Israeli food company: We won’t sell produce grown by Arabs

I found this story in Ha’aretz today to be really disturbing.  Already Palestinian farmers are at the mercy of road blocks and travel bans.  These people are suffering enough – not just from Israeli restrictions, but from the conflict within their embattled territories that is completely out of their hands.  This is really just the icing on the cake.  So sad. – VMS  

Israeli food company: We won’t sell produce grown by Arabs By Amiram Cohen, Haaretz Correspondent http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008424.html

Israeli produce marketing company Otzar Ha’aretz (treasure of the earth) announced on Monday that it will not market produce grown by Arab farmers, and will from now on only sell only Jewish-grown products. 

The company, which has been marketing fruits and vegetables to the ultra-Orthodox community during the shmita (sabbatical) year, announced that it will continue to operate once the year is over in effort to “support Jewish agriculture in Israel.” 

According to Jewish law, every seventh year the earth must rest and no crops can be grown. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews use foreign-grown produce during this sabbatical year in order to avoid using crops grown by Jews. Another solution, offered by Otzar Haaretz, is the Otzar Beit Din, a solution in which the Rabbinical Court appoints the farmers as its emissaries to grow produce. The produce retains its Shmitah sanctity, but can be sold by the Rabbinical Court for a fair price. Other solutions include growing produce in hothouses on beds detached from the ground, storage of produce grown in the year prior to Shmitah, produce grown in the Aravah and more. These are the main sources from which Otzar Ha’aretz supplies kosher produce during the Shmitah year.

In a statement issued Monday, Otzar Ha’aretz announced that though the shmita year will soon come to an end, the company plans to continue marketing produce to the ultra-Orthodox community as well as to members of the general public “who want high quality produce that the consumer can identify where it was grown.” 

The Director of Otzar Ha’aretz Ika Ness explained the company’s decision, saying that “Jewish agriculture needs support and we, as Zionist people, view this as our mission.” 

Marketing Director Dore Lichtenstein said that “it is every person right to know who stands behind the product they are buying, who made it and who imported it and whether it was made in Israel.”

Scenarios after Olmert Resignation

I’ve been a bit swamped lately — off to Sudan in a few days to report on various issues, including some agricultural investments taking place in the country as of late.  It’s a really fascinating story that branches off in so many ways.  In the meantime, I will not bore you all with my personal opinions on the resignation of Ehud Olmert, Israel’s Prime Minister.  Reuters sent out this “scenario alert” the day Olmert resigned and I think it is pretty accurate.  As you will read, several scenarios ultimately result in a boost for Benyamin Netanyahu and the rightists, which will ultimately mean (more) bad news for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. – vms

July 30 (Reuters) – Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would resign as Israel’s prime minister after his ruling Kadima party chooses a new leader in an internal election in September, in which he will not run. 

The following are three scenarios for what might happen next in Israel’s shaken political system: 

* Israeli opinion polls show Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defence chief, are favourites to win the Kadima party leadership contest. Either could forge a coalition similar to the current one. It would take office once sworn in by parliament in late October. Olmert would remain caretaker prime minister until then. 

* Some of Olmert’s bickering coalition partners may balk at joining a coalition with the more politically moderate Livni if she became Kadima leader. 

These parties could swing behind rightist parliamentary opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and force President Shimon Peres to ask Netanyahu to try to form a coalition. Such a government might be reluctant to pursue U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians or indirect negotiations with Syria. 

* Olmert’s resignation could prompt a majority in parliament to opt for an early election. Parliament could dissolve itself and set an election date before the scheduled date of 2010. 

An election must be held within five months of the Knesset voting to dissolve itself, but the gap is usually shorter in practice. Recent opinion polls show Netanyahu’s Likud party would emerge strongest if a vote were held now. 

Such a scenario could leave Olmert as caretaker prime minister until a government is formed after the election

Egypt Hard Hit by Inflation

This is an audio feature I recorded while on assignment this week in Egypt.  It’s a wrap of my coverage.  

Click here if you’re interested.

What happened to the man of change?

This is an interesting article from First Post.  I admit that I shared similar concerns after watching Obama’s speech to AIPAC.  Is change conditional?  

Barack Obama’s stance on Israel exposes his agenda for change as a sham, says Alexander Cockburn

On June 3 Barack Obama claimed the greatest prize the Democratic Party can offer, namely his nomination as its candidate for the presidency. The very next day the salesman of ‘change’ raced from Minnesota back to Washington and publicly abased himself at the feet of an organisation whose prime mission is to ensure that change unpalatable to the state of Israel will never be pressed by the United States government.

