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WORLD LEADERS BID farewell to Israeli former-president and Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres at his funeral in Jerusalem today.
“In many ways he reminded me of some other giants of the 20th century that I had the honour to meet: men like Nelson Mandela, women like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,” said US President Barack Obama, who wore a black Jewish skullcap at the ceremony.
Current Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu hailed his one-time rival, and recalled a late-night discussion the two men had on Israel’s security and future.
Netanyahu was seen with tears in his eyes at the ceremony after earlier telling mourners that Peres was a ”great man of the world” and had “lived a life of purpose”.
He soared to incredible heights. He was a great man of Israel, he was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him, the world grieves for him, but we find hope in his legacy, as does the world.
Former US president Bill Clinton was also among those who paid their last respects there, appearing moved as he stood in silence before the coffin.
Clinton had helped usher in the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians in the 1990s, which resulted in the Nobel prize for Peres.
He also spoke at the funeral, giving a warm eulogy in which he said Peres’s “critics often claimed he was a naive, overly-optimistic dreamer. They were only wrong about the naive part.”
A brief peace
Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also shook hands and spoke briefly at the funeral today in a rare public encounter between the two men.
On Wednesday, Abbas described Peres as a “brave” partner for peace.
Abbas negotiated with Peres and signed the Oslo peace accord of 1993, which earned Peres the Nobel prize alongside Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Abbas was seated in the front row of the funeral, reportedly at the request of Peres’s family.
Obama, who has had a testy personal relationship with Netanyahu, made a point of mentioning Abbas at the start of his eulogy and said his “presence here is a gesture and a reminder of the unfinished business of peace.”
Obama said later, speaking of Peres, that “the Jewish people weren’t born to rule another people, he would say”.
Security forces were on high alert as the funeral began, with roads closed and thousands of officers deployed.
Some 70 countries were represented, with the range of leaders illustrating the respect Peres gained over the years in his transformation from hawk to committed peace advocate.
Ireland is represented at the funeral by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan who described Peres as “a visionary”.
“Mr. Peres was a visionary who recognised that the two-state solution is a paramount interest for the people of Israel,” Flanagan said.
“I hope that his life and his leadership will inspire political leaders committed to establishing lasting peace in the region to make that aspiration a reality.”
President Michael D Higgins said that Peres would ”be remembered for his courage that saw him change course from confrontation to reconciliation”.
Shimon Peres’ life and political actions were shaped by his deep commitment to his ideals, by his wisdom and by dedication to his country and to peace in the region.
The death of Peres on Wednesday at the age of 93 drew tributes from around the world for Israel’s last remaining founding father.
Anshel Pfeffer / TwitterIn the VIP section, 3 American billionaires. Netanyahu's benefactor Adelson, his previous benefactor Lauder and Peres' benefactor Saban.
— Anshel Pfeffer אנשיל פפר (@AnshelPfeffer) September 30, 2016
An estimated 50,000 people filed past his coffin as it lay in state outside parliament in Jerusalem throughout yesterday.
The funeral took place under a white canopy in the leafy national cemetery, where many Israeli dignitaries are buried.
Around 8,000 police were deployed for the commemorations. Preventative arrests of both Jews and Palestinians were made ahead of the funeral to avoid potential disruptions, police said.
“We are dealing with an operation on an unprecedented scale,” said police chief Roni Alsheikh.
The last time such an event was held in Israel was the 1995 funeral for Yitzhak Rabin, Peres’s rival in the Labour party but partner in negotiating the Oslo accords.
Peres will be buried next to Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to the accords.
Criticism from Arab nations
In a career spanning seven decades, Peres held nearly every major office, serving twice as prime minister and as president, a mainly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014.
He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.
He was also an architect of Israel’s nuclear programme, with the country now considered the Middle East’s sole nuclear-armed nation, though it has never declared it.
While Peres is hailed in the West as a peacemaker, many in the Arab world, including among the Palestinians, regard him a “war criminal”.
They have cited his involvement in successive Arab-Israeli wars, the occupation of Palestinian territory and his support for settlement building before his work on Oslo.
He was also prime minister in 1996 when more than 100 civilians were killed while sheltering at a UN peacekeepers’ base in the Lebanese village of Qana fired upon by Israel.
Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, condemned Abbas for offering condolences to Peres’s family, saying it “disregards the blood of the martyrs and the suffering of the Palestinian people”.
There have been very few tributes from Arab nations, though Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was attending the funeral.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel.
Rise to political power
Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to what was then British-mandated Palestine when he was 11.
He joined the Zionist struggle and met David Ben-Gurion, who would become his mentor and Israel’s first prime minister.
