Sharon Feinstein

I’ve always wanted to go to French Indo China, and now, this week I’ll be there. Loved reading Somerset Maugham’s descriptions of the Mekong River with the mists swathing the surrounding hills so that they looked like little green islets in a grey sea. The exotic markets, sampans and that inscrutable Eastern way. Now I’m going. Tomorrow. On Tuesday I will be in Bangkok and then on to Laos which is the most cluster bombed country in the world. Caught between the Americans and the Viet Cong, Laos was undefended and a victim, as US forces dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on the land over 9 years. Only just free of the French, Laos was destroyed by the Americans, and now hopefully peace reigns as its simple Buddhist people struggle to climb above the poverty level. I’m looking forward to going down the Mekong, visiting villages and exploring what looks like a small charming town of Luang Prebang.You can think of me in the swirling mists on a sampan, floating down the Mekong River in a white suit and Panama hat, though defintiely not smoking a green cheroot.
And then on to Thailand for a few weeks of snorkelling, boat trips, swimming and reading. A week in Bangkok savouring the hot, sweaty, spicy pulse of that steamy city, its temples, massage parlours, tailors, copy watches and handbags and oh such flavoursome food. For those of you who have a rising jealousy, I’ll keep in touch so you can have the experience vicariously and look forward to your comments and thoughts about South East Asia.

The real Turkey isn’t just the land of beach holidays and sunlit coves. There is something far more sinister going on. On the streets of Ankara it’s men in turbans and prayer caps, woman in veils and chadors, and next up could even be burkhas. Prime Minister Erdogan has welcomed Sudan’s vile president Omar Hassan al-Bashir even though he was indicted on charges of war crimes against humanity. And who else came for a grand occasion but the equally sinister Iranian President Ahmadinejad, Holocaust denier, repressor of democratic protests, and champion of the growing nuclear bomb. David Cameron has joined the voices urging Turkey to sign up to the E U, allowing millions of Turks to live and work in Britain. And yes Turkey is a member of Nato with a large US airbase on its soil. But the winds of change are blowing here, with terrifying dawn raids to arrest enemies of the state, crackdowns on the media, and all manner of Government conspiracy theories. Is this why there is such a battle from the West to pull Turkey over to its side and secure some further allegiance, before it is too late and a new Islamist Turkey disappears into the arms of Iran, Syria and the rest.

Angelina Jolie’s father Jon Voight, in an open letter in the Washington Post, has expressed powerful support for Israel, an isolated voice in a maelstrom of hysteria. He stuck his neck out in a hostile, and dangerous arena where to be pro Israel is to be unfashionable, right wing, and downright shameful. Well done Jon Voight. How brave to stand up and express yourself, whatever people may think of your views. He says
“President Obama: “You will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel, the only Democratic state in the Middle East, against all their enemies. You have done just the opposite. You have propagandized Israel, until they look like they are everyone’s enemy — and it has resonated throughout the world. You are putting Israel in harm’s way, and you have promoted anti-Semitism throughout the world.
“You have brought this to a people who have given the world the Ten Commandments and most laws we live by today. The Jewish people have given the world our greatest scientists and philosophers, and the cures for many diseases, and now you play a very dangerous game so you can look like a true martyr to what you see and say are the underdogs. But the underdogs you defend are murderers and criminals who want Israel eradicated.
“You have brought to Arizona a civil war, once again defending the criminals and illegals, creating a meltdown for good, loyal, law-abiding citizens. Your destruction of this country may never be remedied, and we may never recover. I pray to God you stop, and I hope the people in this great country realize your agenda is not for the betterment of mankind, but for the betterment of your politics.
With heartfelt and deep concern for America and Israel,
Jon Voight”

