MaxedOutMama
Monday, January 31, 2005
Through European Eyes
This article in the Arab News about anti-Semitism in Europe is a must read:
Go to a dinner party in Paris, London or any other European capital and watch how things develop. The topic of conversation may be Iraq, it may be George Bush, it may be Islam, terrorism or weapons of mass destruction. However it starts out, you can be sure of where it will inevitably, and often irrationally, end — with a dissection of the Middle East situation and a condemnation of Israeli actions in the occupied territories. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen it. European sympathy for the Palestinians runs high, while hostility toward Israel is often palpable.Basically, the emerging doctrine is that the US and Israel is conspiring to control the world. Any action or initiative the US takes is often seen through that perspective. It's a new form of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We do nothing except to forward our hegemony; the war in Iraq was for oil; our pressure on the UN to intervene in the Sudan is about oil, and we're religious to boot. Read this english-language Spiegel article by Thilo Thielke about Sudan:
And the anger is reaching new — and disturbing — levels: A poll of 3,000 people published last month by Germany’s University of Bielefeld showed more than 50 percent of respondents equating Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians with Nazi treatment of the Jews. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed specifically believed that Israel is waging a “war of extermination’’ against the Palestinian people.
On Sunday, Jan. 9, the once bitter opponents signed a 240-page peace treaty, marking the end of a two-decade civil war in Sudan that has claimed upwards of 2 million lives. The man who brokered the deal, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, also made a brief appearance, although he didn't stay to celebrate the treaty with the assembled African leaders and their 10,000 invited guests.Good news, right? But:
But while the north-south military clash has been stilled for now and signs that the Darfur slaughter may also be brought under control in the not-too-distant future, a new conflict is now threatening to unfold in Sudan. An economic one. Sudan, after all, has large oil reserves and China has, until now, been the country's biggest customer. With peace -- and a lifting of a US economic embargo -- on the way, American oil companies now have their eyes on the country.Believe me, I have not quoted the worst. The only reason for the US concern about the deaths in Sudan and attempt to bring an end to the conflict was that we had laid sanctions against oil companies dealing with Sudan, and we wanted the oil. The underlying theme of the article, although it is never explicitly stated, is that in pursuit of the oil the US will set Africa on fire:
Which is one reason the US government has been active in seeking a solution to the Sudan problem. There are others as well, of course, ranging from a desire to improve relations with a country long viewed as a potential breeding ground for terrorism (after all, Osama bin Laden was once a guest of the Bashir regime) to a need to appease influential Christian fundamentalists in the United States who insist on reducing the protracted Sudanese civil war to a simplistic war of faith.
This could just be the beginning. Once the spark of secession jumps to more populous nations like Congo and Nigeria, Africa could be consumed by social and ethnic upheavals and military conflicts of unforeseeable proportions.Of course, if the overriding US goal was to get oil contracts in Sudan, we could have just lifted sanctions and allowed our companies to deal with Sudan. That fact is conveniently ignored.
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Marty,
Well, I don't feel sorry for them. I also think the type of people you describe are really in a small minority. Most Europeans have merely been fed a constant diet of background like the Spiegel article I quoted and linked. It's almost impossible for any of us to escape the default assumptions in our own culture - that's why I try to read news from as many different sources as I can. It's not only this sort of thing, but scientific assumptions and the like.
I think most Europeans get a constant barrage of news from the Palestinian perspective, whereas we are likely to get news from an Israeli perspective. Obviously, anyone who thinks the Palestinians are being subjected to a war of extermination is pretty far from having a realistic perspective, given the numbers of the Palestinians.
Well, I don't feel sorry for them. I also think the type of people you describe are really in a small minority. Most Europeans have merely been fed a constant diet of background like the Spiegel article I quoted and linked. It's almost impossible for any of us to escape the default assumptions in our own culture - that's why I try to read news from as many different sources as I can. It's not only this sort of thing, but scientific assumptions and the like.
