Swedish News : Erland Josephson
Archive for February, 2012
Obituary : Erland Josephson…much loved…
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012Still thinking of Besserwisser Urban Ahlin and his recent spiel in the Swedish Parliament.
Sunday, February 26th, 2012Abbas Declares Diplomatic War on Jerusalem…
Islam does not mean Peace. It means submission.
Website for this image of Urban Ahlin in a fierce mode
Urban Ahlin bellows “Palestinian State First !” – hoping to get all Swedish Arab votes in 2014…..
I have slightly taken the matter up before in my earlier posts:
The annual foreign policy debate (Another way of looking at it)
Urban Ahlin did not disappoint
Preliminary to the post mortem on that Ahlin – Bildt duel in the Swedish Parliament.
Urban Ahlin was great on Syria !
The quest for peace – for world peace is an old Swedish passion – Raoul Wallenberg, Dag Hammarsjkold, Olof Palme, Jan Eliasson, Pierre Schori, Hans Blixt, the ever current Carl Bildt, to name just a few……
I should now like to continue with this follow-up on Urban Ahlin and his hysteria about Sweden recognising a Palestinian State without borders, without Settlements, without such a state recognising Israel and before a peace deal is done.
To complicate matters more, he could even take a look at this: How the U.S.-Iran Standoff Looks From Israel
This Sabbath Service (on Saturday morning) conducted by Rabbi David Lazar at the Great Synagogue of Stockholm, to my surprise I felt myself being especially moved, almost emotionally carried away by his prayer and the voice in which he requested that we all pray for those who are suffering so terribly in Syria, presently. He added, “and we don’t know exactly what’s going on there”. True, we don’t know exactly, but we know enough, enough to awaken much compassion and empathy for the long suffering people of Syria – a country which under the Assads has been a Police State in which even the name “Israel” cannot be mentioned without that person – even a visitor – looking around beforehand to make sure that there is no secret security man or woman around who would report such a mention which could bring tragic consequences to he or she who breathed the name “Israel”, most probably the gallows or the secret torture chambers, to have their teeth extracted or electric shocks applied to their testicles.
How long can a people live under such repressive conditions whilst almost everywhere else there’s what’s called “Freedom of Speech” and in some places like Sweden, even “ freedom of artistic expression“ for the likes of Lars Vilks and his ilk.
Vilks had better go and try that kind of artistic experiment in Damascus any time now, or any time soon or in the past and see if he would live to find out/see whether or not Jesus, Carl Bildt or Beatrice Ask or the great grandchildren of the prophet Muhammad would be able or willing to stick their necks out to save his miserable,dog-like ass.
Vilks, could also try his artistic tricks in any part of the so called occupied territories, the so called “West Bank” or even the unoccupied judenrein Gaza strip and come to experience what would be the equivalent of being nailed on a real and not so artistic cross.
Or to test his artistic rights Vilks could try holding an Ecce Homo or Ecce Mohammed kind of exhibition in the Muslims Brotherhood’s Egypt even before it embraces Sharia Law as Egypt will surely soon do ( that’s a prediction – it’s inevitable or else they are not being sincere and the word for insincerity/ hypocrisy in Arabic is Munafiq. – just as in the so called New Testament the word for hypocrite is Pharisee – although the Rt. Rev. Robert Travers Herford debunks that myth in his book by the same name The Pharisees. Some of today’s rabbis are the ideological descendants of yesterdays Pharisees. The Muslims also have their Pharisees and are equally hell bent on erecting Islamic States throughout the Middle East. They say that then there will be peace, after the Armageddon Battle in which according to this their self-fulfilling prophecy, they are exhorted to “fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. … trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla [slave of Allah], there is a Jew behind me, … will fight the Jews and kill them…”
Vilks – or Urban Ahlin who gives the impression of being ever ready to go to bed with Hamas, Islamic Jihad , Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade & the PLO should try defending Vilks’ right to Articles 18 and 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - in Jordan , where more than 70 % of the population is Palestinian Arab in that Hashemite kingdom – or pay a visit to any of the other surrounding Muslim states still technically at war with Israel – and so eventually come to his senses about the necessity of peace – before talking about a Palestinian State which may or may not be permitted to have an army, with or without nuclear weapons – and what on earth would they need a military for, if there was peace in the Middle East?