British Petroleum, General McChrystal, it’s not looking good for the supposedly cool President Obama. Gen McChrystal had built up a strong bond with President Karzai of Afghanistan and transformed the campaign into something more structured and positive. He gave strict orders to Nato forces to avoid civilian casualties at all costs and engage the local population in the Nato mission. Now, because of ill placed comments mainly made by McChrystal’s aides, comments which expose the true nature of the White House inner sanctum squabbling, the President has ignominiously dismissed his Chief of Campaign. A decision for the sake of national security? I don’t think so. More like an egotistical and reactionary attempt to save face. As soldiers die daily in the burning heat and hell of Afghanistan, the White House appears to be more concerned with keeping the underlying tensions between the military and politicians under wraps. It was a mistake to ditch the clear sighted and highly committed General McChrystal. He was making credible headway and had established important trust with key players in the region. Obama should have thought of a different way of dealing with his embarrassment. He has been faced with two major issues in the space of a few months, the tragic oil spill and the lambasting article in The Rolling Stone. Both have been handled with the slippery gloves of the English goal keeper Robert Green, who let the ball through his unconfident hands and lost the match for England. Obama needs to deal with a crisis in some other way than the slippery blame game and throwing his weight about. Something more constructive and creative. And isn’t it ironical that he has now entrusted the Afghan War to Gen Petraeus, a man whose surge in Iraq he absolutely opposed, as he secured the Democratic nomination for the White House on the back of his anti-war credentials.

It was early on Sunday morning, 25 th June, four years ago that a young man of 19 stood at his army post.
The soldier, just a lad and a corporal, was suddenly ambushed, two of his comrades killed and three others wounded
Gilad Shalit, born in Nahariya, broke his left hand when his tank was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade.
No one has seen, visited or spoken to him since.
Out of the terrible silence came a video last September, a plea bargain by the Israelis in exchange for the release of 1000 Palestinian prisoners, to see whether their soldier was still alive and inwhat kind of health.
Shalit spoke softly and falteringly. He looked pale, withdrawn and thin, but he stood up, walked a few paces and appeared to be lucid.
His terrible fate is is every soldier’s mother’s nightmare. Only death could be worse than what the Shalit family must have endured.
This week Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset- “There are 1.5 million people living in Gaza and only one of them really needs humanitarian aid. Only one of them is locked in a tiny room and never sees the light of day, only one of them is not allowed visits and is in uncertain health – his name is Gilad Shalit, and this month four years will have passed since he was kidnapped.”
There are many others in Gaza who need humanitarian aid in my view and an inclusive policy would be a better road to take.
But Hamas continues to violate international law without punishment or even large-scale condemnation from anyone but Israel and a few stragglers.
No international representative has been allowed to see the isolated Shalit or check on his condition. Hamas has refused requests from the Red Cross to visit the soldier, and human rights organizations have stated the terms and conditions of Shalit’s detention are contrary to international humanitarian law.
Palestinian prisoners in Israel, on the other hand, are allowed to study and receive visits from their families.
Shalit must be treated with more humanity and the world’s focus must be shone on this tragic young man.
The years cannot be allowed to drag on in silence anymore. Imagine if this were your son, brother, husband, and even just stop to think that this is a fellow human being in deep trauma and distress.

Gilad Shalit

The Maldives is surreal. Extinct volcanoes in the sea on which coral reefs have grown, and on top of that a smattering of beach sand. Nothing more, just tiny pods in the ocean surrounded by vibrant reefs. In a storm you can’t help but wonder if you’ll all be blown away and land up in the dark watery depths. The best thing about being there is looking down into the ocean, seeing that dark midnight blue drop where it just keeps going down and there are floating fish for as far as you can see. Never thought I’d get blase about swimming with sharks and even being circled by two of them at one stage, 2 metre black tipped, and an even bigger nurse shark. Fell in love with a very busy Hawksbill turtle picking out the anenomes from the coral with her little sharp beak, and another day there was a pod of around 200 spinner dolphins surrounding our boat. And then the stingrays, shoals of kaleidoscopic fish, and out there at night the glowing, dancing plankton under a canopy of bright stars. The food is another big draw there, all imported but done up to the nines so that you just want to consume it all, the beautifully presented dishes that keep coming and taste of the sea. Loved both Baros and Huvafen Fushi and can still hear those little waves lapping under our water villa as I go to sleep, after 3 days back in London. Of course now interspersed with police sirens and chugging black taxis. On the island resorts no cars, no bicycles, just your legs and flippers for transport. Guess which one I prefer!

