Opinion
Nothing left of Annapolis
B. Michael
Published: 16.12.07, 09:11
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22 Talkbacks for this article
1. Hamas just announced that it will NEVER accept Israel !
redmiike ,   tel aviv   (12.16.07)
So what is there to talk about ? Abbas is powerless against Hamas. And if he joins them .. If the peaceniks don't understand now then they never will! Mike
2. Anyone with any sense knew what the outcome would be!
Chaya ,   Bat Yam, Israel   (12.16.07)
3. Attention YNET - We want to know!
Avi ,   hilltop, Israel   (12.16.07)
WHO...THE...#?@!%...IS...B...MICHAEL??? He keeps writing his jibba jabba with and gets a whole column all to himself, but is as anonymous as a talkbacker! Who is he? What organisation(s) does he represent? I want a YNET column too! I can probably even write better!
4. Is Michael an Arabic name or is this his nonArabic pen name?
Dov   (12.16.07)
No mention of daily rockets and plans of new intifadas. Is Ynet so pro Arab that they would not accept articles pro Israel?
5. #1 right-wing Jewish fascists declaired they won't recognize
Palestinians ,   as a nation   (12.16.07)
If the silent majority on both sides will listen to the fundamentalists, we will never have a normal life here.
6. Annapolis a waste of time! A Bush Rice ego trip.
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (12.16.07)
Like its predecessors, Madrid, Wye Plantation and Camp David 2 the Annapolis folly is just that. How can you make people with someone who does not acknowledge your right to exist and whose allies want Israel wiped off the face of this planet? President Bush and his minion, Secretary of State Rice, are determined to do everything in their power to appease their Arab Oil Sheikh friends and the fact that the only real ally and friend that the USA has, Israel, might get hurt is of no consequence to them. Bush is on one of the biggest ego trips that this planet has ever seen and his total ignorance, even after 7 years in office, is astounding. It could even be called megalomania and his attitude on Iraq is an obsession! President Bush the Younger has succeeded in destroying all the goodwill that his predecessors, Presidents Regan, Bush the Elder and Clinton took pains to build. The world is seeing a return to Stalinism in Russia and Bush and the holier than thou US Administration is responsible for this. The US is forever telling people how to live their lives and to adopt Western. i.e. US Democracy, when the US detains people without trial, carries out atrocities in Iraqi prisons and has caused and contributed to the deaths of countless thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis and has still not been able, with all its huge resources and weaponry, to capture Osama Bin Laden! Add to this the fact that a few thousand US military personnel have been killed and who knows how many have been maimed and crippled in his futile war, the American people should be asking its President how many more must die in your misguided and egotistical drive to rule Iraq? That is what it boils down to because anyone with a modicum or grey matter between his ears will realize that the Iraqi and Afghani problems can only be sorted out by their own people and not by the USA. If the good citizens of the Unites States want American style democracy it is there right to have it in their own country but they have no right to foist it on the rest of the world.
7. We're not surrendering fast enough.
Terry ,   Eilat, Israel   (12.16.07)
B. Michael is disappointed that we can't destroy ourselves fast enough. No concession is good enough for people like B. Michael. Not one Israeli position is supported by B. Michael. Not a word about terrorism, not a word about Kassams, not a word about Sderot, not a word about the Hamas threats, not a word about our kidnapped soldiers. For B. Michael, Israel is wrong, the Palestinians are right. That is the underlying assumption in everything he says. There is no attempt at fairness, no analysis, no discussion of our legitimate claims, no historical background. Nothing. Not a thought is given to consequences, not even a vague mention of security concerns, not a word about Palestinian actions. A conflict which has lasted for the greater part of a century in which most of the issues are irreconcilable, but B. Michael would solve them in a day. I just read a good quote, I believe by George Orwell, who wrote that the fastest way to stop a war is to lose. That is evidently B. Michael's philosophy. My only question is why he lives in Israel when Gaza is so close. With little effort he could change his name to Abu Michael & wrap a shmata around his head & buy a kalichnikov.
8. B. Michael, you neglected to mention the rain of Kassams
Aaron ,   Ra'anana   (12.16.07)
9. response to #3 - who is b. michael
moshe ,   tel aviv   (12.16.07)
B. Michael (real name: Michael Barizon) is a long-time writer and satirist. He has been writing his columns for many years for Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth but is best known for co-writing some of israel’s great sitcoms (including nikui rosh, zehu ze, and the legendary krovim krovim – I’m assuming you never heard of any of them). I do not necessarily agree with his views but the fact you have no clue who he is speaks more about your own ignorance of Israeli society than of his supposed anonymity. Most Israelis do know who b. Michael is.