Succinctly put and with all honesty, this is the crux of the matter: Jew-hate prevents peace
I’m now doing some more homework, rather late – but I now have in my legal possession Uri Savir’s book PEACE FIRST (with a forward by Shimon Peres and Dennis Ross and an Afterword by Abu Ala. I have not yet re- read even the first page, but will soon have zapped through it and perhaps Urban Ahlin and the other advocates of a Palestinian State first and peace later had better once more take a look at it – because of the urgency of the situation. The logic in the blurb makes sense and is particularly encouraging for all of us to read or reread what was first published in 2008 – and now it’s ever more urgent to attain that peace first or face the unending consequences – and even more suffering, not only for the Syrians but for the whole area and the world which we call our own:
“Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Sep 13, 2008 – History – 240 pages
“Uri Savir has an ambitious, indispensable goal: to bring peacemaking into the 21st century. “Little in today’s world,” writes Savir, “is more progressive than modern warfare. Yet little is more archaic than peacemaking.” We remain trapped in a centuries-old mindset, with leaders bargaining warily for concessions and signing treaties that collapse because no one on the ground has any real stake in them. Drawing on his experiences negotiating the Oslo Peace Accords as well as on trenchant examples from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, and the former Yugoslavia, Savir argues that an enduring peace is built from the bottom up, not from the top down. He describes a new model based on establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial forms of cooperation beginning on the local level, city-to-city and organization-to-organization. This process of “glocalization”—involving local actors in global issues—is the first step toward constructing a peace ecology: a comprehensive transnational culture dedicated to breaking down the psychological and social barriers between former enemies. These efforts are furthered through the establishment of joint ventures that give each side a tangible stake in maintaining peace. Diplomacy still has a role, but it must reject manoeuvring for gain and instead emphasize the advantages both sides will gain with the cultivation of lasting peace. Throughout, Savir provides concrete examples of how these concepts have been put into practice. And he ends with a detailed vision of how this model could bring an enduring peace in one of the world’s most war-torn areas: the Mediterranean Basin. Peace First offers a pragmatic yet revolutionary new approach that promises to end our most intractable conflicts.”
The whole Book can be read here : PEACE FIRST
( to be continued
Princess Estelle
Saturday, February 25th, 2012Baruch Hashem!
Happiness glowing on the faces of the proud royal parents
The Swedish Royal Family
Swedish Royal Family links
The spontaneous jubilation, the royal baby fever ( every Royalist Swede and quiz enthusiast knows her height and weight at birth) and the 42 cannon royal gun salute that followed the announcement of her blessed birth was in turn followed by national and international speculation and hysteria about what her name was going to be or should be. It’s a question that was asked the general public by many of today’s Swedish newspapers/ media. As a matter of fact the speculation started even before yesterday.
His Majesty hath spoken : ‘Her name is Estelle’: King Carl XVI Gustaf
She is Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland ! What a beautiful, fulsome, modern feminine name for – B‘ezrat Hashem – a sure to be a modern monarch! I like the blessed “el” part of it most.
Victoria is a rather old fashioned name – and Queen Victoria on whose empire the sun never set was an outstanding monarch just as her namesake Princess Victoria of Sweden even at her young age has already made history in many ways as an outstanding Crown Princess and is much loved by her subjects the people of Sweden, at home and abroad….
Estelle is already newspaper headlines from pole to pole and from East to West or as the Daily Mail reports; She’s already a star! Swedish royal baby named Estelle Silvia Eva Mary
Well, although the little princess has only just started growing up (day 2) the sentiments of this birthday song resonate with our good wishes for her as we share in the happiness with the Royal Family and their relatives, the people of Sweden, our well wishers and friends:
“May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young”
23.2.2012: Glad Tidings of Great Joy : In Sweden a Princess is born today!