Peres became director general of the nascent defence ministry aged just 29.
After leaving office as president, he had sought to maintain an active schedule, particularly through his Peres Center for Peace.
He was hospitalised in January for heart trouble, but said he was eager to return to work upon leaving.
In March, he met British supermodel Naomi Campbell at his Peres Center for Peace during an event linked to International Women’s Day. On the same day, he met visiting US Vice President Joe Biden.
Despite his reputation as a statesman, Peres never managed to outright win a national election. Many in Israel opposed to the Oslo accords also blamed him for what they saw as their failure.
But in later life, especially during his time as president, he came to be widely embraced.
© – AFP 2016 with reporting by Rónán Duffy
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The bar for ‘great man of the world’ gets lower by each passing decade.
@Old Gabby Johnson: Signing a treaty with people who have tried to destroy your civilisation and entire country 5 times is quite an achievement in my mind. Not many of us in the world would be big enough to do it.
@Old Gabby Johnson:
Yet it will always remain out of reach fro you Gabby
@Mick Johnson: The only civilisation which has been destroyed is that of the Palestinian people, both jewish and muslm, who lived there before one set of people took the land from a second set of people and gave it to a third set of people.
For somebody who claims to ‘understand the history’ of the area, you seem to only be able to regurgitate the narrative spoonfed to people through their tellies. You should watch some of the interviews with elderly jewish and palestinian women discussing how they used to look after each others kids and live together peacefully before the Nakba.
@For Connolly: “one set of people took the land from a second set of people and gave it to a third set of people”.Nice George Galloway quote there!
So what, it is the perfect quote.
Palestinians are closer to the Jesuits than the ‘Illegal land grabbers’ bulldozing houses, pepper spraying outside media and in general, being the only Western-sponsored apartheid state.
@Mick Johnson: “your civilisation & entire country” – good one
Shimon Peres was no peacemaker. I’ll never forget the sight of pouring blood and burning bodies at Qana
Peres said the massacre came as a ‘bitter surprise’. It was a lie: the UN had repeatedly told Israel the camp was packed with refugees
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/shimon-peres-dies-israel-qana-massacre-never-forget-no-peacemaker-robert-fisk-a7334656.html
@Mick Johnson: every country has done it at some stage. irish history is built on the same premise with occupied territories for 800 years. and some remain occupied to an extent. a training ground for the armies of the british empire for centuries. sound similar?
would you call william of orange a great man. or cromwell? or elizabeth the first a great queen? he was in that league.
have you ever lived in the US?
No! “For connelly” meant to say “one set of people took the land and gave it another set, who gave it back to the first set and another set took it and last it to another group who gave it to the original group who then last it again to another group who gave it someone else then they ………………..I think that about covers it you can fill in the names yourselves, starting with Adam and Eve :) to today’s (mainly) Jews and Arabs.
……….and ?
@Old Gabby Johnson: Exactly and it will be on the floor when Putin passes….
@Pádraig Ó Raghaill: I was complimenting the quote hence the word “nice”! Huge George Galloway fan! Relax im on the left!
@Darren Davitt: Sory Darren, thought it was digging sarcasm for not citing the source, my bad.
@Pádraig Ó Raghaill:
Shimon Peres actively worked toward a two state solution
For that he should be commended
Fox in the box, but that’s not all he did. When summing up a life all things must be looked at.
For Connolly Palestine was destroyed by Egypt , Syria, Jordan in 1948 only exists because of Israel in 1967 and has any chance because of this man in 2006 sorry if doesn’t suit but that’s what happened.
wasn’t he a murderer
@Bobby Phelan: No.
@Mick Johnson: Yep. Anyone in any doubt should read Robert Fisks piece on Qana,
@For Connolly: wasting your time there. Fisk and the truth would be lost on these fools
A terrorist and guilty of genocidal crimes, yeah, this is who the worlds ‘leaders’ mourn, may he rot in hell, be nice if a hellfire missile took out the entire cortège.
Double tap policy make sure there’s no survivors.
Genocide? The population of Gaza etc has grown year on year. How are the over 1.2m Arab Muslim Israeli Citizens fairing these days?
When even Abu Mazen asks to go to his funeral it shows up the hard left who sound more and more like mouthpieces for the terrorists Hamas everyday.
@Crimson: Genocide does not necessarily mean an overall drop in population. What the Palestinians are suffering is genocide by a thousand cuts. Ethnic cleansing, blockade, disenfranchisement, building materials to rebuild their homes levelled by Israeli strikes stopped from entering Gaza, hospitals purposely targetted, medical supplies blocked at the border, collective punishment etc.
