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Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pledged Germany's continued support of Israel in a landmark speech at the tail end of a solidarity visit to mark 60 years since the Jewish state's founding."Germany will never abandon Israel but will remain a true friend and partner," Merkel said in an address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset,the first by a German head of government."Sixty years of Israel: that is most of all an occasion for great joy," she said, referring to the Jewish state's anniversary that will be officially marked in May."Germany and Israel are and will always remain linked in a special way through the memory of the Holocaust," she said as she wrapped up a visit to mark the founding of the Jewish state in the wake of the Nazi genocide."The Holocaust fills us Germans with shame," said Merkel, the first German chancellor to be born after World War II."I bow before the victims, I bow before the survivors, and before all those who helped them so they could survive."Referring to the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip, Merkel said: "I say clearly and unequivocally: the Qassam rocket attacks by Hamas must stop."And she said Berlin would not impose "unsolicited advice" on its ally on how to solve its decades-long conflict with the Palestinians. "A solution can eventually only come about through you here in Israel, and with the Palestinians."The German visitor drew loud applause when she opened her address in Hebrew, saying: "I thank you for the honour for allowing me to address the Knesset. "But the fact she delivered the rest of her speech in German ruffled feathers among MPs in Israel, where the memory of the Nazi genocide still runs deep, and several lawmakers stayed away from the chamber in protest.Addressing the controversy, Merkel said "I thank everybody for allowing me to address you today in my mother tongue."http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080318155518.pmfg2uxk&show_article=1&catnum=0
As in the days of Noah.....