10. There is lots left:)
Happysettler ,   Ofra   (12.16.07)
We must continue to do what we are physically here to do, and with the help of hashem, success and joy in our efforts we will continue to do. Such is the life of a happy settler.
11. #9 - I thank you for the info, scoff at the criticism
Avi ,   hilltop, Israel   (12.16.07)
I genuinely appreciate your information about the identity of the columnist. Not only do I in fact know next to nothing about the shows you mentioned, but I think that: A. My ignorance of Israeli sitcoms makes me no less (and possibly more) useful as a member of Israeli society. B. My respect for the Israeli press is not (to say the least) increased by the knowledge that a major op/ed columnist is a sitcom writer.
12. Abrahamic Covenant
Paul ,   USA   (12.16.07)
This writer and many Israelis do not believe in the promises made by God to their father Abraham and that is sad. Notice how the writer tries to blame Israel for the rocket fire by first writing that Israel kills Palis and then writing that rockets fall? Israel kills Palis BECAUSE rockets fall ! This is why the Covenant was unconditional, because man will fail to keep his end of the deal and God knows it. From the mighty Zionists who fought for their lives in 1948 and forward to this? How far the leaders have fallen! We have the same battle here in the States and I know your pain, true Israelites. We are all worms and we are nothing without God. Thankfully he loves us in a way we can't even grasp because we certainly do not deserve it. What an awesome God! He knows the heart and will remember those who weep for Jerusalem and Israel. I am a Christian and I think about Israel daily and I am grieved for those in Israel who are under attack from the left on the inside and the Palis and company on the outside. May God keep you safe and lift up your spirits. Amen.
13. Forming the Goldstinian liberation front
Adam ,   Tel Aviv Jaffa, Isr   (12.16.07)
We have lived here for 73,000 years..... And began recording our history yesterday.
14. 11...great comeback. end
(12.16.07)
15. to no 9 so this is satire
Mordechai   (12.16.07)
So B Michael is known for writing satire. That explains it. He is making fun of the radical left with his writing. It should be obvious no one could actually believe the nonsense he writes. He is just showing how stupic the logic of the left is with his writing.
16. #9 that dos not say much
Elchonon ,   Chevron   (12.17.07)
I have lived here for 5 years and cannot tolerate Israeli TV, I do read and love Israeli books (reading the bluer mountain by meir shalev now) Even when watching TV in the US, I still dont know or care who wrote, produced, directed, costume designer, makeup artists and blah blah blah. I know that mat groening? is the simpson's writer and thatisall.
17. Annapolis
Marc ,   USA   (12.17.07)
Jews have the right to live in peace. Palestinians do not have the right to kill Jew indiscriminately. The author seems to think otherwise and writes as if Jews are the cause of the violence against them by Palestinians. If Palestinians stopped their violence, then it would not matter who "controlled" this or that land. The reality is that Islam teaches violent elimination of all other religions, the Jews and Christians are in the way of Islamic progress. The author also ignores that the Road Map, which the PLO agreed to, requires complete cessation of incitement, violence, terrorism and abandoning heavy weapons. That is the first step, and it has not begun. Rather, those practices have increased, not decreased. Annapolis was a doomed attempt to impliment the 3rd phase of the Road Map (sovereignty) before the PLO practieced the first two Phases (non-violence in their society and their government). All blaming of Jews for violence against them suggests irrational bias against Jews, applied in this situation to equating Jews with Israel.
18. #9 Moshe
Rowan Berkeley ,   London, England   (12.17.07)
This is is his second column I've commented on, and on the first I said "this is satire" and someone else said "no it isn't". I see how it works now - he mentally creates a jewish israeli archie bunker character and 'thinks' through that, like a ventriloquist
19. AHMEDNEJAD'S CONFIRMATION....#2 & 6
MAHMOOD ,   LONDON-UK   (12.17.07)
Do the remarks by these two talk-back reminds you of what the President of Iran had said about this meeting in Annapolis?I am sure it does,doesn't it?
20. Reuven Predicted
Reuven Brauner ,   Raanana, Israel   (12.17.07)
that nothing good would come out of Annapolis. So far, nothing good has.
21. Good job on translation from Arabic
Ilan ,   Ariel   (12.17.07)
22. Annapolis
I. Barr ,   USA   (12.17.07)
PA is fragmented, Gaza is under Hamas control, no PA commitment to end terrorism. No peace is good business for the Palestinians. No peace allows them to get billions of dollars from the international community. Peace for them means no money. Yes,and what about Qassams and mortars raining from Gaza? So you want Palestinians to get everything and Israel give everything? Have PA stop terrorism, educate Palestinian children to coexistence with Israel, create a strong publicly supported government and than Israel will have to comply with the Road map.
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