The terms of Obama’s surrender before the American Israel Public Committee exploded like rhetorical cluster bombs across the Middle East. To Israel and its Arab neighbours it surely signalled that, whoever moves into the White House next January, there will be no swerve from Bush’s role as guarantor of Israeli intransigence.

Before he began his drive to the nomination Obama took good care to get the support of

influential American Jews in Chicago like the Crown family, associated with the aerospace firm, General Dynamics. Worried about rumours fanned by the Clinton campaign that he was still a secret Muslim, Obama insisted that before the April 22 primary in Pennsylvania, a state with a politically significant Jewish vote, his campaign start a Hebrew-language blog in Israel.

So Obama came to this year’s AIPAC conference determined to dispel all remaining doubts that he’s a Friend of Israel. “We will also use all elements of American power to pressure Iran,” he assured AIPAC. “I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon…Everything and I mean everything.” He swore he wouldn’t talk to the elected representatives of the Palestinians, Hamas. To thunderous applause he declared, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

As Uri Avnery, the veteran Israeli writer expostulated furiously in the wake of this last sentence, “Along comes Obama and retrieves from the junkyard the outworn slogan

‘I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon… Everything’

‘Undivided Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel for all Eternity’. Since Camp David, all Israeli governments have understood that this mantra constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to any peace process. It has disappeared – quietly, almost secretly – from the arsenal of official slogans.

“No Palestinian, no Arab, no Muslim will make peace with Israel if the Haram-al-Sharif compound (also called the Temple Mount), one of the three holiest places of Islam and the most outstanding symbol of Palestinian nationalism, is not transferred to Palestinian sovereignty. That is one of the core issues of the conflict. On that very issue, the Camp David conference of 2000 broke up.”

Obama’s foreign policy advisors were tearing their hair out and the next day his campaign issued a clarification. “Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties” as part of “an agreement that they both can live with”. All the same, Jerusalem in Obama’s eyes must be the capital of Israel.

Although Obama’s statements at AIPAC got

Obama’s most egregious talent is the ability to allay suspicion among the powerful that he could rock the boat

wide coverage across the Middle East, what was obvious here in the US was the utter absence of comment in the mainstream press. It was evidently taken as a given, unworthy of editorial remark, that a man who might very well be the next president was de-activating the policy of ‘change’ precisely where it is most needed at the behest of the men the popular TV comedian Jon Stewart edgily derided as “the elders of Zion”.

Obama’s most egregious talent is the ability to adapt his rhetoric with ominous speed, to allay any suspicion among the powerful that he could rock the boat in a way they might not care for. Earlier in the campaign he was criticised for not wearing the American flag as a lapel pin. At the AIPAC event he wore a double lapel pin, with both the US and Israeli flags.

Is there a ‘real Obama’ waiting to emerge, once the messy business of pleasing the voters is over? Not really. The making of the ‘real’ Obama is an ongoing project, and the AIPAC speech an important marker in the evolution of ‘change’ into immobility. 

And political junkies everywhere breathe a long sigh of relief… at least for now.

I’ve got to give it to her.  Hillary bowed out of what Jon Stewart has very accurately described as the Long, Flat, Seemingly Endless Bataan Death March To The White House by looking back at the last 150 years, noting the strides women have made fighting for equality.  While her words were moving, I don’t think she lost because she is a woman.  She lost because the country is so desperate to lift itself from status quo. Americans need change.  Regardless of whether or not they liked Bill Clinton is irrelevant, another 4 to 8 years of Clinton is only going to perpetuate a cyclical political pattern, and NOT bring about the new political era the country is ready for. – VS

By Lorraine Woellert and Kristin Jensen

June 7 (Bloomberg) – Hillary Clintonformally conceded the race for the Democratic presidential nomination to Illinois Senator Barack Obama and told supporters they should join her in the fight to help him win the White House.

She urged her supporters to set aside any ill-well left from the close primary campaign and put their energy and passion into electing Obama.

“Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been,” Clinton, 60, told a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters gathered today at the National Building Museum in Washington. “We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next president.”

The event capped an historic 17-month campaign that evolved into one of the closest nomination battles in U.S. history. Clinton, a New York senator, had held off on a formal concession even after Obama amassed enough convention delegates on June 3 to clinch the nomination.

