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| Europe |
| Finland: Thousands rally for Israel |
| 2006-08-21 |
| Almost a week after the war in Lebanon ended, thousands of Finns gathered in Helsinki Sunday evening to express their support for Israel. The rally, which was secured by dozens of police officers, drew local Jews as well as non-Jewish residents. Yaron Gorash, a businessman married to a Finnish citizen who has been living in the country for 18 years told Ynet: "We decide to show Helsinki residents other aspects" of the situation in the Middle East. Israeli Ambassador in Finland, Shemi Tzur, told Ynet the evening newscast opened with a report about the rally, which apparently drew 2,800 participants. The television report noted that the rally "proved beyond any doubt the Israeli power and the fact there's great sympathy for Israel." "People arrived from all over Finland. Some of them traveled almost the whole night – 10 hours – in order to reach Helsinki," Tzur said. "The protesters marched through Helsinki's two major streets on Sunday, while all coffee shops were packed. Reactions on the street were great – people yelled out 'let's go Israel.'" Rally participants marched to the Israeli embassy in the center of Helsinki and later gathered at a building near the Finnish parliament where several senior figures delivered pro-Israeli addresses. "Every day at 5 p.m. (during the war) Muslim communities protested against Israel by the embassy," Gorash said, explaining the motivation behind Sunday's rally, organized by the Jewish community in conjunction with other associations. "We decided to respond to them (Muslims) and show them that there is support for Israel, and to urge the citizens to look at things from a different perspective," he said. "The Finns really love Israel and support it, even though the politics here is a bit different." EU representative Hannu Takala was among those who delivered speeches at the end of the march. He called on the Finnish government and European Union to wake up and realize Israel shares the same values of democracy and peace. "They must realize terrorism threatens us all and not only Israel," he said. Ambassador Tzur, who also spoke, stressed that the war in Lebanon was against Hizbullah and not against the Lebanese people. He also urged Finland, which is known for its involvement in humanitarian issues, to do everything in order to secure the release of the abducted Israeli soldiers. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #16 And inexplicably the Finns are huge fans of Conan O'Brian. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-08-21 23:13 |
| #15 God Bless the Finns! ..but the real test of the Nations is if they move their Embassey to Israel's ancient capital Jerusalem. Gen 12:3 |
| Posted by: Saint Jimbo 2006-08-21 21:51 |
| #14 Try the Finnish brand of Fazer salmiak licorice sometime. It'll curl your toes. One of the classic European salted licorices. In support of Finland, I suppose we could all go out and buy 1,000 Nokia cell phones. Haven't others been doing that lately? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-21 21:40 |
| #13 I think Germany just apid off theirs', too. Frogistan - no way. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-08-21 16:15 |
| #12 Is this representative of Finland overall? And if it is, here's an interesting dynamic: Pro-Israeli Finland Anti-American Finland Pro-American Israel |
| Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-21 15:50 |
| #11 The Brits will make the final WW2 payment this year. The debt is from US loans just after the war (2% interest, Britain was broke) and left over Lend-Lease stocks (at 10% on the dollar). All the expended war stocks (vast majority) were gratis. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-08-21 12:22 |
| #10 Don't mess with the Finns. Tough bastards, and they carry knives. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-08-21 12:08 |
| #9 Just Google Nokia and Israel. Is there an Israeli who doesn't have a cell phone? I'm guessin' here, but since there are a BILLION Muslims and a few million Jews, there are probably more sales to Muslims than to Jews. Why is it that some people are so quick to assume ulterior motives? Isn't it possible that they support Israel because Israel DESERVES TO BE SUPPORTED!?!?!? |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-08-21 10:31 |
| #8 People aren't coming out to support their cell phone business or financial interest in NOKIA. Get a clue. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2006-08-21 10:12 |
| #7 Before you go all gushy [and yes I do support Israel], let a little bit of reality fit in - Just Google Nokia and Israel. Is there an Israeli who doesn't have a cell phone? So while principles may be great, there is a tinge of capitalism here as well. |
| Posted by: Unimble Elmomort5902 2006-08-21 10:00 |
| #6 Great links and updates! Thanks! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-08-21 09:54 |
| #5 Finland was the only country to pay its WWI debts to the U. S. in full. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-08-21 09:04 |
| #4 The Brits paid off for WWII in full. I haven't been able to find anything about France yet, pone way or the other. But in any case, they didn't fight very long so they couldn't have run up much of a tab. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-08-21 08:58 |
| #3 Yep. They handed the Soviets their hats too when they tried to invade during WWII. Many have said the Finnish 'ski troops' were some of the best soldiers ever in combat, able to travel great distances quickly, to endure brutal cold and blizzard conditions, and be expert shots with a rifle. There are still a few Euros with a backbone. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-21 08:56 |
| #2 If my memory serves me correctly, the Finns were the only ones who bothered to repay their WWII debt to the US. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-08-21 08:10 |
| #1 Sensible people the Finns. They stood against an authoritarian takeover and won, at great cost. People still remember. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-08-21 08:05 |