Costa Rica to move Israel embassy out of Jerusalem

[arcos]

Costa Rica to move Israel embassy out of Jerusalem

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Costa Rica will move its embassy in Israel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, its new president said on Wednesday, in a move that pleases Arab nations and is a blow to the Israeli government.

<snip>

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner, said he made the decision to win more friends in the Middle East and comply with United Nations' resolutions.

"It's time to rectify an historic error that hurts us internationally and deprives us of almost any form of friendship with the Arab world, and more broadly with Islamic civilization, to which a sixth of humanity belongs," Arias said at an event marking his first 100 days in office.

<snip>

He said Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, had called him on Tuesday to ask him to reconsider the decision.

<snip>

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16206338.htm

[peacetalksforall]

1. This sounds logical. How many embassies are in Jerusalem and how

many are in Tel Aviv? Any rhyme or reason to the decisions of other countries?

Education, please! Calling out.

[tnlefty]

8. I'm with you. I need some learned perspective, also.

I'm not exactly understanding why this is seen as a slight to Israel as Tel Aviv is the capital. I'm just not understanding either.

[arcos]

17. here...

AJC Deeply Disappointed by Costa Rica’s Decision to Close Embassy

August 16, 2006 - New York - The American Jewish Committee is deeply disappointed by Costa Rica's decision to close its embassy in Jerusalem and move it to Tel Aviv.

“Costa Rica has long been a stalwart supporter of Israel and courageously set an example for the world by maintaining its embassy in the country's capital city of Jerusalem,” said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris, adding that AJC has visited San Jose regularly over the years to demonstrate its appreciation for Costa Rica's principled stance.

“Given the fact that Costa Rica is a shining light of democracy in Latin America, this action against another democracy, Israel, is particularly painful,” said Harris who, upon learning the news, began contacting high-level Costa Rican officials to voice concern.

“Costa Rica's decision to close its embassy in Jerusalem would at any time be upsetting,” said Harris. “The timing of this decision by President Oscar Arias Sanchez, just after a cease-fire on the Lebanon front following Hezbollah's murderous assault on Israel, is all the more troubling, and could, however unintentionally, be interpreted as tacit support for those who seek to harm the Jewish state.”

http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=2883215

[peacetalksforall]

20. Why does that disturb me? "Tacit support for those who seek to harm

the Jewish state"?

How bizarre.

I can't believe the severity of that reaction and those words.

It seems logical that Jerusalem must be, has to be, a city for people of many religions. It seems Israel wants to use diplomatic residency as a tool for establishing some kind of greater ownership?

I think the decision of Costa Rica is sound - at least until I hear better rational for staying there in light of the objections from some who share Jerusalem.

Where does the Vatican representative reside?

ALSO - Where is the equivalent of Tel Aviv for the Palestinians?

[Scurrilous]

10. Only one country has its embassy in Jerusalem...

....El Salvador. Every other country (including the US) has its embassy in Tel Aviv.

[arcos]

16. This is Israel's government answer... check it out:

Foreign Ministry Regrets Costa Rica Move
11:40 Aug 17, '06 / 23 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) “The Israeli government expresses its regret and disappointment at Costa Rica’s decision to move its embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv,” stated the Israeli Foreign Ministry today in response to the Costa Rican president's announcement last night that it would be moving its embassy.

“This step, with its current timing, can be interpreted as yielding to terror and rewarding its perpetrators. A united Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the nation of Israel and its state, and this will not change our firm stand on this issue,” the statement continued.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=110261

[bunyip]

2. A slap in the face to Israel's pretensions re. 1967 lands.

Thanks for posting.

[papau]

3. Arab/Islamic world wins by 1.1 billion to 11 million - got to be practical

It was a fair vote - the Jews just got out voted

Oh - and when do we start that other thing that Iran wants done - the kill all the Jews thing?

Meanwhile in Iran we have today the funny cartoon contest that features the "call the Jews Nazi's", the "deny the Holocaust", the "glory in future killing of Jews" - but make it "funny" - with money prizes to the best cartoon - as the EU nations say nothing about the contest and indeed much of the left in the EU agrees with that Jews are a special evil, while the right wants to restart the ovens - those ovens that do not exist because the Holocaust does not exist.

Meanwhile in the US some want to discuss how they hate Israel and see no reason for it to continue to exist - at least not as a Jewish state in a sea of annoyed Muslim states - but these folks in the US also want to point out that this does not mean they hate Jews, and they certainly have not said they hate Jews, and how dare anyone bring up the Holocaust and the Arab "kill the Jew" idea since they are only condemning Israel and the rotten way Israel treats terrorists and the nice people that help terrorists.

This war has been a bit of a revelation - I thought and promoted "stop the bombing in Lebanon and rockets into Israel" because folks are getting killed. I saw many folks expressing the same thought, but many others were showing the reason why the DU rules state all I/P posts must go to the I/P forum.

