ISRAEL

ISRAEL

The Jerusalem Post, May 19: The long-awaited summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama finally took place yesterday — carrying on for considerably longer than scheduled. When it was over, both men came out smiling and exchanging compliments. Obama affirmed that the “special relationship” the two countries share is alive and well.

Critical topics

That tells us little about how things really went inside on the critical topic of Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. It tells us nothing about whether the president was privately persuaded that peace-making with the Palestinians has been made unworkable because Fatah and Hamas are bitterly polarized, and because even the relatively moderate Mahmoud Abbas has yet to abandon maximalist demands about boundaries and the so-called right of return. Nor do we know if Obama will press Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Perhaps the biggest unknown is whether the two men — whatever their earlier prejudices — now feel that they can trust each enough to collaborate.

Regardless of what was said publicly yesterday, the question is whether Obama appreciates the distinction between a Netanyahu who is reluctant to foster the establishment of what could quickly devolve into Hamas-led “Palestine” on the West Bank, and a Netanyahu who is an “obstacle to peace.” The two are not synonymous.

JAPAN

Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, May 20: In the first Indian parliamentary election in five years, the ruling coalition led by the Indian National Congress (INC) captured enough seats in the House of the People, the country’s lower house, to form a majority, contrary to pre-election predictions of a tough showing by the opposition.

It has become certain that Manmohan Singh, 76, prime minister since 2004, will remain in office.

Significance

There is great significance in the existence of India, a nation of 1.1 billion people, as a stable democracy in this very troubled region. We hope the Singh administration will continue to play a constructive role in stabilizing South Asia.

While India needs to continue focusing on poverty at home, it must also keep up its economic reforms to further liberalize its market.

In combating global warming and reinforcing free trade, too, India bears heavy responsibility to the international community as a leader of newly emerging economies. The country must take advantage of its stable administration to exert bold leadership.

DENMARK

Politiken, Copenhagen, May 19: The Norwegian singer Alexander Rybak, who won the Eurovision Song Contest, hit bull’s eye when he asked why the police in Moscow had used all its energy to clamp down on homosexuals in the city “while the biggest gay parade in the world was tonight” (at the music event).

That Moscow’s police prevented a parade of gays and lesbians in Europe’s most intolerant country when it comes to homosexuality stands in stark contrast to the Eurovision Song Contest’s development.

Warm gathering

It is not only a kitschy but warm gathering for Europe’s (different) cultures but it also has become a more transgender show. Gays and lesbians openly paraded on stage and thereby brought winds of emancipation to this year’s intolerant host nation.

One can be puzzled by the fact that Moscow chose to clamp down on parading homosexuals.