Palestine - State No 194

The Palestinian bid for full recognition as a member state of the UN will come to some kind of climax next week, when the proposal is expected to go before the UN.  At this stage it is not clear just how this bid will pan out.  The proposal which has the backing of the Palestine National Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization seeks recognition for Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN.  It seeks this on the basis of the so-called 1967 borders.  This would mean a state which included the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.  The full statement can be read here.

Palestinians have already secured the support of most members of the UN, though they need a 2/3 majority in the General Assembly.  At the moment this is close.  The precise role of the Security Council in this is a bit unclear.  However the USA has already indicated that it will veto any resolution the comes before the Security Council.  Once again the USA falling meekly in behind Israel.  Quite where the UK stands is also unclear.

What is odd about this is that the Palestinian bid for statehood within the 1967 borders is what all countries and international organizations have been calling for since, well, since 1967.  The USA has regularly re-iterated its support for this outcome.  Even Israel is supposed to be in favour of the two state solution.  So why this opposition?

The reality of course is that Israel, despite all the lip service it gives to two states, is and always has been adamantly against any such outcome.  Pray why does Israel constantly annexe Palestinian land and build settlements after settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank if it was serious about a two state solution?

Israel and its western backers have had over forty years to reach a settlement with the Palestinians.  And all the evidence shows that Israel has never seriously tried to reach a just settlement.  As the leaked Palestinian Papers showed, Israel always asks for more and more.  Trully there is no partner for peace and that is Israel.

However, even if this statehood bid does succeed, it will not immediately effect the situation on the ground.  There are in fact some Palestinian groups who oppose this bid precisely because it may make things even worse for Palestinians, at least in the short run.  The argument is that Israel may well react with its usual show of brutal force.

What we must never forget in all this is that the fundamental call from all Palestinians is for Justice.  And this is best summed up in the three basic demands as follows:

1  End Israel's occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in 1967;


2 Honour the right of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality by ending the Israeli system of legalized and institutionalized racial discrimination (which conforms to the UN definition of apartheid);


3  Respect and enable the implementation of the UN-sanctioned right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands from which they were expelled.

These are the key principles on which a just and long term settlement must be built.  Whatever the outcome in the UN next week the struggle for justice will continue both in Palestine and the rest of the world.

In Switzerland (2) - Arancini, Cafés and Culture

After the excitement of Alessio`s birthday things calmed down a bit.  Partly due to Kathleen not feeling too well.  So I decided to use my time to make some Arancini.  These are delicious Sicilian delicacies which look a bit like oranges, hence the name.  I have tried them once before in an Italian restaurant in St Andrews, but, in honour of Alessio`s Italian heritage, I wanted to try and make the real thing myself.


Preparing the arancini is a bit like slow cooking and comes in stages.  First you make the outside - a mixture of rice, saffron, eggs and cheese.  Then the filling, which traditionally is a meat sauce (ragu) with peas.  Once this has been done you flatten the rice paste and leave everything to cool.  When ready to restart you put the whole show together.  A bit of rice paste, enough to fill the palm of your hand, fill it with the ragu and a bit of cheese, then cover with more rice paste.  Gently massage the mixture into the shape of an orange and leave to set for a bit.  This is what they looked like at this stage.

The final preparation is to dip the arancini, one by one, into beaten egg and then cover with breadcrumbs.  The arancini are now ready for the final cooking - deep frying in hot oil.  Making arancini is not an easy undertaking, in fact it is a rather complicated and time consuming venture.  However it is worth the effort.  Everyone enjoyed them and even Alessio managed to eat his.  Here are a couple of the cooked arancini, ready to eat.

If you fancy trying them out yourself, then here is a very good recipe with accompanying video.  It`s in Italian, but if you scroll down you get photos and instructions for each stage.  Bon Appetit!


By Thursday Kathleen was much better so we spent the day in Zürich.  For breakfast we went to Café Sprüngli on Bahnhofstrasse.  This is a charming café with a 19th century Viennese feel about it.  Everything is high class including the prices - but, hey, we`re worth it.  This is me below, about to indulge in my café crème and croissant.

The highlight of the day was a visit to the Design Museum or Museum für Gestaltung as it is known locally.  This is a pretty non-descript building, but does house some great exhibitions and there are three on display at present.  The main exhibition is High Rise - Idea and Reality.  This is a collection of photos with some mock-ups of some of the most influential and famous high rise buildings in the world.  The main focus is on New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Zürich.  Some of the photos are incredible and some of the most fascinating are those that show what it is like to live in one of these buildings.  Very impressive.  For a slide show of some of the photos visit the museum`s website here.


