Sunday, October 10, 2004
Why It STILL Matters
The ISG Report Should Prompt Fury About the War, Not Yawns - Sorry, Someone Has to be the Man in the Egg-stained Tie
by Jonathan Freedland
Published on Friday, October 8, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
Young and impeccably Blairite, the MP chatting with his chums last week in Brighton had a warning. "Iraq mustn't become our Europe," he said. He meant that the war must not split Labour the way the European question had sundered the Tories. But there was another meaning, too.
For Europe is an obsession for a certain kind of Tory. During conference season, you could pick them out at fringe meetings before they had said a word. Armed with leaflets in plastic carrier bags and wearing egg-stained ties, they would make speeches rather than ask questions - rapidly turning any room into a collective groan. Never mind the content of their remarks, even fellow Conservatives saw them as saddos in extra-thick anoraks...
by Jonathan Freedland
Published on Friday, October 8, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
Young and impeccably Blairite, the MP chatting with his chums last week in Brighton had a warning. "Iraq mustn't become our Europe," he said. He meant that the war must not split Labour the way the European question had sundered the Tories. But there was another meaning, too.
For Europe is an obsession for a certain kind of Tory. During conference season, you could pick them out at fringe meetings before they had said a word. Armed with leaflets in plastic carrier bags and wearing egg-stained ties, they would make speeches rather than ask questions - rapidly turning any room into a collective groan. Never mind the content of their remarks, even fellow Conservatives saw them as saddos in extra-thick anoraks...
Anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism
Editor's Note:
Today we bring an article about a startling report that suggests that criticizing Israel or being against Zionism may one day be illegal in France. What does this have to do with Viewpoint? Google has adopted the same ignorant position labeling Viewpoint as a "hate publication" and will not allow us to advertise Viewpoint on their network.
The particular essay that they pointed to was an article in which the author stated that Zionism was inherently a racist ideology. It is a nationalistic ideology that gives preferences to people based upon their ethnicity or religion. This is almost a text book definition of Zionism.
Viewpoint is unique in that its point of departure is the belief that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is actually at the heart of the entire region's problems. Zionism, which some call benignly as "Jewish nationalism" is an ethno-national ideology. This means that the state is DEFINED by one's "Jewishness". This sort of nationalism is different than French nationalism, German nationalism (except when the Nazis assumed power. They defined German nationalism in the same terms as Zionism defines Jewish nationalism.)
We simply believe that being anti-Zionist is like being anti-Nazi.
Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitism?
A new report on racism in France has sparked controversy by recommending anti-Israel acts and comments be punished by courts as severely as instances of anti-Semitism.
The 50-page report, released on Tuesday, four months after being ordered by Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, warns that racism of all sorts in France "radically threatens the survival of the democratic system".
Its author, award-winning writer, doctor and president of a humanitarian aid association, Jean-Christophe Rufin, suggested a raft of measures to combat racism and singles out anti-Semitism as a problem to be combated separately.
But one recommendation, that "unfounded" anti-Israel stances be criminalized to the same extent as anti-Jewish acts, has stirred debate in France, where media and political commentary is often critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
Anti-Israel positions among radical anti-racist campaigners risked "a contamination which could put the lives of our Jewish citizens in danger," Mr Rufin argued. He suggested a law "to punish those who might level unfounded racism allegations against groups, institutions or states, and use against them unjustified comparisons with apartheid or Nazism."
Other recommendations in Mr Rufin's report included: video surveillance of Jewish cemeteries, clearer statistical databases permitting international comparisons, better national coordination, and heightened vigilance of Internet sites.
The study challenged stereotypes that perpetrators of hate crimes often came from disadvantaged French suburbs predominantly populated by immigrant families from Muslim North African countries such as Algeria and Morocco.
"The new anti-Semitism appears more heterogeneous," it said.
Anti-racist organizations, while welcoming many of the measures envisioned in the report, turned on the controversial suggestion about assimilating criticism or acts against Israel with anti-Semitism.
