Observations, articles, opinions etc. in Dutch and English. The author, Bert de Bruin (Yonathan Dror Bar-On), is a Dutch-Jewish historian, who has specialized in modern Jewish history and in the history of the Middle East, and who in 1995 emigrated from the Netherlands to Israel. In July 2008 his first book, Israel en ik - Vijftien bekende Nederlanders over hun verhouding met een zestigjarige (Israel and I - Fifteen well-known Dutchmen and -women on their relationship with a 60-year-old), was published. He also edited Een veilig Israel in een vreedzaam Midden-Oosten (A Safe Israel in a Peaceful Middle-East), which contains speeches (by Paul Bremer, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Dan Meridor, Mark Rutte, Maxime Verhagen and others) held at an international conference in the Peace Palace in The Hague in March 2010. For feedback please post a comment, or send this blog's author an email.

Monday, July 17, 2006

I am aware of the special relationship that France has with Lebanon, but this seems to be an example of hutzpah and insensitivity that only the French are capable of:
Meanwhile, the office of French Prsident Jacques Chirac said Monday that France is sending Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to Beirut on Monday to express support for Lebanon.De Villepin was to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to express support and solidarity from the French to the Lebanese, Chirac's office said in a statement.
It could be a wonderful guesture and gimmick if he visited both Beirut and Jerusalem, isolating Hezbollah even more. Will we see De Villepin shaking hands with Nasrallah as well? And the French keep wondering why so many Israelis distrust them and can't stand them. I have a love-and-hate relationship with the country, but it is sometimes hard to really balance those two.
Posted by Bert at 10:56 AM

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