Bush and Sharon in Aqaba: "Don't Try These Tricks on Me Again" (DER SPIEGEL)

Der Spiegel ^ | Jun 5, 2003 | Volkhard Windfuhr

[tictoc]

Translation (c) tictoc

[BrooklynGOP]

Exactly 36 years ago today, Israeli tanks rolled over Egyptian border guards on the Sinai without any advance warning, while in Cairo,

That's where I stopped reading.

[Ingtar]

Ditto. That line told me the point of view.

[tictoc]

That's where I stopped reading.

You shouldn't have. I translate these excerpts to give an idea of how the extremely influential Spiegel news magazine is shaping public opinion in Germany.

Germany is the largest member state of the EU. It used to be that German politicians on all sides of the political spectrum would pledge support to Israel, out of a sense of obligation, even if not all of them sincerely felt that way.

Today their political heirs are daily wiggling farther away from that obligation. The "news report" in Der Spiegel is one of the ways in which this change is being accomplished.

[tictoc]

Longjack, would you please ping your German list?

[dagar]

Yep, that's the same spot I stopped too.

Some history -- the provocation section is MOST interesting:
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/67_War.html

[Centurion2000]

Exactly 36 years ago today, Israeli tanks rolled over Egyptian border guards on the Sinai without any advance warning, while in Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said sirens shrilly reported enemy planes. The infamous Six Days War had broken out, a war whose territorial and political consequences plague the Middle East to this day.

No slant here .... nevermind that pesky little fact that the ARABS STARTED THIS WAR.

[Reagan is King]

Thanks for the "Der Spiegel" warning on the headline. I was ready for propaganda (and I got it).

[darkwing104]

You shouldn't have. I translate these excerpts to give an idea of how the extremely influential Spiegel news magazine is shaping public opinion in Germany.

Thanks for the translation. It seems a shame on what is going on in parts of Europe.

[BrooklynGOP]

I like this part:

Nasser ordered the UN Emergency Force, stationed in the Sinai since 1956, to withdraw on May 16. Without bringing the matter to the attention of the General Assembly, as his predecessor had promised, Secretary-General U Thant complied with the demand.

[jpl]

Influential isn't necessarily a virtue in and of itself. Mein Kampf was also influential.

Der Speigel does a great job with the naked women, but their political propaganda sucks.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

"Don't try these tricks on me again"

If Bush really said this to Sharon, I think that this is rude and arrogant behavior on Bush's part. Trying to butter up the Palestinian in order to force the success of the stupid road map at the expense of Sharon and Israel, is not the way to go. Of course, it is entirely possible that Bush's words were not as harsh as reported here in this biased German article.

[Miss Marple]

This is nothing like any of the other accounts I have read. I would take this article with a grain of salt about as large as my handbag.

[Words]

---

Come on.
The description of the Bush-Sharon meeting here that's more important.

[tictoc]

My take is that the Arabs offered their spin on the event to any journalist willing to believe them, and in the SPIEGEL writer they found an eager believer.

What's yours?

[longjack]

German Ping

[Words]

My take is that the Arabs offered their spin on the event to any journalist willing to believe them, and in the SPIEGEL writer they found an eager believer.

They'd be glad to any time.
But I tend to believe it. Bush's peace stampede doesn't demand anything from Abu Mazen except hollow words, because Abu Mazen's a de-facto Washington's appointee and they wouldn't admit any failure in judgement; from Sharon it demands hard concessions - land, "settlements", pullout, internal opposition. I wouldn't be surprised if Sharon tried to sort something out at the last moments and got a kick from the "biggest friend Israel ever had".

[joesnuffy]

I thought it was german tanks rolling into poland without any advanced warning..

[americanbychoice1]

GOEBBELS IS ALIVE AND WELL IN GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tictoc]

As far as I'm concerned, everything in that article is a lie, including the words "and", "the", and "is".

Not only does it rewrite history (painting Israel as the party who started the Six Days War without advance warning).

That bit about Sharon having rejected an invitation to attend in Sharm el Sheikh -- where did that come from? Wouldn't we have heard about that long ago already?