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
A baby Princess is born to Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel Of Sweden
Baruch Hashem!
The traditional prayer must be echoing in Mama and Papa’s hearts and souls
“We are humbled by the awesome power of this moment.
From our lives we have brought forth life.
Through our love we have fashioned a child of love.
May our child be a blessing to all she meets.
And may she count us among her blessings as well.”
So it’s Congratulations!Grattis!! Mazel Tov !!! To Crown Princess Victoria and her Better Half Prince Daniel for the New Born Baby, their first child, a daughter – born to be a future Queen of Sweden!
“May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace.” And more love!
It’s simultaneous Congratulations, Grattis, Mazel Tov to the new Grandma and Grandpa: His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia – and the Royal Family all of whom must be exceedingly happy today and smiling from ear to ear, cooing and singing this song
“Isn’t she lovely
Isn’t she wonderful
Isn’t she precious
Less than one minute old
I never thought through love we’d be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn’t she lovely made from love
Isn’t she pretty
Truly the angel’s best
Boy, I’m so happy
We have been heaven blessed
I can’t believe what God has done
through us he’s given life to one
But isn’t she lovely made from love “…..
And so it’s Royal Baby fever in Sweden from today her birth day, after all the months of waiting for the great day!
The women’s magazines for the coming weeks will be sold out even before they are printed. We are all expecting the first pictures any minute now.
Already even in Svenska Dagbladet, day one and everybody is giving baby advice to the Royal Couple and their baby
Baruch Hashem!
Day 2. “The Lion and The Jewel” being performed in Stockholm today, the last day….
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012Saw the première of “The Lion and the Jewel” last night, at Södra Teatern.
A good time was HAD, by all….
The play ( a comedy) which is in simple straightforward English, was reassuringly introduced in Swedish by Yael Feiler
Whoever it was that played Sadiku, Baroka’s senior wife was EXCELLENT!!!!
A small note. Baroka is chief of the village, not King of the village. Not that I want to split hairs , there’s some significant difference between the chief of an African village and the King…but as far as comedy goes I suppose that King and Chief are interchangeable…
Would have liked to have had a word or two with the actors after the show and hope to do so this evening…..
Urban Ahlin was great on Syria !
Saturday, February 18th, 2012Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
CAMERA : Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting
FLAME Hotline Back Issues – Facts & Logic About the Middle East
For a long time now, Syria has been the baddest guy on the block.
By “long time” I mean since the dark days of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
Somehow, I cannot think of bad guy Assad senior without thinking of Eli Cohen
Just as some people can’t think of Syria without thinking of Saul (“St. Paul”) suffering a change of heart on the road to Damascus.
The Shia historians would normally go even further and say that Syria has been the baddest guy on the block since the dark days of Sunni Islam’s third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan, who appointed Muawiya the son of Abu Sufyan as Governor of Syria. Muawiya was succeeded by his son Yazīd ibn Mu’āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān. They set up the Umayyad Caliphate. So there, you have it.
Today it’s Assad in power and not Muawaiya; and Assad is some sort of Shia and therefore enjoying the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Let’s not forget that Hamas & Co is basically Sunni – and Muslim Brotherhood. But they are grateful to have been getting a lot of weapons and some crumbs from Iran.
Hezbollah is 100% Shia and if their Godfather Assad goes, they might soon run out of weapons supply from Iran, transited through Syria into Lebanon, with the blessings of Assad Senior.
They must be praying five times a day & every day, that things will turn out well for Assad.
Gone are the days, the good old days of “The Bulldozer” when Syria would be busy bleeding Israel in the buffer zone that Israel had created in Southern Lebanon. Syria would be bleeding Israel there and pointing at the Golan. Israel outmanoeuvred Syria & the Bleeders, by leaving Southern Lebanon lock stock and barrel. There is no longer any Israel to bleed in South Lebanon and be pointing at the Golan, that Israel should leave their Golan and then the bleeding in South Lebanon would stop. They’ve been outmanouvered.
