Last night our group’s activities in Athens ended and here’s a description from one of our people there: “We all went to Syntagma Square which looks much like Tahrir where there is an encampment and thousands of people gather each night. On Sundays there may be upwards of 50,000 and on big nights hundreds of thousands. We unfurled to drum beats 22 flags sewn together representing the countries participating in the Flotilla. Our black and white signs were in Greek, Arabic and English. It was a beautiful sight. Then we marched to the Spanish Embassy where our Spanish partners were occupying its embassy demanding the release of their boat. We arrived at about 9 pm with drummers leading the way. They came out on balconies and we sang to each other. It was quite the sight.”
Let's go to the videotape.
Almost forgot the best part: They're leaving the boat behind. BWAHAHAHAHA!
John Kerry on foreign policy reminds me of the Israeli Left on foreign policy: "We want an agreement. We have to have an agreement. Because we have to have an agreement, the other side has to agree. Therefore, there WILL be an agreement." Except of course that the other side won't reach an agreement with you unless you unconditionally surrender - a ridiculous posture given which side has won every war in this region.
Kerry is in Turkey now and he is on his way here. This is what he's come up with regarding the relationship between Turkey and Israel.
"It is important that Turkey and Israel renew relations and go back to the way they were," Kerry said.
Israel and Turkey built strong military and economic ties over the past 15 years, and Turkey became Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world.
Relations between the two soured, however, with Turkey's Islamic-oriented government's increasingly vociferous criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. They hit an all-time low in May, when nine activists from Turkey were killed on board a Gaza-bound ship that tried to breach Israel's naval blockade.
Turkey has made an Israeli apology and compensation for the victims' families a condition for improved ties. Israeli commandos said they opened fire in self-defense after meeting what they called unexpected resistance when they boarded the ferry carrying aid supplies to Gaza.
Kerry said he understood Turkey's strong reaction to the incident, but said Israel "had acknowledged that some mistakes had been made."
He said he was confident tensions can be "put in a proper perspective" if the people of Israel and Turkey try and understand each other.
"I think it is entirely possible that we can move beyond the tensions," he said before a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
The Audacity of Hope is heading home. To the United States. This is from their blog. 