The other main exhibition features the work of Swiss artist François Berthoud, who is apparently one of the outstanding fashion illustrators of the present day.  The examples of his work on display are wonderful and the overall tone is light, playful and sexy.  Below is the poster for the exhibition and some of the works on show.

After this brief interlude of culture we popped into another of our favourite cafés, this time the Caffeteria am Limmatplatz.  Here is Kathleen relaxing after a hectic day.

Scottish Independence – Coming Soon?

A flurry of recent polling on independence has some mixed messages for supporters of an independent Scotland. Though on the whole the omens are looking good.  For details of the polls and a breakdown of the findings, LallandsPeatWorrier has some very good posts.

The first figure to hit the headlines was that a tiny majority now favour the SNP`s proposal that the Scottish Government negotiate a settlement with the Government of the UK so that Scotland becomes an independent state.  The results were as follows:

Agree                      39% (up 2%)

Disagree                  38% (down 7%)

Don`t know              23% (up 5%)

The other figures to come out show how people currently stand when given two options.  In this case the results for independence were as follows:

Agree                      35%

Disagree                  58%

Don`t know               7%

The other option was what is sometimes described as  Maximum Devolution or DevoMax.  This is to extend the powers of the Scottish Parliament to include more laws and duties and all tax-raising powers, while Scotland remains part of the UK.

Agree                      66%

Disagree                  26%

Don`t know               8%

What is most noticeable about the results is the incredibly strong support for DevoMax.  This is clearly where most Scots are at the moment.  However, and this cannot be emphasized enough, there is no political party that is actively in favour of DevoMax.  While the SNP would welcome this as a further step towards full independence, the UK parties are all dead set against anything remotely resembling DevoMax.  So at some stage Scots voters will have to make a straight choice between the status quo and independence.

While the figures are far from a ringing endorsement of independence they do show two clear trends.  One is that less and less Scots are frightened by the idea of independence.  While not yet convinced, the majority is no longer dead set against.  Secondly support for independence is growing, though still slowly.

All this of course is against a background of little activity by the SNP government.  The usual Al-Megrahi stories re-emerged attempting to discredit Scotland.   Meanwhile the Unionist parties and their lackeys in the media led a barrage of counter attacks against independence.  Despite their claim to offer some positive reasons for maintaining the Union, it all came down to scaremongering and claiming that Scotland is just too poor to be independent.  Plus ça change, plus c’est la mème chose!

Once the SNP and the other pro-independence groups start advocating the positive attractions of independence, then things will begin to get really interesting.  As Wee Wendy memorably said – bring it on!

In Switzerland (1)

We've only been in Switzerland a few days and already we've managed to pack in quite a lot.  The weather was lovely and warm when we arrived and this continued into the Saturday.  So much so that Cosimo, Alessio and I trekked across the road to the local Badi for a bit of swimming and sunbathing.  The 3rd is of course Alessio's birthday, his 5th this time and Emma had organized a great little party for him.  Which he thoroughly enjoyed.  It all started with opening the presents, which he does with gusto as you can see below.

Though there was no doubt as to which was his favourite present - this giant aeroplane.

After some games in the garden with his guests, came the food and in particular the blowing out the candles on his specially made Dinosaur cake.  Now, ready, steady, blow!

The cake was delicious and everybody had a great time - not just the children.  There was even a bit of a reunion with some of Emma`s friends who can be seen posing here.

It was a fun day for all and Kathleen joined in with this impromptu modelling.

The next day unfortunately, the weather began to change.  However that did not prevent us from getting out and about. In the morning, Cosimo, Kathleen, Alessio and I visited a kind of Ideal Home exhibition.  There was some fascinating things to see, from wine coolers, built-in steamers, jacuzzis and goodness knows what else.  All, alas, at an equally fascinating price.  This exhibition was only for the rich and the very rich.  Good to see though.


In the afternoon we drove to Schloss Hallwyll in Kanton Aarau.  It is a fully preserved medieval castle surrounded by a moat.  Below is the view from the front and then from the side.

The rooms displayed all kinds of information about the Hallwyl family over the centuries.  Some rooms had period furniture, while others showed off some of the scientific and cultural interests of the family.  A few come up next.

Outside the castle and the moat there is the remains of the old mill house.  The mill lade and the water wheel are still there and some of the old wooden machinery is still there.  Perhaps it still works, though there was no-one around when I visisted.