Mr Rufin was "acting like an arsonist fireman," the head of France's League of Human Rights, Michel Tuniana, said.
He said the focus on anti-Semitism created an "imbalance" in the approach to fighting all racism, and added that, if the recommendation became law, the umbrella groups the International Federation for Human Rights would be punished because it viewed Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs as "discriminatory".
Jewish groups in France, however, supported the recommendation. Mr Rufin "denounces, very sharply, the anti-Semites who hide behind a sort of anti-Zionism," the head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, Haim Musicant, said.
Mr de Villepin called the report a "personal" take on the problem facing France, but affirmed that the fight against racism and anti-Semitism was "a central axis" of his ministry's policies.
Although the number of racist and anti-Semitic acts so far this year, 123 and 166 respectively, outstripped those for all of 2003, Mr de Villepin said there was "a significant ebb" in the last three months following a spike in March and April.
A newly formed group collecting statistics of acts against French Muslims said in its own report it had counted 182 "Islamophobic" acts between October 2003 and August 2004, based on news reports.
Among those, 118 were against individuals, including 27 assaults, while 28 were against mosques and 11 against Muslim graves, the Collective Against Islamophobia in France said.
France counts Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim populations, estimated at 650,000 and five million respectively.
French authorities from President Jacques Chirac on down have made fighting anti-Semitism one of their priorities. Israel has recently endorsed French efforts to punish anti-Jewish acts after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused anger in Paris in July by urging French Jews to flee "the wildest anti-Semitism" by migrating to the Jewish state.
Israel's ambassador to France, Nissim Zwilli, hailed the report in an interview with Israeli public radio as "exceptional ... because it establishes a direct link between anti-Semitism and the anti-Zionist and hostile positions towards Israel."
This article was published by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Today we bring an article about a startling report that suggests that criticizing Israel or being against Zionism may one day be illegal in France. What does this have to do with Viewpoint? Google has adopted the same ignorant position labeling Viewpoint as a "hate publication" and will not allow us to advertise Viewpoint on their network.
The particular essay that they pointed to was an article in which the author stated that Zionism was inherently a racist ideology. It is a nationalistic ideology that gives preferences to people based upon their ethnicity or religion. This is almost a text book definition of Zionism.
Viewpoint is unique in that its point of departure is the belief that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is actually at the heart of the entire region's problems. Zionism, which some call benignly as "Jewish nationalism" is an ethno-national ideology. This means that the state is DEFINED by one's "Jewishness". This sort of nationalism is different than French nationalism, German nationalism (except when the Nazis assumed power. They defined German nationalism in the same terms as Zionism defines Jewish nationalism.)
We simply believe that being anti-Zionist is like being anti-Nazi.
Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitism?
A new report on racism in France has sparked controversy by recommending anti-Israel acts and comments be punished by courts as severely as instances of anti-Semitism.
The 50-page report, released on Tuesday, four months after being ordered by Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, warns that racism of all sorts in France "radically threatens the survival of the democratic system".
Its author, award-winning writer, doctor and president of a humanitarian aid association, Jean-Christophe Rufin, suggested a raft of measures to combat racism and singles out anti-Semitism as a problem to be combated separately.
But one recommendation, that "unfounded" anti-Israel stances be criminalized to the same extent as anti-Jewish acts, has stirred debate in France, where media and political commentary is often critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
Anti-Israel positions among radical anti-racist campaigners risked "a contamination which could put the lives of our Jewish citizens in danger," Mr Rufin argued. He suggested a law "to punish those who might level unfounded racism allegations against groups, institutions or states, and use against them unjustified comparisons with apartheid or Nazism."
Other recommendations in Mr Rufin's report included: video surveillance of Jewish cemeteries, clearer statistical databases permitting international comparisons, better national coordination, and heightened vigilance of Internet sites.
The study challenged stereotypes that perpetrators of hate crimes often came from disadvantaged French suburbs predominantly populated by immigrant families from Muslim North African countries such as Algeria and Morocco.
"The new anti-Semitism appears more heterogeneous," it said.