Obama, 46, wasn’t part of the event and spent the day in his hometown of Chicago with his family. He and Clinton met privately on June 5 at the Washington home of California Senator Dianne Feinstein and discussed how the Democrats can reclaim the White House, their campaigns said.

`Thrilled and Honored’

Obama said he was “thrilled and honored” to have Clinton’s support. In a written statement, he praised Clinton for her inspiration and hard work on behalf of America. “I know she will continue to be in the forefront of that battle this fall.”

Obama will be facing Arizona Senator John McCain, a Republican who has often bucked his own party and has earned a reputation as a maverick. Both McCain and Obama have shown they can appeal to independent voters and are likely to have a pitched battle for that segment of the electorate.

Clinton may be able to help Obama most with her strongest supporters — women, blue-collar workers and older Americans. Those groups helped her claim victories in general election swing states including Ohio and Pennsylvania during the primary season. She called on them to give their allegiance to Obama.

“I’ve had a front-row seat to his campaign and I have seen his strength, his determination and his grit,” Clinton said.

Close Race

The contest between Clinton and Obama drew 36 million voters to Democratic primaries and caucuses in the last six months and the two candidates were separated by fewer than 100,000 votes at the end. While Clinton won nine of the last 16 contests, she never overcame a devastating 11-contest winning streak by Obama in February that allowed him to rack up delegates.

“She emerges from this campaign an even more powerful national leader,”Ellen Malcolm, president of the Democratic women’s fundraising group Emily’s List, said in a note to supporters yesterday. “And I know she will use that power to help Democrats, including Senator Obama, win.”

Clinton said the nomination race made history and showed the changes that have taken place in the U.S. Obama is the first African-American to lead a major party into the general election and Clinton was the first woman to be a serious contender for the presidency.

“Together, Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union,” she said. “That is truly remarkable, my friends.”

Republican Reaction

As Clinton and Obama moved to unite Democrats, Republicans attempted to capitalize on the drawn out and often contentious primary race. Minutes before Clinton was scheduled to take the stage, the Republican National Committee put up a Web site with video clips of the Democratic rivals attacking each other.

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a former Democrat who was the party’s candidate for vice president in 2004, reached out to Clinton supporters on behalf of McCain, who he supports.

In an e-mail soliciting support for a new group, Citizens for McCain, Lieberman wrote that the phones at McCain’s campaign headquarters “have been ringing with disaffected Democrats” calling to support McCain.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York called Lieberman’s e- mail disappointing and predicted party unity in November.

“Hillary supporters will rally behind the Obama ticket,” Schumer told reporters at the National Building Museum.

Rancor Remains

Rancor from the primary race remains. There was a smattering of boos when Clinton urged her supporters to work for Obama’s election and some in the crowd said they would vote for McCain rather the Illinois senator.

“Obama is a mediocre Chicago politician who voted present more than 100 times while in the Illinois Senate,” said Linda Mahoney, a paralegal from Silver Spring, Maryland. “Even if he gets a female to run for vice president, we will not vote for him.”

Still, other Clinton supporters said such sentiments are the exception.

“Most of these people are going to vote for Obama,” said Mary Hanley, a Washington, D.C., resident who works for a non- profit organization. “Hillary is going to provide a lot of leadership to help bring them along.”

Over the past few days, some of Clinton’s most prominent supporters began a campaign to push her as the vice presidential nominee. Clinton’s campaign on June 5 issued a statement trying to downplay the talk, saying she wasn’t seeking the vice presidential nomination.

The Long, Flat, Seemingly Endless Bataan Death March To The White House Nearer to the End

In the words of the great Jon Stewart, The Long, Flat, Seemingly Endless Bataan Death March To The White House appears to be one step closer to completion.  (thank Gawwwwd — even watching it from the Middle East is exhausting, and I am significantly removed from the hype)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation’s first female president.

The former first lady was not ready to formally suspend or end her race in a speechTuesday night in New York City. But if Obama gets to the magic number of delegates, 2,118, she was prepared to acknowledge that milestone, according to aides who declined to be identified.

Obama effectively secured the magic number Tuesday, based on a tally of pledged delegates, superdelegates who have declared their preference, and another 15 superdelegates who have confirmed their intentions to The Associated Press.

It also included delegates Obama was guaranteed as long as he gained 30 percent of the vote in South Dakota and Montana later in the day.

On NBC’s “Today Show,” Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, “I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee.”

She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge her plans.

The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

Universal health care, Clinton’s signature issue as first lady in the 1990s, was a point of dispute between Obama and the New York senator during their epic nomination fight.

