FRENCH IN ACTION: LESSON 1-- DIPLOMACY
A diplomatic tempest has been brewing ever since the French ambassador to Great Britain was over-heard at a dinner party saying that all the problems in the world were caused by "that shitty little country, Israel." Yves Charpentier, "Press Counsellor" of the French embassy wrote letters to various newspapers, "clarifying" the ambassador's statement (though stopping short of disavowing it):
The ambassador was expressing... the view that we were facing a geographically limited problem, which is proving extremely difficult to resolve and whose consequences are having repercussions all over the world.
At any rate, it's not very "diplomatic," nor is it the most solid example of geopolitical analysis you're likely to find, even in France. But then, the French have always had a problem with the Jews. Matthew Norman has the delicacy to regret mentioning the fact that "if France had one iota of the fighting spirit of 'that shitty little country Israel' it might have lasted more than a fortnight in the last war;" or bringing up "Drancy, the concentration camp run by the Parisian police in the name of Vichy, in which conditions were so unspeakable that the Germans themselves were shocked into closing it." I have no such delicacy, I'm afraid. Sacre bleach!
Posted by Dr. Frank at December 20, 2001 04:50 AM | TrackBack