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 Posted by Aron on August 10 2004 (Tuesday) : 02:11 PMNot too long ago I saw a headline blaring in the Daily News Op-Ed pages: "Israel has Won." It was an article written by a hack journalist, Zev Chafetz. A founding editor of the Jerusalem Report, Chafetz is a typical neo-con, Muslim-bashing, Sharon supporting Jewish journalist. In the article in question, Chafetz told how on a recent trip to Israel, sitting around the King David hotel lobby with some Israeli buddies, he suddenly had an epiphany: none of the Israelis were talking about the Intifada. Instead they were talking about a recent (third-world corruption type) scandal at the Israel Electric company. It was clear to Chafetz that meant Israel had "won the war" against the Palestinians. A few days later I saw an article by Chafetz saying how the Democrats, harping on the US economy, were out of touch with the "prosperity" of mainstream Americans. In yesterday's Ha'aretz there was an article about the state of Israel's economy which tied the two threads together. Perhaps if Chafetz spend less time hanging around the lobbies of luxury hotels, and more time talking with typical Americans and Israelis, he would have a deeper understanding of the economic price of war. From Ha'aretz August 9, 2004 550,000 forsake food, medicine due to economic hardship By Moti Bassok, Haaretz Correspondent, Einav Ben-Yehuda and Haaretz Service Fourteen percent of Israelis aged 20 and over - an estimated 550,000 people - have forsaken food purchases in the past year due to financial difficulties, while half a million passed up on buying needed medications in 2003, according to a study commissioned by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The annual study also revealed that 46 percent do not manage to cover their monthly household expenses. The CBS study - based on a poll taken among a sample of 7,200 Israelis aged 20 and over from all regions of the country - also found that 65 percent are in need of dental care yet 45 percent - over one million Israelis - did not seek treatment. Thirty percent of respondents do not have complementary health insurance because of the additional costs. Fifty-four percent of Israelis have also given up on clothes and shoe shopping. The study further found that 14 percent of those polled say they "felt poor" in the last year and a similar number reported that in 2002 their phone or electric line was disconnected. Fifty-nine percent forwent basic household renovations. Thirty-eight percent of polled Israelis forwent heating and air conditioning in their homes due to lack of money and 37 percent do not believe their financial situation will change for the better. Chief statistician Professor Shlomo Yitzhaki said the governments and the Finance Ministry have refrained from publishing critical data on social welfare since the 1970s, Israel Radio reported < | >
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  Cost of the War in Iraq
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"Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz -- Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace" -Benito Juárez
"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." -Eleanor Roosevelt "Let them call me a rebel and welcome. I feel no concern from it. But should I suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul" -Thomas Paine | |
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Israel has Won?
