12 May 2009, news.yahoo.com: The speaker of Israel's parliament accused German-born Pope Benedict on Tuesday of showing detachment from Jewish suffering in the Nazi Holocaust, adding to criticism that has marked his Holy Land pilgrimage. The pontiff, described by one Israeli newspaper columnist as coming across as "restrained, almost cold", prayed at Judaism's Western Wall and visited Islam's Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem holy sites at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But his speech on Monday at Israel's national Holocaust memorial attracted the most attention in Israel, with the parliament speaker accusing Benedict of glossing over the Nazi genocide and survivors lambasting him for failing to apologize for what many in Israel see as Catholic indifference during World War II. Moments after he spoke, Yad Vashem's top two officials criticized him for failing to use the words "Nazis" or "murder" in his speech. Israeli newspapers Tuesday were filled with criticism.It’s not enough, now, to visit and offer a few solemn comments. . .
Remember that great scene in *The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,* at the prison camp, when Tuco is getting the shit kicked out of him by Angel Eyes’ enforcer, and they have a raggedy confederate band play music to cover Tuco’s screams? And the camp guard taunts the confederate fiddler with a demand to play with *more feeling?* That’s what the Jews want from the Pope: *more feeling.*
It’s not enough, now, to visit and offer a few solemn comments. . .you have to give a full-blown performance, replete with what appear to be *heart-felt* apologies, tears and *never again* pledges.
The Pope is condemned in Israel for being a lousy actor!
You are also not permitted in Israel to show any sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinians:
Haaretz, 11 May 2009: The head of the Palestinian Sharia court, Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi, fiercely denounced Israeli policy in the presence of Pope Benedict on Monday and appealed to the pope to help end what he called the "crimes of the Jewish state." Speaking at an interfaith conference held at the Notre Dame Church in East Jerusalem, al-Tamimi accused Israel of slaughtering women, children and senior citizens. The speech was delivered in Arabic, without simultaneous translation, but after the pope was informed of the political nature of al-Tamimi's speech, he left the conference. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi criticized al-Tamimi's speech. "The speech by Sheikh Taysir Tamimi was not scheduled by the organisers of the meeting. In a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what a dialogue should be.”
The Pope betrayed Christian Palestinians by walking out of a conference in which they were participating. The Pope’s walk-out validates zionist white-washing of crimes against Palestinians, some of them members of his own church. Ha ha ha. . .but the Pope didn’t even get 30 pieces of silver from the zionists. . .they repay *his holiness* the very next day with a scathing review of his performance at the world’s foremost Theater of the Absurd, Yad Vashem.
What will the Pope do to make amends?
Bishop Williamson, you better run for cover!
So for the Israelis, their attitude would be God bless them and no one else?
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Patriotic Americans.
Who will come to help Paliestineans
when the media is so fixated against them?
HAH! I saw that lil ditty in the Jerusalem Post and I thought, "OHHHH BOY! Wait till FTBTFI finds THIS!"
ReplyDeleteThere are born anti-Semites for sure. Parents tell their kids to dislike Jews. But the hypocrisy, violence, and bigotry of Israel has possibly turned more people into anti-Semites than parents, collectively, could with their mere words of bigotry. Israel is a tangible piece of evidence, for some, to despise Jews. Shame on Israel on that count. Shame on the blind supporters of Israel. Shame on the supporters of Israel despite Israel's horrendous track record of murder.
And The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly? One of the finer pieces of anti-war cinema ever produced. A great line comes from Blondie when he sees the Rebs and Yanks murdering one another; something along the lines of: "I've never seen such a waste."
I wonder if the Pope said same over the bodies of some dead Palestinians whether that would be perceived as an anti-Semitic slight. . . .
Another great scene is when, after seeing all that waste, Blondie covers a cold and dying soldier with his coat and gives him a drag on his little cigar. . .then, distracted by a neighing horse, he looks away, and in that half-second, the soldier exhales his last breath. . .just like that, he's gone from this world.
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 minutes into this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlWFWNSHCjc&feature=related
That clip has one of Ennio Morricone's finest pieces of music with Ecstasy of Gold. It reminds me of how Tuko is perhaps one of the most comical villains of all time. The Good, Bad, and Ugly in 400 years should be as Shakespeare is now. It's that good.
ReplyDeleteFunny how some ask, "how is Blondie the 'Good'?" That scene you reference goes to his "goodness." Yes, he is a deceptive and manipulative man. . . . in a rough world. Yet he still finds it in him to show compassion to a dying soldier, giving his jacket and a few puffs of smoke. Tuko as comedy (his crossing himself quickly and lazily reflecting many of our quick and easy homages to Christ), Angel Eyes as Satan, and Blondie as the Imperfect Avenger that ultimate shows compassion (and great distrust) of humanity in the form of Tuko by semi-hanging him (Tuko at one time cursing Blondie and at others giving compliments) only to release him from a great distance. . . . and what is Tuko's thanks? A curse. How utterly human, eh?
It's a wonderful film.
Well-said. I agree with your comments 100%.
ReplyDeleteAgree wholeheartedly with itpdude. For A Few Dollars More is probably number two or three of my all-time favorite films, but the other three (including once upon a time in the west) Leone films of the same era are all fantastic.
ReplyDeleteBlondieeeee... You dirty son of a *crack*