[Bacchus39]

7. I see many in Latin America as fairly indifferent to Israel

and Jews. Can't recall the subject coming up much. I don't know what to think of this.

[papau]

11. that is a good thing - airports in Japan have anti-jew nonsense to sell to

the asian muslim - and believing Japanese folks who have no clue as to what they think they believe in is all about - but they know the jew is bad because the airport books say this is true.

A truly evil unreasoning hate. Much like the way families with more than one child will chose one child that all in the family dumps on - as the siblings then always tell you that it was all in good fun and all families have sibling friction (the last of course is true - making it once again the lie told as a partial truth).

[arcos]

15. You are comparing moving an embassy to killing all Jews?

Not even Israel's staunchest ally has its embassy in Jerusalem.

[papau]

22. of course not - just that the odds against are large - even US GOP have

not followed through on promise to move embassy to Jerusalem

It is not as if they might chose an address that is later deemed to be in Palestine - It is not that hard to stay well west of any such problem.

it is just fear of that 1.1 billion number and all that oil and oil money.

[kamtsa]

25. Winning? Not when it comes to Nobel prize ...

Compare this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_Nobel_Prize_winners

With this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_Nobel_Prize_winners

[daleo]

29. Yes, but who won the most Olympic medals

Or World Cup football matches, or Grammy Awards, or Hero of Socialist Labor? i.e. Noble Prizes aren't really relevant to population comparisons, unless you are implying that Muslims are intellectually inferior to Jews.

[wicket]

4. Hoo boy

:popcorn:

[Gato Moteado]

5. hey man.....where have you been?

haven't seen or heard from you in a while. i moved out of san pedro.

[arcos]

12. hey!! how've you been?

where are you living now?

[KamaAina]

6. Any word on when they're going to stop recognizing Taiwan?

one of only 24 nations that recognize the ROC as the government of all China?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China#1949-present

And the list of the 24 reads almost like Bush**'s "Coalition of the Killing, er, I mean Willing", topped off by tiny Tuvalu, all of whose 10,000 residents are threatened with displacement due to rising sea levels caused by global warming.

[arcos]

13. That's not going to happen...

Taiwan gives way too much money to Central American countries, both legally and illegally, in order to buy influence.

BTW, I don't think Costa Rica recognizes ROC as the government of all China despite what Wikipedia says... I believe the country would like to have diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan but since China will not allow this, they just stick with Taiwan.

[Akim]

19. When China Invests More In Costa Rica Than ROC Has n/t

[lumpy]

9. Viva Arias !

He knows what time it is.

[arcos]

14. Actually no...

He made the right decision this time around, but he's usually a right winger, especially on economic issues.

[Akim]

21. Well, Let Us Praise Arias Then For This Right Decision and

hope that it will set a new pattern for him.

[Akim]

18. Costa Rica Sympathizes With Lebanon, Another Small Defenseless State

Shimon Peres is right: a message is being sent by this move at this time. It is the right message. Costa Rica, a small and defenseless nation, much as Lebanon, has acted in solidarity with the victims of Israeli aggression, in the process vindicating its own right to follow an independent course in foreign relations without the interference of its own regional hagemon.

[lumpy]

23. Contra, Sandanista, US conflict

makes for interesting reading. Here's a good article re. Oscar Arias:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/02/05/in_costa_rica_an_ex_leader_reemerges/

[arcos]

24. The article is BS, though...

Arias represents the most powerful economic interests, and was elected as such. He ran as a right winger and was elected as a right winger. Sure, he's a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he confronted Reagan, etc, but that was 20 years ago... nowadays, he represents the same economic interests as the GOP.

Despite what the article says though, he didn't sail to an easy reelection. He won with a slight 1.1% lead against his left wing challenger Ottón Solís, and was declared the winner after a monthlong recount.

[Akim]

26. No right-winger or U.S. stooge would ever backslap Israel.

[Marrak]

27. Right on Oscar!!!

Pura Vida, baby!

[Marrak]

28. Almost forgot...why does Isreal hate the U.S.?

[cali]

30. It's Israel

not Isreal. Welcome to DU.

[arcos]

31. Wrong...

There are lots of right wingers who are not very fond of Israel. This is not the case with Arias though, as he said, he's fixing a "historical error" of moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
He won the elections on a pro-CAFTA and pro-free market platform, and in his 100 days in office he has already announced plans to open up government monopolies in oil refining and electricity, as well as CAFTA-required telecommunications and insurance.

The US and big business interests heavily supported his candidacy, he was definitely the favorite of the US government. The other option was Ottón Solís, a pretty moderate left winger, but who was opposed to CAFTA and wanted the country to focus in creating small business instead of attracting big US companies who would outsource everything to Costa Rica.

Yes, Oscar Arias is not that bad for a right winger, but he is indeed one.

[IndianaGreen]

32. US should move our embassy back to Tel Aviv

and wait until Israel returns all of the land it occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.