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While millions struggle to pay the bills, the European Council president’s personal budget for 2024 is set to hit a vast €2.6 million. The EU’s outlandish spending on private jets for its leaders makes a mockery of calls for Europeans to save energy.

President of the European Council Charles Michel speaking with media in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarters, on May 15, 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse / Getty Images)

Since energy prices exploded last year, the top representatives of the European Union and German government have rarely shied from giving us tips on how to save energy. German minister for economic affairs and climate Robert Habeck proudly told reporters how he cut down his showering time, while his colleague Winfried Kretschmann advised people: just put on a sweatshirt. Other popular talking points included swapping out showerheads, closing windows, washing clothes at lower temperatures, and not using an iron. Such comments reminded many of disgraced former Social Democrat Thilo Sarrazin, who once suggested that welfare recipients should just put on a thick sweater in winter instead of heating their apartments.

Everyone who struggles to pay the bills knows how useless the advice of these cynical sloganeers is. In fact, even before the inflation crisis began, low-income Europeans were forced to save as much energy as possible. Fifty-four million people in the EU do not know how they will pay their energy bills at the end of the month. Every fourth child in Europe grows up in poverty. Europe’s working class is light-years away from the climate-damaging luxury of the rich — high-powered, pompous SUVs; private jets and decadent villas with heated swimming pools.

Just how hypocritical these debates about Europeans living more sustainably really are was revealed again last month, when it emerged that the budget for European Council president Charles Michel is set to be raised to €2.6 million in 2024 — a staggering 27.5 percent increase. And what is this tax money spent on? One dinner in Brussels cost the council president a whopping €35,000. He regularly covers the short distance from Brussels to Paris or Strasbourg to Brussels on a private jet.

When the European Council president decides to conduct 64 percent of his travel in a private jet instead of taking the train or using commercial airlines for longer journeys, his wasteful luxury comes not only at the expense of the environment, but also of the European taxpayers who are forced to fund his opulent lifestyle. Thanks to the votes of the Conservatives and Liberals, Charles Michel does not even have to answer to the European Parliament for his expensive travel and dining habits.

But it’s not just about one man. The whole gang of top European politicians has utterly lost touch with the day-to-day problems and struggles of ordinary people. Being obscenely overpaid creates parallel societies of politicians who no longer feel any responsibility toward the people who elected them, but instead are all the more in touch with the big corporate lobbyists in Brussels.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s new ammunition bill will pour millions and millions of euros of public money into the pockets of the weapons industry, while the latest proposals for reforming European tax policy remain stubbornly attached to the dogma of austerity, something for which German finance minister Christian Lindner has pushed particularly hard. Europeans who can’t afford the new European Climate Law are left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, neither the German government nor the European Commission have anything to offer those who have lost what little savings they had left to the cost-of-living crisis.

Given the social crises and the deep upheavals facing European societies, we simply can’t afford business as usual any longer. If we want a Europe built on a solidarity that is more than a nice phrase in the ceremonial speeches of top political functionaries, we will have to wrench it from the claws of the corporations and the ultrarich. We must tax corporate windfall profits and extreme wealth to fund future investments in the welfare state, the climate, and a just industrial transformation. We must ban private jets and the obscene luxuries of the richest, who are given free pass after free pass to pollute the environment. We must strengthen trade unions in the struggle for fair wages and working conditions, and support tenants’ initiatives in the struggles for affordable housing and cap prices. In short, we need a socialist alternative to Europe’s failed neoliberal model.

Swimmer hits the jackpot: Israeli researchers have been aware of the shipwrecked cargo for a long time but did not know its exact whereabouts. 

By World Israel News Staff

An enormous, rare cargo of 1,800-year-old marble artifacts, borne in a merchant ship that was shipwrecked in a storm was uncovered recently in the coastal waters of Moshav Beit Yanai, north of Netanya, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday in a press release.

The first known cargo of its kind from the eastern Mediterranean, weighing about 44 tons, it includes Corinthian capitals adorned with vegetal patterns, partially carved capitals and marble columns up to six meters long. It seems that these valuable architectural elements were intended to adorn a magnificently elaborate public building—a temple or a theater, according to the IAA.

Gideon Harris, an experienced sea swimmer, contacted the IAA a few weeks ago to report ancient columns that he had observed while swimming in the sea at the Beit Yanai beach. The report was gratefully received by Koby Sharvit, director of the underwater archaeology unit.

“We have been aware of the existence of this shipwrecked cargo for a long time,” Sharvit said, “but we didn’t know its exact whereabouts as it was covered over by sand, and wetherefore could not investigate it. The recent storms must have exposed the cargo, and thanks to Sharvit’s important report, we have been able to register its location, and carry out preliminary archaeological investigations, which will lead to a more in-depth research project.”

It was evident that the ship bearing the cargo was wrecked after the crew encountered a storm in the shallow waters and dropped anchor in a desperate effort to prevent the ship from grounding, Sharvit explained. “Such storms often blow up suddenly along the country’s coast, and due to the ships’ limited maneuvering potential, they are often dragged into the shallow waters and shipwrecked.”