Since The Bulldozer evacuated Israel from Gaza and made Gaza judenrein, Hamas has been trying, firing their thousands of rockets to bleed Israel – perhaps, so that Israel will leave Judea and Samaria and the rest of Israel, calling the Almighty’s territory “occupied” with Ahlin concurring that we “downplay and trivialise the brutal reality of occupation.”…
As a Social Democrat (fortunately or unfortunately) I presume that Urban Ahlin must have a natural affinity with what’s called “Islamic Socialism”, and Islamic Socialism (so called ) was born during the days of Uthman’s Caliphate which according to not only Shia historians, was a caliphate that was characterised by nepotism, corruption and conspicuous consumption – it was in reaction to this mismanagement of the affairs of the Ummah that there were many protests by ( among others ) Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, who is usually credited with being Islam’s first socialist – and all he said to Caliph Uthman was that the people’s money was being misused by the Caliph’s people (his close relatives) – for which reason Abu Dharr, a Mahatma Gandhi kind of figure was banished to the desert , as punishment – just as Jeff Holden (Englishman) a lecturer in African History at the African Studies Institute at the University of Ghana, was deported from Ghana in1971 for merely saying that, “The money of the workers and peasants of Ghana is not being used in their best interests”
Jeff was given less than 48 hours to leave. This was roughly around the same time that Eboe Hutchful then a research student and one of my /our (my Better Half and I) neighbours in South Legon had accosted the then Prime Minister of Ghana Kofi Abrefa Busia and given him a tongue-lashing for conspicuous consumption in the form of him (Kofi B) driving a Mercedes Benz (at a time when My Better Half and I had to make do with a 250 cc Honda Motorcycle which I bought from Rudy and Thelma Silas.)
Fortunately, Eboe or George as he was called by his Bermudan bride, was not deported to Bolgatanga or to Niger or back to the Canadian University to which he was affiliated – in fact after that incident he enjoyed some popularity & radical notoriety for that his exchange of views with Kofi Busia. To this day what I still don’t remember is whether or not it was Eboe that started the joke that “Kofi Busia must have left his brains in Oxford!” or whether or not he had actually told Kofi Busia, “ You must have left your brains in Oxford”, where Kofi B used to be a Professor. Shortly before or after that incident ( can’t remember the exact order of events) Busia’s next move was to “challenge” the Ghanaian judiciary…….
Of course in Syria the situation is much worse.
Did Bashar al-Assad think that Ben Ali, Gaddafi, Mubarak would submit to the Arab Spring and that he himself would remain untouched, forever?
The Syria we are talking about is still the Syria of history, the New Syria in the making. Some people are already speculating about a post-Assad era (he’s not going to be there forever) – and that too – what follows Assad is of uttermost importance in that most dangerous Middle East neighbourhood.
Assad has an arsenal of anti-Missile everything and it’s also darkly rumoured that he has stockpiles of chemical and bacteriological weapons, originally intended to assist him in “taking back” the Golan Heights.
Uncertainties about the future concerning Israel and the Arab Spring loom large in doomsday eschatologies – and Syria is part of that extensive Arab Spring, even this cruel winter.
What could Mr. Ahlin add to what Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has demanded, that Assad Must Step Down ?
Pictures from the Swedish Parliament
Well, Mr. Ahlin says all that he can say – and what he’s saying is that the Swedish government is not doing or saying enough:
Mr. Ahlin himself doesn’t say much. He says ( unedited Google translation) :
“It is painful and it hurts physically, to watch television these days. Every day we see people in the city of Homs try to protect themselves and hide from the shells that the Syrian regime lobs in over his own people. We humans gather in communities and states for protection. It is each State’s obligation to protect its population. It is easy to understand the terrible fear and anxiety, it must mean to be in Homs and be oppositional and feel it is my own country’s military to shoot at me, it’s my own regime that kills me.
This killing has to stop. Who today can criticize the opposition to the arming themselves when they have a regime that goes from house to house to kill? What we see is the startup of a civil war in Syria. It is extremely serious. The risk of this developing into a regional conflict is obvious. Syria is a country of many different minorities and many different religious affiliations.