Come out from under your halo, Obama, and admit that the public should be looking at you and not just BP to blame for the horrendous oil spill wiping out marine life, coastal areas, and ruining the livelihoods of whole communities. There were glaring warning signs, readings that gas was bubbling into the wells, suggesting an impending blowout, and indications of a faulty seal. Why wasn’t this idealistic full-of-promise President and his administration in the know about this? Why were they taking such a back seat that this catastrophic disaster could unfold ? Now Obama must absolutely deny Shell their final permits, issued under George Bush, to drill in the Arctic Ocean. We must preserve what is left of our dying planet and put nature and other creatures before human greed and profit. There are enormous environmental dangers in drilling in the Arctic. Shell insists it is equipped to respond to any emergency, how can anyone hear that without spluttering into their coffee. No more lies, and no more hiding in the shadows for the President who says No one is more upset than he is about the oil tragedy. But the rest of us weren’t responsible for reversing the 20-year ban on offshore drilling off Florida’s Gulf coast. Citing the need to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, it was President Obama who opened the door for oil companies who have been clamouring for access to the submerged liquid gold for decades. He is the one who has allowed this to happen and it’s no good heaping all the blame on BP. The buck stops with him. Nobel Peace prize, what a laugh.

We’ve had our election but cor blimey what’s the result? As I write no one really knows and the scenarios are numerous and varied, as the pound plummets and a grey cloud hangs over Britain. But I must say that after a bleary night watching the returning officers read out their results, my real enjoyment came from that solid, veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby. I interviewed him years ago and slightly fell in love way back then, but felt it rekindle last night with his dry wit, sharp brain and incredible screen juggling skills. Our David may be 71 but he managed to anchor the BBC’s election coverage for 18 hours, long after I’d collapsed in a heap and struggled up to bed. And there he is still looking fresh and fragrant today, a full 18 hours later, quite an extraordinary feat for a man who doesn’t snort coke, take speed or gobble slabs of chocolate.
Dimbleby has been a lynch pin in the BBC’s election team and frankly he’s the best thing about it.
I just love him, not to mention his vast array of colourful ties

Just an add to the last blog about the tragedy of the fast moving black sludge currently washing up dead turtles in Louisiana. It was only last month that arguably the most powerful man in the world, President Obama, proudly claimed that oil rigs are safe. This was, of course, in order to justify his position on offshore drilling.
The smooth talking, visionary President, speech maker of our times, said in that all confident voice we have come to recognise and depend on -I don’t agree with the notion that we shouldn’t do anything. It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore.
So can we trust this man any further. His words will live to haunt him as death is washed up on his country’s beaches and the consequences of his policy reverberate for years to come. Let’s hope his current drive to dismantle the world’s nuclear weapons doesnt bite back as well, with even bleaker consequences.

Let’s not forget that drilling off the US coast is down to the all promising President Obama in the first place, the man who has just reversed the ban on oil drilling off most U.S. shores. Only last month he proudly announced an expansive new policy that could put new oil and natural gas platforms in waters along the southern Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and part of Alaska.
Now we know that BP didn’t meet the full safety checks and why did the Government not enforce absolute safety before allowing this massive project. Frankly who cares if BP are forced to pay in view of the fact that there are 400 species at risk from the mammoth oil spill, including dozens of rare birds, mammals and of course people. Louisiana’s seafood industry will be crippled and thousands of fishermen are on course to lose their livelihoods. Still belching 200,000 gallons of oil a day into the ocean, the black slick could reach Florida’s Atlantic beaches by Wednesday and then end up in the magnificent Keys. Does Obama think that by standing out in the pouring rain in Venice, trying to look like a latter day hero and directing US anger towards BP, he is exonerated, and we have somehow forgotten his role in all this. He is a massive disappointment, this man who promised to change the world and hail the dawn of a new era. I was never taken in by him and think Americans are rapidly losing faith too. Sadly the wildlife never got to vote and BP’s funds can’t help them now. We will not learn until nature forces it upon us and who knows what Doomsday scenarios that will bring.