Archive for Best of EiNY
The Problem with Protesting
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My opinion piece in Metro today:
It should have been my finest hour. After weeks of defending Denmark over the cartoon row in words I was going to take action at an hour-long solidarity protest in front of the Danish consulate in New York.
But what started out as a laudable expression of support soon took on overtones of such vehement anti-extremism that it bordered on an extremism of its own. I left after half an hour and vowed never to protest again.
I say this not because the pro-Denmark protest was so bad but because it was the latest in a string of protests over the past few years at which I have found myself standing among people I do not and cannot support.
I had my first inkling of this disillusionment during an anti-war demonstration in New York just before the invasion of Iraq when I found myself walking among people who equated Israel with Nazi Germany. It was the same during the Republican National Convention in New York.
You protest to send one message yet by your very presence you lend your support to causes that make your stomach churn. Outside the Danish consulate it was no different.
I was there to show Danes that despite the embassy burnings and the product boycotts, despite the endless column inches of criticism and the tepid support of world leaders, I appreciated their commitment to freedom of religion and expression. Although the people around me doubtless agreed our views diverged from there.
They implied that Muslims who demonstrated around the world against the cartoons were either extremists or following orders, as if free will was the preserve of the United States. They made cynical remarks about the media not covering their protest when in reality their movement was so small it warranted little attention. And they attacked Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai for criticizing the cartoons when no leader of a Muslim country could do otherwise.
Freedom of speech carries the responsibility to admit when you are wrong. While most of the Danish drawings were probably inoffensive to the majority of Muslims some, particularly the one of Muhammed with a bomb-shaped turban, were clearly provocative.
In 2002, the British left-wing magazine the New Statesman ran a front cover with a Star of David standing on a British flag over the headline “A Kosher Conspiracy?†The cover was lambasted as anti-Semitic. An apology was demanded and given. But what if no apology had been forthcoming? What if magazines around the world reprinted that cover in defense of freedom of speech?
I cannot help but feel that some of those who rushed to republish the cartoons did so out of spite rather than a desire for freedom of expressionâ€â€the equivalent of sticking two fingers up at Muslims around the world.
On the street in front of the Danish consulate there was an air of the same. I wanted to show solidarity with the Danes but I saw mainly anger at Muslims. I wanted to hear a nuanced view that would counteract the certainty of extremism but I heard only jingoism and rhetoric.
“You are either with us or against us,†an unwise man once said. I cannot agree. But for those of us with views in between the protest rally will rarely if ever represent our opinion. I realized that after half an hour that day at the Danish consulate. And I walked away.
We Must Do As We Are Told, Or Else
Posted by: | CommentsPity little Denmark. There it was minding its own business and generally being ignored by the rest of the world when kerblam! It is the target of street demonstrations and flag-burning in the Middle East and a boycott of Danish goods across the Muslim world. And for what? A cartoon.
Now let’s get one thing straight. There are times when a cartoon can cause offence. Indeed, racist, xenophobic cartoons are published all the time around the world. Cartoons of Ariel Sharon drinking Palestinian children’s blood or of President Bush wearing a swastika are not hard to find in Arab and European newspapers. Hell, you can probably find them in the USA.
Stealth Jew
Posted by: | CommentsBrooklyn has the densest population of Jews anywhere in the world, according to a friend. While this fact may not be entirely accurate (surely tiny Israel must have the densest population of Jews?â€â€ed.) I have no doubt that there are an awful lot of Jews in this borough; which is ironic considering that when I left Leeds in 1995 at the age of 18 it was as much to escape Jews and Judaism as it was to get away from home.
Growing up in a Jewish neighborhood, having a large group of Jewish friends, coming from a community which didâ€â€and still doesâ€â€consider “marrying out†to be a social disability, it was liberating to leave. Admittedly, I jumped from the frying pan into the fire by moving to Novgorod, a small town in Russia where I had to keep my Jewish identity a secret because of deep-seated Russian anti-Semitism. But at least, as Jackie Mason would say, it was not “too Jewish.â€Â
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Ken Ken is at it Again
Posted by: | CommentsIn the aftermath of the London bombing my respect for mayor Ken Livingstone soared. Today, it returned to earth with a bump. In an interview with Radio 4, Ken blamed Western policy in the Middle East for the London bombing, trotting out the same, tired old arguments over oil, Israel, and US involvement in Afghanistan.
If Ken took the time to find out a little more on the subject maybe he would pause first before making statements like this:
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On Democracy
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When I wrote my original On London post I never imagined the amount of feedback I would get. Comments were dropping onto the site at a rate that I could barely keep up with let alone reply to. One assertion I made which attracted more attention than most was my claim that America could take a lesson in democracy from countless countries in the world.
The sooner Americans detach themselves from the delusion that they are the sole arbiters of freedom and democracy in the world the better. Countless countries could give America a lesson in those two subjects, especially on human rights.
Today’s Muslims aren’t prepared to ignore injustice
Posted by: | CommentsMan, someone should have given trainee journalist Dilpazier Aslam a quiet word of advise before allowing him to pen an article in the Guardian which I hope he will come to regret in years to come–with the benefit of hindsight, wisdom, and a bit of common sense. Read More→
On London
Posted by: | CommentsMy site can’t cope with all the comments! I’ve opened a new post here for everyone who wants to add their voice.
I have been preoccupied over the past few days with a tangle of questions and thoughts connected by the London bombing. Not thoughts of the why they did it, how they did it, or who did it variety. I have been wondering why and how this has affected me. Selfish, I know. But also, it is the only way I can feel myself a part of this whole, sorry situation.
My thoughts and ideas about the War on Terror, US Foreign Policy, and European Foreign Policy (if it can be called or characterized as such) has been in a state of flux for the past six months or longer. It is no coincidence that the last four books to enter my apartment were Peter Bergen’s Holy War Inc, Christopher Hitchens’ Love, Poverty, and War, Scott Anderson’s The Man Who Tried to Save the World, and Bob Dylan’s Chronicles (Chronicles, the exception, I hope proves the rule).
Warning: there follows a list of gratuitous admissions. Read More→