To be clear: regional powers like Saudi Arabia will this degenerates to ensure that support certain groups in Syria. The other regional superpower, Iran, will look to support other groups. It is obvious that this could degenerate into an incredibly high level of regional conflict.
It is outrageous that the United Nations, which under the UN Charter is to take responsibility for the threat to international peace and security in the state is unable to produce a resolution. Criticism must be directed against Russia and China, as in this serious situation when the whole world sees that the entire risk of degenerating a regional war in the region, yet decides to “veterans”. Result of the vote was 13-2. But the two countries decide to add their vetoes. It’s 2012, and it is a regime that slaughters its own people. Russia and China then uses his vetoes. There must be an incredibly intense international pressure on Russia and China for them to meet their responsibilities in the UN Security Council to develop a resolution that increases the pressure, can put a lid on and make sure that the fighting and civil war in Syria does not degenerate.”
What more does Herr Ahlin want to say ?
Perhaps he would like to quote Exodus 21: 23 -25:
” But if there shall be a fatality, then you shall award a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.”
?
He says that he is “delighted that the government of his declaration says that Sweden should belong to the group Syrian friends. Arab League, which has been a leader in presenting peace plans and ideas on how to manage conflict, requires that countries have come together in this affinity group to increase the pressure. It is good that the government now admits that the appointment of an ambassador and that it is prepared to be part of this group of friends.
Let me give you support from the Social Democrats’ side of things that Sweden’s government should operate. The economic sanctions against Syria must be much sharper. They must in future concentrate much harder on the country’s second city, Aleppo, which is the economic and industrial center. I am sure that when those who have economic power in Syria is beginning to understand that they are losing money, influence and future earning potential will be the basis for Assad to slowly and surely eroding.
We must be sure to get a peace process that begins with Assad resign and that others may take responsibility for getting into a dialogue and reconciliation in Syria.
We Social Democrats will support the government if the government chooses to take this active stance in the affinity group Syrian friends. This is a conflict that must not degenerate. It is important that there will be peace and reconciliation and that the Syrian people to live in a democracy without being killed in their own country.”
Until yesterday we could have said that apart from Russia and China, the whole World is united about the measures that are to be taken against the Assad Regime to bring them back to their senses, to stop all state-sponsored carnage against Syrian citizens. But by yesterday China was no longer standing side-by-side with Russia: and we now have China saying to Syria, “ End the violence!”
I myself, I don’t joke about Israel
( to be continued)
Preliminary to the post mortem on that Ahlin – Bildt duel in the Swedish Parliament.
Friday, February 17th, 2012Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved
Once more, the Hon.Carl Bildt’s Foreign Policy Statement
Here’s the whole debate in living colour
It’s not often that we have fireworks in the Swedish Parliament – and by fireworks I’m not referring to Guy Fawkes Night either. Compared to what usually transpires in the British House of Commons – or even the House of Lords for that matter, the Parliamentary debate in the Swedish Riksdagen/ Parliament is usually a dull and dreary affair – if raw theatre and the occasional verbal extravaganza is what you’re after. My impression is that in Sweden it’s more of a dry, academic affair in which the Hon. Minister in question makes his policy statement and then other members of the Swedish Parliament stand in line (literally) to have their turns at saying what they have to say in very polite, formal rikssvenska, when the Speaker calls them up to do so.
Whereas in the British House of Commons “two sword lengths” separate the Government from the assembled opposition sitting opposite – and there are frequent calls of “Order! “ from the Speaker of the House, when the Hon. Members get a little too rowdy, in Sweden I have never seen or heard it reported that the Hon. Parliamentarians ever got rowdy or ever behaved badly – as the Rev. Ian Paisley once did, calling another Hon. Member of the House, “a liar” when a euphemistic “terminological inexactitude” or “transparent calumny” would have done handsomely. Paisley was suspended for a few weeks, for such dishonourable conduct.