Hamas have a lot to answer for, I see.
@Crimson: As do the successive israeli leaders
Shimon Perez – The butcher of Qana
Ariel Sharon – The butcher of Beiruit
Binyamin Netenyahu – The butcher of Gaza
Exactly Connolly, the Jewish population in Europe remained pretty much the same throughout the holocaust and increased shortly after.
Joe youre absolute moron.
@Crimson: Not very well you clown http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/05/21/gaza-economy-on-the-verge-of-collapse
Mr Connolly, you do have a great buddy there in the form of Joe.
Just the faintest hint of disgusting prejudice Joe – is that aquired, or did you always have it? It never does take that long for it to surface on these threads.
@Jurgen Remak: If joe is implying that millions of Jews didn’t die during the Holocaust, then he’s no ‘buddy’ of mine.
That is genuinely good to hear Connolly. And there is no ‘if’ in what Joe was implying, it’s very obvious. I know WW2 history is not exactly your strong point so always better to make sure you understand – you having certain prejudices of your own about your heros sucking up to Jew hating Nazis.
I’m not implying that at all, and no I’m not racist or xenophobic or Jew hating, far from it, I’m just simply stating what is recorded in history books, a Europe wide census shortly after WW2 showed that the Jewish population did not decline after the holocaust, it was in reply to Crimson about the Genocide of Palestinians. End of.
what history books Joe? I’d be interested to see the source for your claim.
@joecorleone you are practically denying the holocaust your irrational hatred of Jewish people is so strong and you’re getting green thumbed!
@Joe Corleone: “I’m not implying that at all”
Apologies Joe, I read your post wrong in that case!
The world Almanac, a Jewish publication, and source used by some well known encyclopaedias.
The Jewish population in Europe increased between 1933 and 1948 from 15,315,000 to 15,753,000.
Probably the same ones from where David Irving acquired his ‘facts’.
Oh dear, Did your IQ just drop or was it always below par? I asked the question, how are the Arab ISRAELI Citizens fairing, and you respond with a link regarding Gaza unemployment. How many billions has been handed to the PLO, fatah, Hamas over the years and nothing has changed, yet the likes of Abbas the terrorist can build himself a luxury Palace while his people live in squalor?
@Joe Corleone: Maybe the Irish famine is just a myth invention by Irish nationalists
I am sure I could find an internet link to prove that
@joe corleone. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/09/europes-jewish-population/ I find your wilful ignorance distasteful and that’s being far too generous to you.
@Joe Corleone: Your comments above are vile and as are those that support you. There is no doubt whatsoever that 6,000,000 Jews died in the Holocaust. Israel is as entitled as any other country to defend itself and it has done so bravely against overwhelming odds since it was formed. The Arabs control 99% of the middle east but they want the Jews to have no homeland, hence the ongoing wars. Now many of the Arab and Muslim states are driving out and murdering Christians, other religions and even their own fellow Muslims and you call Peres a terrorist. The only way to describe someone with such a warped view of realty as you have is stark raving bonkers!
Its certainly one of those occasions where we should put the Irish tradition of not speaking ill of the dead to one side…..
From the indomitable Robert Fisk…
“Shimon Peres was no peacemaker. I’ll never forget the sight of pouring blood and burning bodies at Qana
Peres said the massacre came as a ‘bitter surprise’. It was a lie: the UN had repeatedly told Israel the camp was packed with refugees”
The same Robert Fisk who is equally scathing towards the Palestinian leadership? Nice of you to imply it’s all one-way
@Harry Whitehead: Where in my post am I ‘implying it’s all one way’?
The fact that you quote Fisk on Peres as though his word settles the argument once and for all. It doesn’t
@Harry Whitehead: I quoted Fisk on Peres as a rebuttal to the headline. Do try to keep up.
Good lad.
Of course he is “great” the americans like him.
@Lorna Holderied: Of course they do Lorna …sure why would they biteven the hand that feeds them.
@Marie Gunbay: Correct. A $38,000,000,000 military aid package has just been gifted to Israel by the US government, meanwhile the people of Flint, Michigan, are living with a poisoned water supply.
@For Connolly: in essence, Israel is the legitmisation of US military power protecting their collective interests in the region.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
A good deal for the US, an excellent one for Israel. It assuages Israel’s concerns over the Iran deal and maintains Israel’s military superiority in an increasingly destabilized region where Syria is in bits, Hezbollah are strong and Egypt is under threat.
It also funnels money back to the US. And of course it maintains the rock solid alliance between the US and Israel.
The Israel haters are, as usual, out of luck.
