From: Jurriaan Bendien (adsl675281@TISCALI.NL)
Date: Thu Jun 28 2007 - 17:19:30 EDT
"It is a great honour", President Katsav declared in Jerusalem on 14 March 2005, "to receive Secretary-General Kofi Annan here at the President's House. I appreciate very much the involvement of Mr. Kofi Annan in the international campaign against anti-Semitism. I appreciate very much his solidarity with the Holocaust issue." Where's the honour now? On June 28, 2007, Katsav's lawyers reached a plea bargain with Mazuz, who had to make what is probably one of the most difficult decisions in his career. According to the deal struck, Katsav will plead guilty to seven counts of committing an indecent act using force, sexual harassment and harassing a witness. He will receive a suspended jail sentence, and pay compensation to two of his victims, one of whom gets NIS 15,000 (about US$3,525). The more serious rape charges were dropped, in return for the guilty plea. Mazuz argued that the plea bargain achieved the best results from the aspect of law enforcement and public interest, and that the agreement prevented "serious harm to the presidential establishment and to Israel's image." "The president has accepted responsibility for his actions," Mazuz told the press. "The fact is, the case was very complex, and although there was still a chance of a conviction, with a plea bargain, a conviction is certain even though it is more limited." He added that the outcome still sent an important message to other possible rape victims, that they should not be afraid to submit complaints. By September 21, 2006, the number of women accusing Katsav of sexual assault had risen to eight, but complaints by five of the women could not be legally pursued at that time, because the statute of limitations ran out. What I find most spectacular about the whole affair is: 1) There's been very little serious media commentary or reflection about the meaning of Katsav's behaviour. 2) The Christian press has nothing to say about it. 3) The Jesus-loving American government continues to support Israel's politics, with abundant supplies of weaponry and capital, unabated. 4) Israel itself seems incapable of any kind of coherent, articulate moral response to what happened, although many Israeli women expressed outrage. 5) They can't in fact decide whether their own president raped, or not. I was reading the talkbacks in the Jerusalem Post, and I could hardly believe what I was reading! One blogger wrote though, "How long will we tolerate this corrupt and immoral leadership? They all act as though they are above the law, because they are above the law." Well, quite, although it's not as though Katsav gets away with it altogether. It left me musing, that the Israeli state is effectively "the penis of American imperialism". It don't get my vote. Jurriaan -
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