“Manners maketh man”
Nor can I imagine ( in the House, British or Swedish) one Hon.Friend telling another Hon.Friend or me, that “the world is full of ignorant, poorly educated people like Hamelberg “ – or Paul Boateng. My own personal reply to such an idiot would be glowing in the minutes of the House, forever.
At which point I’d also like to point out that there’s a difference between studying “Diversity Management” if there is indeed such a course, and actually running a London borough the size of Vallentuna….quite some time ago…
Here’s an irate Urban Ahlin taking the podium at 7 minutes and 44 second into this video and starting his demolition work. It’s here that he makes his now famous/ infamous remark that either Mr. Bildt or his idea has “a hole in the head” ( i.e. is stupid). Le Grand Calle (Mighty Carlos) was quick and devastating in his repartee – and fortunately, despite the rapid exchanges and the Parthian shot from Urban Ahlin the whole affair did not degenerate into this sort of hooliganism
Nothing like hearing these words directly from the horses’ mouths, so first of all here’s a transcript of the debate in Swedish :Protokoll – riksdagen.se and here’s a Google translation into English (a rather tortuous translation I’m afraid) of the official transcript of the Foreign Policy debate that took place in the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament ) on 15th February 2012. However, I will improve on the translations whenever I quote any of the speakers.
( to be continued after the Sabbath
Shabbat Shalom !
Have a nice weekend everybody…
Urban Ahlin was excellent !
Thursday, February 16th, 2012Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
CAMERA : Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting
FLAME Hotline Back Issues – Facts & Logic About the Middle East
No kidding. There was a time when the proponents of peace (the peaceniks) proposed that the international community arrange a boxing match between Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush in the belief that that would spare both military and civilian casualties, not to mention the inevitable collateral damage that takes place in a real war for regime change – and furthermore said the peaceniks, over time George W had been nursing a personal grudge against Saddam H, as George W famously put it, “Saddam tried to kill my father” – and this alone increased the US president’s personal incentive to get even with Saddam.
The fear was that the bloodthirsty Saddam would have gone straight for GWB’s jugular and although that would not have caused a regime change in the US it would have been more than an international crisis…..
What we should all know: That there are good Social Democrats and there are excellent Social Democrats. At the same time we should also know that there are extremists of the McCarthy type who probably believe (God forbid) that the only good Social Democrat is a dead Social Democrat.
Even as I write (right now) I have a grudge against Stefan Löfven and I guess that you could attribute it to “ the Löfven effect” – and though he has personally done me no harm and I am otherwise positively inclined towards him and his leadership I still nurse a grudge against him because last Sunday, there I was, peacefully watching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, between the Ivory Coast and Zambia on TV, the first half of the match was over, and the time was 21.15 when my Better Half came into our sitting room and informed me that Herr Löfven was on Agenda and that she wanted to watch the programme – so, as we only have only one TV that was the end of the exciting Africa Cup of Nations final for me – and for that Stefan Löfven is directly or indirectly responsible. I blame it on him.
However, I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised to see him looking fresh (a good night’s sleep) and clean shaven, sitting in the Swedish Parliament right next to Urban Ahlin. I suppose that he was giving Ahlin some moral support…….and in no time beaming with approval as his attack dog went for Mr. Bildt’s medium sized jugular.
Indeed, the Swedish Social Democrats’ shadow Foreign Minister Urban Ahlin’s passionate performance yesterday morning, was in my opinion an excellent representation of Swedish Social Democracy’s positions on the issues that are at stake and both the style of his delivery and the content of his impassioned pleas, were impeccable. He must have been preparing for this showdown for a long time now, seems that he had only been waiting for this moment to arise
There’s no theatre without some basic conflict and another thing that we’ve got to get right from the start is that there’s no love lost between Urban Ahlin and Carl Bildt and that the storm had been brewing for some time now. To the outsider-onlooker, it seems that it’s personal – as is all body chemistry and that the animosity between the two is beyond the mere political party/ ideological positions that differentiate them. To me, yesterday’s foreign policy debate was something like the much talked about world heavyweight championship fight this time between the Left and the Right – and in the right corner representing the Right we had Carl Bildt, Sweden’s former prime minister and a distinguished international diplomat too, an excellent Moderate (Conservative) if ever there was one (though some of his detractors say that he’s “too cocky” and that’s why they “don’t like him”) – and in the left corner his challenger the one and only Urban Ahlin – who must have been looking forward to this fight, for a long time now, and must have been preparing (training) for it, because his delivery was flawless.