Clinton was at home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with her husband, former President Clintonand daughter Chelsea. She was placing calls to friends and supporters and working on a final draft of her speech. She was also resting her voice, which was nearly shot after days of nonstop campaigning.

In a formal statement, the campaign made clear the limits of how far she would go in Tuesday night’s speech. “Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination,” the statement said.

Clinton field hands who worked in key battlegrounds said they were told to stand down, without pay, and await instructions. Speaking not for attribution because they didn’t want to jeopardize their jobs searches, many said they were peddling resumes, returning to their hometowns or seeking out former employers.

Clinton officials have said they would not contest the seating of Michigan delegates at the convention in Denver this August. The campaign was angry this past weekend when a Democratic National Committee panel awarded Obama delegates it thought Clinton deserved.

Rachel Ray/Dunkin’ Donuts and a scarf

Once upon a time (last year) in a land not so far away for some (America), the popular American retailer Urban Outfitter sold a fashionable checkered scarf — and the buyers, they came.  From New York to Los Angeles and in many cities in between, youngsters wore this scarf as it made them… well… trendy.  That is, until someone likened their fashion statement to a certain person (Yasser Arafat) associated with terrorism. Ever so quickly, that fad was gone.

Today, Dunkin Donuts finds itself in a similar controversy… and if I may say, it’s a bit absurd.  The checkered scarf which has come to be associated with Yasser Arafat and the Fatah movement has long been used by the Arabian bedouins to keep the sand out of their eyes!  I understand people’s apprehensions, but it is really going overboard… it’s just sad.

Boston Globe
May 27, 2008

Dunkin’ Donuts yanks Rachael Ray ad

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray 
for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly 
canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a 
keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men.
more stories like this

Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle 
Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ 
Donuts boycott.

??The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men 
that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,” Malkin yowls in 
her syndicated column.

??Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim 
terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel 
has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion 
designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.”

The company at first pooh-poohed the complaints, claiming the 
black-and-white wrap was not a keffiyeh. But the right-wing drumbeat on 
the blogosphere continued and by yesterday, Dunkin’ Donuts decided it’d be 
easier just to yank the ad.

Said the suits in a statement: ??In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is 
wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was 
selected by her stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism 
was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we are no 
longer using the commercial.’ ‘

(In case you’re wondering, the stylist who selected the offending scarf 
was not Gretta Enterprises boss Gretchen Monahan, who appears on Ray’s TV 
show as a style consultant.)

For her part, Malkin was pleased with Dunkin’s response: ??It’s refreshing 
to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans 
opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.’ ‘

Kosovo’s Emotional Problems

By Vivian Salama

PostGlobal – WashingtonPost.com 

In the summer of 2006, I rode a bus through the winding mountain roads from Sarajevo to Podgorica sitting next to a young Montenegrin studying medicine in Bosnia. It was his first trip home since his country gained its independence. While many believed Montenegro’s secession from Serbia was inevitable, the young man spoke of his country using the kind of poetry one might use to describe their lover. However, shortly into his epilogue about the future of his country, our discussion turned to Kosovo. His opinions surprised me. “It will be very sad if Kosovo wins its independence but in this political atmosphere, I don’t see any way that Kosovo can become part of Serbia,” he told me. “Kosovo brings too many emotional problems to Serbia.”

It would appear that Kosovo brings emotional problems to a lot of countries, not just to Serbia. Russia says it will not recognize Kosovo and Serbs have ransacked the American Embassy in Belgrade. In a report I filed from Pristina in June 2006, I suggested that originally, “the plan was for Kosovo’s leaders to demonstrate their ability to govern responsibly before embarking on a path of sovereignty. However, corruption continues to be an issue in the province,” with many watchdog groups reporting Kosovo’s notorious corruption problems to be worse than those of Serbia or Montenegro. Moreover, maintaining an international presence in Kosovo has proven costly for many Western nations, the United States especially, particularly at a time when there is a high military presence elsewhere. Most countries with peacekeepers in the region want their troops out as soon as possible, and it was thought that an autonomous Kosovo would put this goal on the fast track. Some Western policy-makers may have recognized Kosovo’s independence to appease the province’s majority Muslim population, which, given global circumstances, is not an issue to be taken lightly.

