"With God on their Side" [by Bob Dylan]

For Schadenfreude it would be hard to beat the story the New York Post broke under the head "Turkish lawmaker has a heart attack after saying Israel ‘will suffer the wrath of Allah.’" The piece had Isabel Keane's by line; the date, December 12.

<< A Turkish lawmaker who declared that Israel “will suffer the wrath of Allah” went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the floor of Parliament Tuesday — mere moments after delivering his harsh critique of his country’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Startling footage shows Hasan Bitmez, 53, standing behind the podium before suddenly falling to the ground while addressing the Grand Assembly of the Turkish National Assembly.

“You will not escape the wrath of Allah,” Bitmez said moments before he collapsed and seemingly hit his head on the marble floor of the General Assembly Hall, sending droves of concerned onlookers running to his side.

Bitmez’s heart reportedly stopped in the Parliament but was later restarted, YNet News reported.

Bitmez, who serves as deputy head of Turkey’s Felicity Party, is also diabetic. He received two stents in arteries in his heart after an angiography at a local hospital, YNet reported, citing BBC in Turkish.

He is believed to be in critical condition.

Before his collapse, Bitmez fired off against the Turkish government for having “endless love for Israel,” and said the government “contributed to every bomb dropped by Israel.”

Lawmakers from the Justice and Development Party, which is led by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, punched back, blaming Bitmez’s condition on “God’s wrath,” according to minutes from the session.

While Turkey condemned Israeli citizen deaths caused by Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 incursion, days after the horrifying attack Erdogan referred to Hamas as “freedom fighters.” >>

"It was news to us," Major Blitzen of the Mossad told Secretary of State Antony Blinken when the latter shared Bitmez's assertion that Erdogan has expressed "endless love for Israel." The two shared a short nervous laugh.

Bob Dylan, whose song "With God on Their Side" was cited by both sides, declined to comment.

Comments

[Rivkah Rubinstein]

https://www.facebook.com/chayaeliya.kranz/posts/653535456946047/?vh=e&extid=MSG-UNK-UNK-UNK-UNK_GK0T-GK1C

[Ankara Bitmez]

This kills me.

[Leah Martinson]

He died not there but in the hospital.