Exactly Jurgen.
A good deal for the the US? Are you a US citizen Jurgen? Go tell that to the people of Detroit, or Flint, $38 billion spent on death and destruction in the ME, you absolute twit of the highest order. Troll on.
Says the guy who made a duma** claim the Jewish population stayed the same or increased in Europe. Sure, you just love the Jews, right? Troll on buddy!
I am a US citizen, and happy to remind you Israel is there to stay. All the hate directed by the usual suspects against Israel ain’t changing anything.
@Jurgen Remak: wow. we have a real live one here. I never thought i would see that day that i would meet a real live one. I will savour this moment for a very long time. Thank you.
A military aid package to Israel and domestic poverty are not mutually exclusive. Poor logic, Conolly. That’s like complaining about money being spent on Irish Defence Forces because there are homeless people in Dublin.
@Charlie Wrex: only if your peace is imposed on others under terrms that are not accceptable. hence the constant veto of sanctions against Israel by the US.
@Harry Whitehead: “That’s like complaining about money being spent on Irish Defence Forces because there are homeless people in Dublin.”
Poor comparison.
A more apt comparison would be Ireland spending money on israels defence forces while they’re are homeless people in Dublin, which would also be deplorable.
Put yourself in Uncle Sam’s shoes for a moment. If Israel was playing an active role in protecting Ireland’s interests in the Middle East, sharing vital counter-terrorism intelligence with the Irish government…then said mikitary aid money might be regarded as money well-spent. It still wouldn’t have anything to do with what was going on in Flint, Michigan.
@For Connolly:
Perhaps Sinn Fein could give some of that money acquired from the Ulster Bank ( without their permission ) to the people of Flint, Michigan to fix their water supply.
For all you doubters I think Gerry’s quote in point 6 in the above article says it all.
@Alan Cooke: what year will you run for election?
Bill himself does not look well
Clinton wearing a kippah. Looks a bit fishy!
@John Ward: most underrated comment of the week right there
“applause”
He is a consummate politician…whatever it takes.
Israeli social media bots out in force again today.. so transparent
For people who don’t understand the history and only see the current situation – which is admittedly awful – it is easy to call any Israeli a “murderer” or whatever else. To examine this mans life and see what HE witnessed is where his achievements become obvious.
He watched his people driven out of Europe, then watched the leader of the Palestinians openly discuss with Hitler how the Palestinians could repeat Hitler’s success at killing Jews in Palestine, then watched five Arab armies invade with the explicit declaration of killing the Jews of Palestine, then in 1967 watched again as Arabs broke a treaty and moved 100,000 troops into the Sinai to invade Israel again, he insisted that Palestinians be allowed to remain in the West Bank and Gaza even though 19 years previously the Arabs dos not allow one Jew to remain in the lands they captured, endured another two destruction attempts in the 70s and from the 80s on continuous terrorism until the protective borders were built…. After all of that, he was still able to bring himself to peace with Arafat (who’s organisation still to this day includes all of Israel on its maps). While his successors have not implemented the plan he signed in full, his efforts should be respected – Abbas in the front row demonstrates his commitment to peace even though Abbas ignored Nethanyahu’s invitation to talks last week – instead of the usual anti-Israel drivel, judge the man not the regime.
Well said Mick Johnson.
@Mick Johnson: how anyone can make israel out to be the victim in all of this is beyond me. sure they have suffered but they have dished it out in abundance. The UN found just about everything that Israel has done to Palestine to be illegal since the late 60s. the only reason they have never been taken to task properly is because the US constantly vetoes the declarations. just saw that the US gave another 38bn in military support to israel recently. Funds that are used to threatened others in the region and to respond with inappropriate levels of destruction against heavily populated civilian areas.
he may have been a man who sought to correct the error of his ways but he never sought to undo the damage his country caused to Palestinians and stability in the middle east.
Wonderfully put mick Johnson. ..the left is all about retheroic. .historical facts…not so much.Next year in Jerusalem Mr Peres.
For people that don’t understand history the jewish state had all these attacks coming to them since the land that wasn’t theirs was taken by them and they have consistently redrawn borders and continue to take land that doesn’t belong to them. This man oversaw that land grabbing and in effect is complicit in the displacement, pain and suffering of the native Arab people. What the jewish state has done is nothing short of disgusting and abhorrent.
@canuckandgo: It is not just the history of the jewish state, borders have been redrawn in the region for thousands of years. Even the Christian Crusaders tried to rule the place, while the jews are just the latest to lay claim to it.
