Way to go, United Nations

Alright, so it's back to politics for me. The Israeli elections are coming up and the aftermath of Gaza is in full swing, so I thought I'd jump back in with some commentary. So first, remember how the UN claimed Israel bombed their school and refugee camp? Well... "Oops! We were wrong!" the UN now says. Apparently, Israel hit a target NEAR the UN school, which happened to be full of terrorists launching rockets. Note that "near" is not a direct hit. Perhaps the UN should have considered that its sources may have been biased. Of course, now that the global attention is off of Israel, this important clarification didn't receive as much press as the UN's cries of "war crimes" did during the operation.

Also, remember how the UN was making such a racket over Israel preventing humanitarian supplies into Gaza? (I mentioned earlier the ridiculous CNN report that 30 trucks had been kept out one day, neglecting to note, as mentioned in other news sources, that 160 trucks had been let in). Well that's all over and done now. The UN doesn't have to worry about Israel stopping any of their aid and supply trucks, because the UN suspended all relief to Gaza after Hamas captured their trucks and stole all their supplies. An article in the Israeli Newspaper, HaAretz states, "The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Friday said it is suspending humanitarian aid in Gaza until further notice, after Hamas seized control of its warehouses and stole 200 tons of food and supplies" http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062219.html. Perhaps this was, in fact, precisely why Israel was monitoring the aid trucks in the first place. Now there's no aid or supplies entering Gaza at all. Again, this is not in the news anymore; at least not very prominently... The UN spokesperson described the situation as "unacceptable." Well clearly. When armed terrorists break into a UN storage center and steal supplies intended for distribution to over 500 needy families and use the equipment to rebuild their army, it's pretty easy to decide that's not a good thing. But suspending aid entirely is not helpful, and not having taken preventative measures in the first place was idiotic. So I just wanted to say, "Way to go, United Nations." You've pretty much just screwed over Israel AND the Palestinians in Gaza. That sure was effective and successful.

As you may be able to see by my sarcasm, I've lost some respect for the beloved United Nations. I understand that they are in a tough position because they are accountable to the entire world and speak for everyone, but I really think they screwed things up here. They were quite quick to call "FOUL!" and it now appears that they did so without accurate facts and anything more than a surface understanding of the complexities of the situation.

In happier news, the Israeli election is coming up. Kadima, Israel's moderate party, has gained in the polls over the rightist party Likud, which previously seemed to have locked up the victory. In Ulpan class the other day, we learned about the Israeli political system and the different parties. We only went over it briefly, but I'll try to explain a bit. It's quite a different system than that of the US. Each citizen has one vote, and instead of voting for a person, you vote for a party. There are a number of parties to choose from. Usually, the top 3 are Likud (right), Kadima (moderate), and Labor, which is on the Left. Each party gets a percentage of the seats in the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), proportional to their votes. In this election, another, even more extreme rightist party, Yisrael Beiteinu, appears likely to overtake Labor as the 3rd largest party. There are also a number of smaller parties, including a few Arab parties, which usually only get a few seats each.

Whoever wins the most seats gets the first chance to make a Coalition government. However, it seems that Likud will probably be more successful at this than Kadima, as the third largest party may also be on the right. I believe (although I am not sure) that the party with the most votes gets to be Prime Minister. Running from each party are Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Tzipi Livni (Kadima), Ehud Barak (Labor), and Avigdor Leiberman (Yisrael Beiteinu). The ways in which the parties can conglomerate to form a coalition provides the most uncertainty and opportunity for the ways in which the new Israeli government will operate. For more information on the subject, this HaAretz article provides a good deal of speculation and detail: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062138.html

Like I said, I'm not as well informed as I wish I were on this subject. Although I guess since I don't have a vote anyway, it's not super essential that I know all the facts. Still, Israel is important to me, and so, therefore, is the election.

One thing I can comment on, however, is the Israeli pessimism about voting. Nearly everyone I speak to about the election says, essentially, "Well, I want ______ to win, but I don't think he/she will. _______ is definitely going to win." I haven't heard a single person assert that their choice will succeed. They aren't all convinced that the same person will win, either. For instance, I spoke to someone who supported Tzipi Livni, but thought Netanyahu would win. And everyone I've met who supports Netanyahu thinks Livni will succeed. Everyone seems convinced that their party will lose, regardless of which party that may be. I find this pessimism oddly humorous.

The election is only 4 days away, and there's still a good deal of movement in the polls. I'm excited to see what happens, even though I'm still not entirely sure exactly what's going on or who I support... So that's it for me right now. Shabbat Shalom!