Sometimes some men feel like flexing their muscles with some verbal dexterity and for Urban Ahlin, this was such an occasion on which logic, intellect and incisive diction were in equal balance and used aggressively…..
Since they are not pugilists, it’s difficult to say how it would turn out if we could arrange a boxing match between Messrs Ahlin and Bildt….
Having cleared the air I would now like to get on with it and tell you how I relate to the debate that took place , in the next instalment…..
before then, PS:
This kind of matching-making/ match-fixing (in boxing) raises endless kinds of odds and possibilities. We could for example pit Mitt Romney ( in the ring) against some other supreme leader or other.
Mormon versus Mumin.
Infidel versus the believer
or vice-versa.
We (as in We Sweden) could also have Netanyahu (in the ring )
against Goliath, the Champion of the Arab League & the PLO –
alternately we could match Bibi against Khaled Meshaal and Shimon Peres taking on
Ismail Haniyeh for the Double Trouble…
Urban Ahlin did not disappoint
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012Swedish version:
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call’d fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ “
At a few minutes past 9-00hours, Stockholm Time, the Foreign Policy Statement began to be carefully laid out by the Mighty Carlos.
As he unrolled his panoramic vision, I observed him gesticulating like His Majesty (our His Majesty) and I found myself wondering about this – was it conscious – like Sir Laurence Olivier playing Richard III? I continued to wonder about this as he continued to be so expressive with his hands. Was he being Mr. Natural?
What kind of body talk, body language was this that I was now seeing in Mighty Bildt and for the very first time? I though that Conservative Nordic people did not gesticulate…….
Or maybe I had seen it but not noticed it? What kind of behaviour was this? – Not the voice but the body talk – Was it Continental ? Foreign Minister? Inter-national ? French ? Italian kind of behaviour? And I continued to wonder, are those some of the typical, Swedish stiff-upper-lip gestures of Upper Class behaviour? Swedish House of the Upper Lords sometimes referred to by their enemies, the irreverent British working class as “the Up Yours”
Some natural mannerisms that descend and take possession of his physical positions when the Mighty Carlos gets into a combat mode.
The French are known to express this passion for eloquent gesticulation to a more extraordinary degree, and so did the Mighty Carlos.
If you didn’t notice, watch and you will see.
The Hon. Minister’s statement was immediately followed up by an attack which was spear-headed by the Social Democrat’s embattled ( sexually accused and maligned) Urban Ahlin, and by this time, he was not only foaming at the mouth as I thought that he would, but this time – by this time (about 9.38 a.m.) he was also breathing fire. I could see it coming out of his nostrils.
As said earlier, Urban Ahlin did not disappoint. But more about that later.
I watched the first one hour and forty-five minutes of the debate and then had to take off to the Chapel at Hagalund for the funeral service of Omo M’Boge who was murdered in Malmö with a shot to the head, on 20th December last year. May his soul be at peace.
So, I’ll only be giving my response to the first 100 minutes of the debate.
According to my buddy the signifying monkey, Ahlin would be pleased if we took-a-look at the Social Democrat Alternative Foreign Policy Statement which you will find HERE
News coming in : Poor Jan Björklund attacked ?
Serves him right. He probably only has himself to blame. He was probably telling the settlers the kind of nonsense that they don’t want to hear. He’s lucky. Saying the same kind a things to the Pals, he’d have probably been hanged, at least by the Palestinian media.
Anyway it was not reported here – so it couldn’t have been such a significant happening, if at all it happened…….