Like hpw they constantly bandy the word ‘Apartheid’ about without meaning, hoping it wil gain them traction in any argument. They neatly ignore the fact that Arab-Israelis are agforded the same rights and protection as their Jewish counterparts, that Arab political parties have seats in the Knesset, that a couple of years ago an Arab-Israeli sitting in the Supreme Court was allowed to pass judgement on Ehud Olmert (former PM) relating to corruption charges…yeah, sounds an awful lot like Apartheid to me!
Who said anything about apartheid Harry?
why the shift from Hamas being referred to as a Palestinian organisation to calling them Islamist?
Islamic Terrorist organisation.
@Crimson: i saw your comments above. i wouldn’t waste key strokes trying to responding to such apparent trolling.
@Crimson: lol
but citing the nctc database is a little biased and partial.
it was just that i didn’t think the journal would get in on the act and support the global war on terrorism. foolish of me when i consider that minister shatter stood up in the israeli parliament and represented that the irish people are wholly behind Israel’s ambitions.
I guess you have sympathy for the Devil… Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, EU, Canada and Japan due to its long record of attacks and its refusal to renounce violence. Under the group’s charter, Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel. But to its supporters it is seen as a legitimate resistance movement.
Profile: Hamas Palestinian movement – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13331522
Crimson, when they’re attacking Jews they’re justified freedom fighters. When they’re attacking western/ so called first world nations they’re called headhackers. When they attack each other they’re called Israeli/ US puppets. Such is the elasticity of lefty opinion. The broad scope of moral relativism is as impressive as it is ironically myopic.
Spot on Charlie
@Crimson: not too many oppressed societies in that list of accusers
“peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. “-Ronald Reagan
A great man. Talked the talk and walked the walk, in war and peace.
Look at the tyrants who attended the funeral. Wheres the lone gunman with an uzi when he’s needed
@Billy Carroll: an incident wouldn’t help Clinton’s campaign
Israelis are dirty murdering toerags and all who deal with them should be ashamed of them selfs.
Your mother is a toerag. :)
A giant sh!t stain on the 20th century.
The UN is consistently anti Israel last year passed 20 resolutions against Israel 3 against nations in the rest of the world.
The only UN resolution on rights for women was passed against Israel.
Palestinians have lost 3 wars and rejected two generous peace agreements
All Jews in Arab countries over 300000 were driven out in the 50′s and 60′s
If Abbas would allow an election in the west bank has not have one since 2006 HAMAS would be elected
who only want to destroy Israel
Israel is only the size of Munster a miracle it has survived this long with all the Arab nations and the UN against it.
@John003: What about resolution 242?
@john. it’s closer to 850,000 Jews driven from Arab countries around this time. Sadly the moral relativists always forget to mention it. Happily, Israel doesn’t use their fellow Jews as political pawns and welcomed them all.
@Paul Lane: UN resolution 242 calls for Israel to return to its 1967 borders
That would mean giving up some parts of Tel Aviv Golan Heights East Jerusalem much of its territory and making Israel the size of Cork
How long would Israel last after that?
Such sanctimonious crap. The wonderful journalist Antony loewenstein summed him up perfectly on Newstalk yesterday. Surprised given how conservative a station it tends to be.
Well newstalk is never balanced about Israel they have Shoona Murray often reporting from Israel
Compared to her Robert Fisk is a veritable Zionist
If you think she is hard on Israel you are very sensitive about the subject. Fisk calls them all bast&rds.
“Islamist movement hamas” ….. eh, movememt? They are a terrorist organisation :-o MOVEMENT!?!?!
He was the catalyst to the tyranny of the Palestinian people. He was not nor should he be seen as a hero
Journal not allowing me to comment
In replying to others
@Mick Johnson: thats a pity. you had a long way to go before you reached the bottom of that hole you were digging for yourself
If the Arabs states had just accepted the division of the British mandate along the UN resolution, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Likewise when they lost more territory by attacking Israel that enabled them to annex by right of conquest. Every hand of peace Israel has offered has been slapped away because they don’t want to live next to Jews. The sooner the artificial ‘nation’ of Palestine is erased, the better.
@Steven C. Schulz: do you truly believe that? that the sooner the better israel levels all palestinian towns and villages?
@Living The Laws:
Not the towns and villages themselves, but the idea that Palestinians are an unique people deserving an independent state – that is, the one-state solution.
@Steven C. Schulz: and how does that differ from the zionist state agenda?
@Living The Laws:
If you mean the one that only exists among leftist conspiracy theorists, then I have no idea.
@Steven C. Schulz: hmmm
what a rare thing this is. two in one day. if only you and jurgen weren’t trolls. it would be so cool to chat with someone like that.
Bite
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