Across the yard from the mill is a new building which stores some examples of transport from earlier ages, including this wonderful large wooden barge.

We finished our outing by stopping off at a nearby farm which sold fresh fruit and vegetables.  On the drive way there were some stunning clumps of dahlias, including this one.  A lovely way to end a lovely day.

Labour’s Hot Strategy - Insult the people of Scotland

Of course Labour will answer that they are only attacking the SNP, not the Scottish people.  However it is darn hard most of the time to see the difference.  In the first place since large number of us Scots did vote for the SNP at the last parliamentary elections, to attack the SNP is in a way to attack those of us who had the temerity to vote SNP.

Secondly Labour seems to have reduced itself to opposing anything and everything the SNP comes up with.  At the last election for example Labour found itself in the ludicrous position of opposing the setting of a minimum price for alcohol.  Despite the fact that this policy was widely supported by professionals and the general public.  But as the SNP had proposed this, then Labour had to be agin it.  The same happened with the proposal to levy an additional rate on large superstores in out of town locations.  A policy that an earlier generation of Labour people might have come up with as their own policy.  But, again, because the SNP had made the proposal, well, Labour just had to come down in support of some of the richest businesses in the land.

In general Labour has managed the almost unimaginable feat of becoming the Unionist party.  In Scotland more than anything else Labour is fast becoming seen as for the Union and nothing else. Why else the pathetic attempts to discredit the SNP government’s plans introduce Scottish Studies in our schools?  Their visceral hatred of anything to do or come from the SNP leads them to adopt what can only de described as an anti Scottish attitude.

You can see this in the glee with which Labour politicians grasp at any “facts” which purport to show that Scotland is subsidised by England.  I am genuinely amazed at why so many Scottish Labour people seem to rejoice in what they regard as Scotland’s immutable poverty.  After more over 200 years of Union, you would think they would want to show that this had somehow brought some real benefits to their country.  But this is perhaps the rub.  For most Labour politicians their country is not Scotland, but the UK.  Despite their much trumpeted hostility to nationalism, they are at bottom British nationalists first and foremost.  They see everything through the prism of the UK.  The always ask what is best for the UK and never, what might be best for Scotland.  Their mindset is so set that they are incapable of imagining a better Scotland that is not in the UK.

This of course continues to make life difficult politically for Labour in Scotland.  While, alas, most Scots are not yet ready to vote for independence, they do see themselves as Scots first and British second.  The vast majority of Scots do want their political parties to put Scotland first and to rejoice in and celebrate Scotland.  And where possible to make it better.  Hence the proposals to set a minimum price for alcohol  and to introduce Scottish Studies.  What they do not want is for their country to be denigrated and dismissed as a mere region of the UK. 

FC Barcelona 2011-12 Even Better?

Despite the late start to pre-season training and the even later return of their South American internationals and their new arrivals, not to mention injuries to key players, Barça have made an incredible start to the new season.  Already two cups have been added to the collection.  The only contretemps came in the final of the Copa Catalunya, which they lost to Espanyol in a battle of their respective youth teams.

However everything else has been wonderful.  The Spanish Supercup was won 5-4 in aggregate over two thrilling matches against a very good Real Madrid.  This was followed by the European Supercup which Barça won 2-0 against a fine Porto team.  In between Barça managed to beat Napoli 5-0 to win their own late summer trophy - The Gamper.  And yesterday they beat Villareal in their opening league match, also by 5-0.  Not bad going and we’re still in August.

The team that beat Villareal gives us a good glimpse at the strengths and weaknesses of the current squad.  One of the many talking points of the summer was whether Guardiola would resurrect the famous 3-4-3 formation of Johan Cruyff’s fantastic Dream Team.  And lo and behold, this was the formation that turned out against Villareal.  However before we all get too excited there are a couple of reasons why this might just be a one off or at best an infrequent choice.  In the first place, the team were missing all but one, Abidal, of their experienced defenders.  Piqué, Puyol, Adriano and Maxwell were all injured, while Alves was suspended for the game.  So with very few players to choose from, only playing three defenders made a lot of sense.  Though a back three of Abidal, Busquets and Mascheranno is unlikely to appear again.  Secondly as this article in Zonal Marking points out, 3-4-3 is the ideal system to counter Villareal’s own unusual 4-2-2-2 formation.

