Monday, July 20, 2009
GREAT BRITAIN
The Times, London, July 15:Knighted for his services to music, a child prodigy violinist and a conductor acclaimed across the world, Sir Edward Downes enjoyed a long, happy and fulfilling career, lovingly supported by Joan, a former ballet dancer, choreographer and his wife of 54 years. Illness, age and disability, however, were taking an increasing toll of both of them: Sir Edward was almost blind and was going deaf; Lady Downes had terminal cancer. Last week they traveled to Switzerland, and on Friday, alone together in a small clinic in Zurich, swallowed lethal doses of barbiturates.
They were not the first British couple to end their lives with the assistance of Dignitas, the non-profit organization dedicated to helping those determined to commit suicide do so in dignity and tranquillity.
Why leave it to the Swiss?
It is, however, absurd that on an issue so crucial attitudes are increasingly determined by a private clinic in Switzerland one to which only the rich can afford to travel and the piecemeal responses of British courts. ...
The Downes case is especially troubling as it raises the issue of suicide pacts when one person feels unable to face life without the other. The danger here is that a romanticized view of a joint death may make suicide attractive, rather than an alternative to unbearable pain. Every day thousands of dying people are eased toward death in quiet, moral, medical ways. Dignity is the watchword. But that dignity should be safeguarded at home: not in a distant Swiss clinic.
ISRAEL
Ha’aretz, Tel-Aviv, July 15: During his six months in office, (President Barack) Obama has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the idea of a Palestinian state and to freeze construction in the settlements. In exchange, he promised to ask the Arab states to take steps toward a normalization of relations with Israel, such as opening diplomatic representations and flight routes. Netanyahu adopted the two-state solution, albeit while specifying certain conditions, but he continues to refuse to stop development in the settlements.
In “closed” talks with associates and foreign visitors, Netanyahu has blasted Obama, asserting that the president’s pressure on Israel is aimed at placating the Arabs at Israel’s expense.
Doubly wrong
Netanyahu is erring twice: by entering into an unnecessary and harmful conflict with the U.S. administration, and by rejecting Obama’s fundamental desire to break through the stalemate in the peace process and complete the process of Israel’s acceptance into the Middle East. The election of Obama and his popularity in the Arab world create a unique opportunity for a breakthrough in the peace process, and it would be a shame to miss it.
Now the U.S. administration must convince the Israeli public that it has a friend in the White House. After talking to the Arabs, the Muslims and the Iranians, in speeches and on television, it is only right that Obama address the Israeli public and persuade the people to support reviving the peace process with the Palestinians and Syrians and halting the destructive settlement enterprise in the West Bank.
LEBANON
Daily Star, Beirut, July 15: Three years have done little to erase the memories of that fierce 34-day conflict over a thousand Lebanese, mostly civilians, dead, hundreds of thousands displaced and billions of dollars in damage.
Commemorations of war are an invitation to mourn the fallen and honor their sacrifice, but also a rare opportunity to come to terms with the past and move forward. Lebanon does not want another war. The July War was not lost but it came at a great cost, and as normalcy returns to the country, no one wants to relive the horrors of that conflict.
The presence of U.N. peacekeepers in the south and Security Council Resolution 1701 have given us padding, a bit of comfort that the onslaught witnessed in 2006 will be difficult to repeat. In addition, Lebanese parties are aware that any offensive maneuvers against Israel, and the price they would incur, would hurt the entire nation and likely their own popularity. But this, unfortunately, is no protection against adventurism.
The Lebanese leadership, in conjunction with Hizbullah, should be working relentlessly to prevent another conflict, garnering diplomatic support and raising international awareness. This is not a sign of weakness, but of responsibility. Let others beat their war drums, while we work to build our country.
SWEDEN
Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, July 14: Will the American Senate approve the proposed judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court? Yes, with a clear majority if you trust the TV series The West Wing.
The series, which has been shown on SVT (Swedish television), has already predicted how an unknown democratic presidential candidate with a minority background would beat a respected old senator. The message of hope would win the voters’ hearts.
When President Obama now has appointed the liberally minded Sotomayor it seems like fiction will become real yet again. Like her counterpart on television she impersonates the American dream. The poor upbringing among Latin Americans in New York didn’t stop her from reaching the top of society.
The Senate hearings are usually sweaty, but the 55-year-old judge is said to do well. The Democrats have 60 percent of the 100 seats in the Senate. The Republicans can grill her, but can hardly make her fall. ..
Where she stands in other sensitive issues, such as abortion, the death penalty, homosexuals’ rights and national security is unclear. But Obama (who only interviewed women for the job) wouldn’t have appointed her if she didn’t share his, by American standards, liberal views.
Now, the U.S. will probably get its third woman ever in the country’s highest judicial authority. That is about time.