Furthermore, “From the size of the architectural elements, we can calculate the dimensions of the ship; we are talking about a merchant ship that could bear a cargo of at least 200 tons. These fine pieces are characteristic of large-scale, majestic public buildings. Even in Roman Caesarea, such architectural elements were made of local stone covered with white plaster to appear like marble. Here we are talking about genuine marble.”

“Since it is probable that this marble cargo came from the Aegean or Black Sea region, in Turkey or Greece, and since it was discovered south of the port of Caesarea, it seems that it was destined for one of the ports along the southern Levantine coast, Ashkelon or Gaza, or possibly even Alexandria in Egypt,” he surmises.

According to Sharvit, Harris’s report to IAA has resolved an ongoing research issue:

“Land and Sea archaeologists have long argued whether the Roman period imported architectural elements were completely worked in their lands of origin, or whether they were transported in a partially carved form, and were carved and fashioned at their site of destination.

“This cargo resolves the debated issue, as it is evident that the architectural elements left the quarry site as basic raw material or partially worked artifacts and that they were fashioned and finished on the construction site, either by local artists and artisans or by artists who were brought to the site from other countries, similarly to specialist mosaic artists who traveled from site to site following commissioned projects.”

Harris was awarded a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship.

According to Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Gideon’s report epitomizes the value of a citizen’s awareness regarding antiquities, and even more the importance of reporting them to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The cooperation of the community plays an important role in archaeological research. We ask citizens who come across antiquities in the sea to note the exact location and to call us to the site. This provides invaluable information contributing to the history and cultural heritage of the country.”

The post 1,800-year-old artifacts found in coastal waters north of Netanya resolve longtime debate appeared first on World Israel News.

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Attention action-film fans! There’s a fantastic new one out in theaters, just released by Lionsgate, which is a mayhem-filled fever dream from Finland, written and directed by Jalmari Helander, called Sisu. That’s a Finnish word defined at the beginning of the film, with no exact translation into English, but meaning something like “a white-knuckled form […]

One should never underestimate the importance of the politics of memory and its consequences.

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“Sweden and Israel have a lot in common and could be strong allies if they realize their common ground.”

By Pesach Benson, TPS

In a landmark visit, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen embarked on a diplomatic mission to Sweden, marking the first time an Israeli foreign minister has visited the country in over two decades. His arrival on Sunday night comes as part of a concerted effort to bolster bilateral ties. But a key figure in Sweden’s Jewish community hopes Cohen will raise Swedish antisemitism as well.

Cohen’s itinerary includes a meeting with his Swedish counterpart, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, where they will delve into a range of topics, primarily focusing on the continued improvement of bilateral relations and collaborative efforts to address regional security concerns. Sweden currently holds the presidency of the European Union, making it a vital player in shaping Europe’s stance on various security matters.

But Saskia Pantell, who founded the Sweden-Israel Alliance and also serves as president of the Zionist Federation of Sweden, told the Tazpit Press Service that it is crucial that Cohen raise Swedish antisemitism in his discussions.

She told TPS that antisemitism in Sweden is “being mixed up between Israel and the Jews.”

Pantell, who is in Israel, cited as an example an incident in 2020 after the US relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“Jewish students were celebrating Chanukah at a synagogue in Gothenburg when 20 masked men attacked the synagogue with Molotov cocktails,” she recalled. “This was a criticism of [Donald] Trump moving the embassy. They targeted Jews, but the police considered it arson. If it was a criticism of a state, you don’t criticize the local Jewish community.”

Pantell added, “Swedish police dismiss the majority of antisemitic hate crimes as just criticism of Israel.”

“Last year, Sweden was celebrating the anniversary of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. They were talking the talk, but not walking the walk on antisemitism,” Pantell told TPS. She was referring to non-binding definition of antisemitism developed in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organization based in Berlin that seeks to strengthen Holocaust education.

Pantell was also critical of what she called Sweden’s “undefined” aid to the Palestinians.

“Aid goes to organizations but you hope for the best that it lands where it’s supposed to land. This needs to be addressed,” she told TPS.

“Sweden doesn’t realize that when you give aid money, it doesn’t necessarily go where it’s supposed to go. I believe Sweden wants good, but it can be naive,” she said. “Giving a lot of aid money without tracking it or asking for a receipt may very well end up in the pockets of terrorists, and ultimately be used even for rockets targeting Israel.”

Cohen acknowledged the issue of Swedish aid in comments ahead of his meeting with Billstrom, saying, “We will discuss ways to prevent aid funds from reaching terrorists and their families.”

Cohen also praised Sweden’s early adoption of the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism and expressed his determination to collaborate closely with Sweden in the ongoing fight against all forms of hatred.

In addition to the meeting with Billström, Cohen is expected to engage with other government officials, business figures, and members of the local Jewish community. Between 16,000 and 18,000 Jews live in Sweden.

Noting what she called “strong startup scenes and a strong sense of democracy” in both countries, Pantell told TPS, “Sweden and Israel have a lot in common and could be strong allies if they realize their common ground.”

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