Whatever the reason, the system worked pretty much to perfection as the 5-0 scoreline shows.  The match also put to rest another of the summer’s talking points, namely that Fàbregas and Thiago could not play together in the same team.  Well, both played yesterday and both were outstanding, scoring a goal apiece.  Fàbregas played at the head of the diamond shaped midfield four and pretty much interchanged positions with Messi, causing all kinds of trouble for the Villareal defenders.  Thiago played alongside Iniesta at the heart of the midfield and in addition to scoring the first, set up the final pass for two other goals.  Barça have now done the almost impossible - they have strengthened what was already the best midfield in the world.  With the undisputed two best attacking midfielders in Xavi and Iniesta they now also have, arguably the 3rd and 4th best attacking midfielders in Fàbregas and Thiago.  Awesome.  As Mascheranno is likely to play more often as a defender, Keita , as he did yesterday, will probably share the defensive midfield role with Busquets.

Up front, while Barça have lost two players, Bojan and Jeffren, the one they have gained, Alexis Sanchez, is a much better player and more suited to the Barça style than either of the other two.  He started yesterday and scored a very good goal.  He is strong, pacy and a good dribbler.  Perfect for Barça.  He will provide stiff competition for Villa and Pedro and no doubt will provide Messi with the occasional rest.  In addition the team can welcome back Affellay when he returns from injury.  While unlikely to threaten the first choice four, he is a useful and pacy player to have in reserve.

So, all in all, Barça appear to be have a stronger, more competitive and more versatile squad than last year.  As Real Madrid have already demonstrated, it is once again likely to be a two horse race for the league title.  Real will be even more competitive, if that is possible, than last year.  Guardiola will be hoping to win a fourth title in a row, an achievement to equal the great Dream Team of Johan Cruyff and only achieved once before that - Miguel Muñoz’s Real Madrid of the early 1960s.  They went on to win five in a row, an as yet unmatchable achievement.  The other immense challenge for Barça is to become the first team to win the Champions League two years in a row.  Real Madrid will again lead the challengers along with Manchester United, Chelsea and the riches of Manchester City.  Barça’s first group match is against AC Milan, so that should give us an early indication of how the might fare against the best in Europe.

It will take an almighty effort to retain one of their titles from last season and an even greater effort to retain both.  This squad with Guardiola as their guide has the resources to do so, though as in any sporting challenge you need the Gods to be with you.  Whatever, it promises to be an even more exciting season than the last one.  Visca Barça!

The Economy - A Double Dip Recession?

Economic news from around the world is not good and is likely to get worse during the rest of the year.  In the UK the news is particularly bad.  Recent figures show that consumer confidence continues its downward slide, unemployment is rising, export performance is faltering and the UK is bottom of the growth league table.  Despite this our nasty government, with Chancellor George Osborne in the lead, continues with its Alice in Wonderland approach to economics.  Despite the shocking figures there is to be no plan B.  Instead we are to suffer even more cuts in public spending.

Alas, this short sighted and counter productive approach is not limited to the UK.  The rest of the EU, along with much of the rest of the world, is also mired in this dash to austerity.  There is very little evidence that this approach will work and much evidence from the past that it will most likely not work.  With great damage to most of us in terms of rising unemployment, loss of services and cuts in living standards.

A major question here is what will happen if the current policies are continued and things continue to get worse for more and more people?  Already there have been significant public protests in Greece, Spain and Israel.  Could these protests spread and get worse?  On this issue I feel that there is a substantial undercurrent of deep hostility lying just below the surface of public opinion.  In particular there is wide disbelief and resentment that none of the key people who were responsible for the current ongoing crisis have suffered or been punished in any way.  Most of this bitterness is quite rightly directed primarily at the bankers whose irresponsibility and recklessness got us into this mess.

So, unless things begin to improve pretty soon, governments will come under ever increasing pressure to change policy tack.  If they refuse this could lead to greater and greater social unrest.  How far could this go?  A lot will depend on how the various political parties respond to a worsening in the situation.  At the moment it is the right of the political spectrum that is making the running and right wing parties run just about all EU countries and since last year control the House of Representatives in the USA.  Alas, it is the right that is most vociferous in calling for ever more austerity.

With the right in power and economies in difficulties, this should be a time for the left to be leading the call for an alternative economic policy.  However the main left wing parties are hamstrung in their opposition, as most of them were in power during the run-up to the crisis.  Indeed none of the left parties showed any serious opposition to the deregulatory, laissez-faire approach to finance which got us into this mess.  And just as the leading bankers have not suffered, neither have the leading politicians in these left parties.  Unless and until they comprehensively reject their past and elect new leaderships willing to consider genuine alternatives to the current austerity, they are most unlikely to regain power.  And even if they did, what real difference would it make?  We badly and urgently need a new left alternative.