 

Nonetheless, the United States is in no position to engage in Cold War-style rivalries. High stakes in the Middle East have made for fertile contestation grounds between the superpower and its enemies. While the Russia of today cannot measure up to the power and influence of the Soviet Union, it can easily threaten America by allying itself with the various nuisances and “evils” that keep American lawmakers up at night, such as Iran and China. Now that Kosovo has declared itself an independent nation, the issue is that there are no guidelines in international law for intervening with force so that a province can secede. The Russians are fully aware of this and it will likely show Moscow’s attitude toward Chechnya. Russia’s presidential election, scheduled for March 2nd, will be an important indicator of the country’s future as a major global actor. In the meantime, recognizing Kosovo may not be a bad decision, but it is a bold move for a lame duck U.S. administration that will not be around to claim responsibility should the Kosovo project go awry.

 

Yes We Can…

I wrote an article a few days ago discussing America’s need for change and competence in leadership.  While it is not surprising to me that Barack Obama lost my state (Clinton’s adopted state), New York, I AM surprised that he lost by the margin that he did (57/40).  I stopped by Columbia University today and couldn’t walk 5 steps without running into an Obama supporter.  From the New York Times:

“In New York State, which Mrs. Clinton won 57 percent to 39 percent, Mr. Obama won just one county — Tompkins, home of Cornell. There had been speculation that he could win Brooklyn, and he came very close there — 48 percent, to Mrs. Clinton’s 50 percent.

That was the closest he came in the five boroughs. In Manhattan, she won with 54 percent, to Mr. Obama’s 44 percent.” 

Earlier today, I finally watched the “Yes We Can” video on YouTube (see below) which uses a Obama speech as the lyrics to a new song sung by a group of celebrities.  If you ask me, it’s an extraordinary product for inspiring Obama’s young constituents.  Check it out:

Then I watched Obama’s speech in Illinois this evening discussing his results in Super Tuesday.   Speaking to a crowd in his home state of Illinois, Obama told supporters:

“Our time has come.  Our movement is real and change is coming to America… This fall we owe the American people a real choice.”

I admit, his speech took on a very John F. Kennedy-esque/Martin Luther King tone.  It was…. dare I say…. inspiring.  That said, I recognize that inspiration does not a President make.  As I wrote in my article in the WashingtonPost.com’s PostGlobal section:

“This nation is ripe for a change for the better. However, we must not mistake a change in the gender, race or religion of the Commander-in-Chief as one that ensures a better, more secure future.”

That said, I DO believe Hillary Clinton represents more of the same.  The question is, can someone still a bit wet behind the ears on the national political stage provide the leadership needed in this increasingly complicated world to save this economy and boost America’s international image?  Time will tell.  The fact is, Hillary Clinton won the major states tonight – that is, California, New York and Massachusetts.  She is walking away with more delegates and while it wasn’t a “Super Duper Tuesday” for her, it certainly wasn’t too shabby.  Even if you’re not interested in politics, this horse race is exactly what is needed to reinvigorate an excitement in a politically fatigued nation.

Change, Yes, But Cut the Rhetoric

as always, I am eager to hear your thoughts. 

 

by Vivian Salama

PostGlobal – WashingtonPost.com 

 

Unlike many countries in the world, America is no stranger to change. However, when change is coupled with incompetence, as we have seen in recent years, the results are disastrous. The last 10 years of American politics have been tainted by everything from sex scandals to wars, cover-ups to erroneous intelligence. The globalization machine has engulfed us in its belly at an uncontrollable rate and we, as a declining superpower, have not exhibited the maturity to receive some of the rapid, all-encompassing changes as have many countries in the developing world.

 

As an American born on the cusp of generations X and Y, I can honestly say that the bulk of my adulthood has been packed with uninspiring and often baffling politics. We could use a lot of change right now, but what we really need is competence, honesty and someone to inspire this nation to get back on its feet.

 

The economy is faltering in ways I have never experienced in my adult life. Our servicemen and women are dying in the name of freedom and liberation as are those we have supposedly sought to liberate. American politicians continue to lose popularity on the international and domestic stages while the leaders pegged as public enemies win over the hearts and minds of people around the world.

 

This nation is ripe for a change for the better. However, we must not mistake a change in the gender, race or religion of the Commander-in-Chief as one that ensures a better, more secure future. The most recent media blitz surrounding the remaining candidates – but particularly Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton – has clouded some key competency issues. I hope that Super Duper Tuesday (Feb. 5) will narrow the field of candidates and give way to true electoral scrutiny without the tongue-in-cheek politicking that has painted the past few weeks.

 

Change is healthy – that is, real change, not just rhetorical. The competence of American leaders, however, is an absolute imperative particularly in a world shrinking at the hands of globalization.