Anti-racist organizations, while welcoming many of the measures envisioned in the report, turned on the controversial suggestion about assimilating criticism or acts against Israel with anti-Semitism.
Mr Rufin was "acting like an arsonist fireman," the head of France's League of Human Rights, Michel Tuniana, said.
He said the focus on anti-Semitism created an "imbalance" in the approach to fighting all racism, and added that, if the recommendation became law, the umbrella groups the International Federation for Human Rights would be punished because it viewed Israel's treatment of Israeli Arabs as "discriminatory".
Jewish groups in France, however, supported the recommendation. Mr Rufin "denounces, very sharply, the anti-Semites who hide behind a sort of anti-Zionism," the head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, Haim Musicant, said.
Mr de Villepin called the report a "personal" take on the problem facing France, but affirmed that the fight against racism and anti-Semitism was "a central axis" of his ministry's policies.
Although the number of racist and anti-Semitic acts so far this year, 123 and 166 respectively, outstripped those for all of 2003, Mr de Villepin said there was "a significant ebb" in the last three months following a spike in March and April.
A newly formed group collecting statistics of acts against French Muslims said in its own report it had counted 182 "Islamophobic" acts between October 2003 and August 2004, based on news reports.
Among those, 118 were against individuals, including 27 assaults, while 28 were against mosques and 11 against Muslim graves, the Collective Against Islamophobia in France said.
France counts Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim populations, estimated at 650,000 and five million respectively.
French authorities from President Jacques Chirac on down have made fighting anti-Semitism one of their priorities. Israel has recently endorsed French efforts to punish anti-Jewish acts after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused anger in Paris in July by urging French Jews to flee "the wildest anti-Semitism" by migrating to the Jewish state.
Israel's ambassador to France, Nissim Zwilli, hailed the report in an interview with Israeli public radio as "exceptional ... because it establishes a direct link between anti-Semitism and the anti-Zionist and hostile positions towards Israel."
This article was published by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Friday, October 08, 2004
Oil, Bases and democracy
...Beneath the red-white-and-blue rhetoric [on Iraq] is determination not to "lose" a country with 112 billion barrels of oil under the sand. And there is equal determination for the Pentagon to establish more than a dozen US military bases in Iraq. Real democracy in Iraq would thwart both aims - since most Iraqi people don't want US troops in their country...
- Norman Solomon, CommonDreams, 07/10/04
- Norman Solomon, CommonDreams, 07/10/04
The Underdog?
Australians, it is said, love to pitch for the 'underdog.' In fact, so coveted is this label that political parties, football teams etc., will fight one another to claim it.
The trouble with being the underdog is that it is usually the underdog who gets right royally fucked!!!
The trouble with being the underdog is that it is usually the underdog who gets right royally fucked!!!
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Lesbians in Movieland
Male homosexuality is now "acceptable" to many people, especially to straight women, for whom gays have been conscious or unconscious allies in the "battle" against the grossness of the average straight male. To take an example, it is interesting that, while the mythmakers of Hollywood now feel free to celebrate male homosexuality, lesbianism is still a no-no in popular culture. Lesbians in the movies and on TV are always "sad, unhappy" women who cycle between suicide and homicide, and usually meet unhappy ends.
Why is this so? It seems to me that lesbianism actually strikes a DEEPER fear in our society than male homosexuality. After all, we know that men are disgusting creatures who will stick their penises into any and every available hole. Women, however, are the "seed-bearers," both physical and cultural ... for a woman NOT to want to be a wife and mother seems to be quite frightening to mainstream society, and any inclination to such a point of view has to be suppressed at all costs.
Why is this so? It seems to me that lesbianism actually strikes a DEEPER fear in our society than male homosexuality. After all, we know that men are disgusting creatures who will stick their penises into any and every available hole. Women, however, are the "seed-bearers," both physical and cultural ... for a woman NOT to want to be a wife and mother seems to be quite frightening to mainstream society, and any inclination to such a point of view has to be suppressed at all costs.
