FM boycotts Lula's visit over Mount Herzl row

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Haaretz

Tue., March 16, 2010 Nisan 1, 5770
FM boycotts Lula's visit over Mount Herzl row
By Haaretz Correspondents , By Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman yesterday snubbed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his visit to Israel because he declined to lay a wreath at Mount Herzl.

Lieberman was absent from Lula da Silva's address to the Knesset and from his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The foreign minister accused the Brazilian president of insulting Israel by refusing to make the customary diplomatic trip to the grave site of Zionist leader Theodore Herzl. However, Lula is scheduled to visit the grave of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his visit to Ramallah.

Lieberman had set advancing diplomatic relations with Brazil as one of the Foreign Ministry's new goals. The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that Lieberman wanted to show the Brazilian leader that he took a grim view of the latter's dismissal of diplomatic protocol, and that Israel would not take it lightly.






Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156760.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Rich and Independent Brazil Seems Poised to Become LatAm's New Uncle Sam

Rich and Independent Brazil Seems Poised to Become LatAm's New Uncle Sam
2010 - March 2010
Written by William Mathis
Monday, 15 March 2010 19:14

By now the emergence of Brazil as a major power not only in the Western Hemisphere, but also on the world stage, is an undisputed fact. The country, until recently mentioned outside its borders for seldom more than in reference to the Girl from Ipanema, is now on everybody's lips.

Brazil is possibly one of the globe's most popular and successful nations, experiencing limited negative impact from the global economic crisis that ravaged Western economies, and having beaten out both Chicago and Tokyo for home field advantage in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

But as Brazil wows the international crowds with its economic, diplomatic and athletic prowess, the distance that the nation still needs to traverse before solidifying its South American powerhouse status could be formidable.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Brazil's supersonic growth is the leverage it has developed on a continent so recently dominated by the U.S. foreign policy agenda. While its government may not be seeking a socialist Bolivarian Revolution, it is far enough to the left as to be deemed sabotage-worthy by Cold War standards and has perfectly cordial ties with left-leaning ideological foes of Washington, such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Iran.

More:
http://www.brazzil.com/component/content/article/217-march-2010/10369-rich-and-independent-brazil-seems-poised-to-become-latams-new-uncle-sam.html

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. One "canary-in-the-coalmine" indication that this assessment has merit:

You start to see small pockets of Brazil-hating from some DU rightoids.

If I may paraphrase FDR -- I welcome it.

[madrchsod]

6. so a Ferrari sweep....

and i forgot to pay my sat bill....

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Yes, but it was a Ferrari sweep I disliked.

I don't really need to elaborate, now, do I?

[Pirate Smile]

3. They are snubbing and insulting everyone - Turkey, US, Brazil. Looks like Bibi's RW Administration

is just getting started.

It seems like they aren't that worried about Iran anymore because they are doing everything they can to undermine getting a united international coalition to focus on isolating and punishing Iran as the bad guy.

[Pirate Smile]

4. whoops - dupe

[rabs]

5. Israelis probably bothered too because Lula

couple of days ago, before his trip to the Mideast, said any solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was being dragged out because the two main players (Israel and the United States) were "worn out" and that Brazil would try to inject new energy into the talks.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Lula da Silva declines to visit the grave of Zionism founder

Lula da Silva declines to visit the grave of Zionism founder
Posted on 16 March 2010.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to visit the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.

In response to the rebuff, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to boycott the Brazilian president’s visit.

On Monday, Lieberman also criticized Lula’s close ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his plan to visit Tehran in the near future.

Lula described his Middle East tour, which includes scheduled visits to the occupied West Bank and Jordan, as “a mission of peace.”

“We are very proud that we can say Latin America and the Caribbean have no nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction… We would like to serve as an example for other regions of the world,” he added.

More:
http://globeboss.com/news/middle-east/lula-da-silva-declines-to-visit-the-grave-of-zionism-founder/

[Flaneur]

9. Israel is on a roll. Who can they royally piss off next?

The Bibi and Avi Show--they're their own worst enemies.

[DavidDvorkin]

10. Very ill advised decision by Lula

This isn't how you inject new energy into the peace progress. It's a pointless and calculated insult.

[Better Today]

11. Actually I disagree, I think it is the way to inject the correct message.

Peace will not progress until Israel gets taken down at least a notch or two in its expectations of how the world and its leaders are going to be treating it in the face of its current apartheid way of doing things.

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Yes, it was.

More of an insult now that he laid a wreath at Arafat's grave in line with Palestinan protocol, but ignoring Israeli protocol.

[No Elephants]

12. Lula's back in town?

[bemildred]

13. Tsk. nt

[No Elephants]

14. I thought it might be too esoteric, but you caught me.

[bemildred]

15. I was thinking more about dating oneself, rather than being deep, but OK. nt

[No Elephants]

18. Esoteric in the sense of "not known to many"

The song dates back to a Broadway show from 1935, so you would really be a senior if you remembered it from then. I never heard the song, but I somehow remember the title. I have no idea why.

[Scurrilous]

16. Brazil President in West Bank: I dream of a free Palestine

<snip>

"Several days into a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived Wednesday in Ramallah, where he expressed his support for Palestinian independence and for the creation of a Palestinian state.

"I dream of an independent and free Palestine living in peace in the Middle East," Lula said during a visit to the West Bank. "I believe the Palestinians and Israelis are going to share the land of their forefathers."

The Brazilian leader has said he would like to play a bigger role in Mideast diplomacy. He is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories this week.

Lula also visited the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, where he laid a wreath, despite criticism from Israel. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the visit to Arafat's grave."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1157087.html