I think most Europeans get a constant barrage of news from the Palestinian perspective, whereas we are likely to get news from an Israeli perspective. Obviously, anyone who thinks the Palestinians are being subjected to a war of extermination is pretty far from having a realistic perspective, given the numbers of the Palestinians.
The European media is extremely biased. My parents are only able to read 2 newspapers that without cringing.
But here's some light in th dark:
http://archive.mail-list.com/naomiragen/msg00784.html
Curtesy of esther at http://outsidetheblogway.blogspot.com/
But here's some light in th dark:
http://archive.mail-list.com/naomiragen/msg00784.html
Curtesy of esther at http://outsidetheblogway.blogspot.com/
Thanks to you both!
I truly believe the lack of intelligent, truthful info being available for people around the world to read is staggering and why we're facing so much hate. I watched the video that Naomi suggested seeing (and that I linked to) and it was frightening. It'd not like I didn't figure that was what was happening but it seems so rampant...how do we combat it?
I truly believe the lack of intelligent, truthful info being available for people around the world to read is staggering and why we're facing so much hate. I watched the video that Naomi suggested seeing (and that I linked to) and it was frightening. It'd not like I didn't figure that was what was happening but it seems so rampant...how do we combat it?
The Polish way. Solidarity.
The only way to fight bad ideas is to contradict them, to show why those ideas are not true while maintaining the awareness that someone who holds them may just be misled, rather than inhumane or uncaring.
If Israel were trying to wipe out the Palestinians, Europe's emotions would be justified. So the problem is not their inhumanity, it is their confusion. We have to appeal to the best within each other rather than the worst.
For the first time in human history, a good chunk of the human race can communicate individually and almost instantaneously with each other across national borders. Every dictatorship out there has gone to desperate lengths to control the means of public information (more usually, disinformation). The Soviet Union controlled access to copiers and printers. The Nazis purged the Jews from publishing houses and papers.
Individuals can now speak to other individuals. It is very hard for most human beings to ignore those voices if they are extended in friendship and compassion. The eugenic and racialist movements of the late 1800's and 1900's were promulgated by a small elite who used pseudo-science to cloak their ideas with authority. We have to call out people who do that today.
A lie is a lie, but the person who hears only lies and believes them is usually just deluded.
The only way to fight bad ideas is to contradict them, to show why those ideas are not true while maintaining the awareness that someone who holds them may just be misled, rather than inhumane or uncaring.
If Israel were trying to wipe out the Palestinians, Europe's emotions would be justified. So the problem is not their inhumanity, it is their confusion. We have to appeal to the best within each other rather than the worst.
For the first time in human history, a good chunk of the human race can communicate individually and almost instantaneously with each other across national borders. Every dictatorship out there has gone to desperate lengths to control the means of public information (more usually, disinformation). The Soviet Union controlled access to copiers and printers. The Nazis purged the Jews from publishing houses and papers.
Individuals can now speak to other individuals. It is very hard for most human beings to ignore those voices if they are extended in friendship and compassion. The eugenic and racialist movements of the late 1800's and 1900's were promulgated by a small elite who used pseudo-science to cloak their ideas with authority. We have to call out people who do that today.
A lie is a lie, but the person who hears only lies and believes them is usually just deluded.
I wish I could be as hopeful. But there are too many countries where people are oppressed and denied access to anything but state-run (lies) media. Then there are even more countries (Europe) who are served a constant diet of anti-Israel rhetoric, that people believe it. Their media wouldn't lie to them, after all--they most certainly wouldn't let a personal bias color their journalistic ethics. ;) You add that up and it's no wonder most of the world is against Israel and hatred against the Jews is rising to pre-WWII levels. I just don't see an easy answer. Sure, they could read stuff that's out there but do we think they'd look elsewhere for info? I'm not sure they have any reason to think what they're reading might not be accurate.
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