of the Bush administration toward the war against terrorism being waged by Israel. What Orwell said was that political speech and writing had largely turned into the defense of the indefensible. In singling out the Bush administration here, I should simultaneously assert in the strongest possible terms that it is less...