( To be continued. I’ll have to go back to 9 o’clock this morning, back to the very beginning and continue from there…
The annual foreign policy debate (Another way of looking at it)
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Happening in the Swedish Parliament: The annual foreign policy debate will take place on Wednesday, starting at 9.00hrs.
“The debate will be introduced with the presentation of the Statement of Government Policy on Foreign Affairs by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt (Moderate Party). Also on Wednesday, there will be a debate and decision on whether Sweden should ratify the ILO Maritime Labour Convention from 2006. Another item for consideration will be the application of the Act concerning Special Controls in Respect of Aliens.”
It will be transmitted live and direct 0900 – 1200 on SVT2
Around the same time last year , so too this year it will be broadcast live and direct from the same channel.
Will also be available here
Of some comfort, Sweden at the top
We (those of us who are interested in such matters) will be fully tuned to this live event.
Foreign Affairs : Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, Down Under, Aliens in even Outer Space…
It’s an opportunity not to be missed and it promises some drama/excitement as without a doubt, (trust these women) Urban Ahlin the embattled Social Democrat shadow foreign minister under Juholt has been sharpening his knives and his claws and as he has done his military service he is perhaps even presently loading his Swedish K or his SMG M2CG/ “Carl Gustaf ” and will be taking aim with his reliable Carl Gustaf cannons (only verbally of course) at his arch-enemy (only politically speaking of course) our Carl Bildt , the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ahlin I’m sure will somehow or other try to weave in Lundin Oil into whatever he will be saying about Schyibbe & Persson about whose fate Fredrik the Great Moderate is hopeful.
What else will they talk about? How much longer Swedish troops will be stationed in Afghanistan?
The situation in Syria gives much cause for concern – it’s “flesh and blood breaking down.”
This article which bemoans “Syria and its descent into barbarism” was written five months ago and since then the descent into hell has accelerated and we are now at the brink of the abyss with China and Russia standing on one side and the rest of the World of the so called United Nations on the other side, with even the brothers in the Arab League, impotently looking on, unable to stop the carnage.
No doubt mention will be made of the seriousness of Iran and the bomb that is feared could be used to complete the Holocaust which some of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran say never took place. They sponsored a Holocaust Denial get-together conference of like minded criminals.
There are many other foreign policy areas that will no doubt be reviewed, the most important of which will be some more back and forth about the stalled so-called peace process, as the Middle East is also a major area of Sweden’s foreign policy concerns.
For some time now (touch wood) the era of the suicide bomber has been over in Israel, but even that has not brought the Palestinians to the negotiating table. Fatah and Hamas are now united in their intention to replace/ displace Israel by erecting a Palestinian Islamic State where Israel used to be – to the consternation and greater concern of the Israeli government
It’s good to be clear about all this and there are many sides to a story….
PM Netanyahu’s response to agreement between PA Chairman and Hamas
Here’s Ted Belman’s take on The Poor Palestinians
The tendency – a strong Social Democrat tendency and in my own experience a general Swedish tendency is to say “oh the Poor Palestinians “. For some people “the poor Palestinians” also conveys an image other than that of the suicide bomber - the image of one who as a suicide bomber mortgages his soul to the 72 virgins of paradise and like Patrick Henry says “Give me liberty or give me death!”
That a sentient being is compelled to go that far ( self-destruction) in pursuing the goal of self -determination/ Liberation/ Freedom/ a Palestinian State is not beyond understanding…..and that understanding in and of itself does not bring the peace and security which is a stepping stone to the prosperity of the Middle East…..
P.S.
Still thinking about that slave auction in Lund as an international issue/an issue of international dimensions, that reflects on us ( Sweden) depending on how we deal with such issues. In this regard I should like to draw attention to the matter of hate speech and racism – as it is responded to in other countries where it is not politically “correct “ (not even idiotically) to defend it or the distribution of those posters, in the name of “freedom of speech” just as the European Court of Human Rights upheld our (Sweden’s) Supreme Court’s judgement that it is not “Freedom of Speech” to distribute morally repugnant anti-Gay flyers.