Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The answer is, of course not

Phyllis Chesler asks in her latest column on Pajamas Media:
Do people really understand what is going on in our world right now?
The answer is, sad to say, of course not. Why would they? After all, what Ms Chesler says and what some of us also try to say, though not so eloquently, is not nice. People should be nice to each other, runs the modern meme in the comfortable West. They should be non-judgemental.

Ms Chesler is particularly concerned with the way language is being abused, which means that truth and clarity disappear.
Do people really understand what is going on in our world right now? That language is being used to confuse us? America is the greatest “terrorist,” Israeli Jews are the “Nazis,” non-Muslim pro-western law Brits are called “right wing fascists” because a small number stood up to 200 angry and armed Muslim Brits in front of a Birmingham mosque, parliamentarian Geert Wilders is considered a “racist Islamophobe” and faces a criminal trial because he tells the truth about Islamist jihad.

And, by the way, the so-called “fascist” Brits held aloft an Israeli flag and signs that said “Extremists Out,” “Britain Safe.” One woman interviewed said: “If people come here they should respect out laws.” Yes, this group may also be allied with genuine racist-fascists Nazi-era style—but then again, they may not be. The problem is they what they are saying has merit.
To be fair, many people are beginning to get worried. Others have been so for a long time. But even among those who do not like to see what is going on in their own countries, it is rare for one to understand that whatever "compassion" you may feel for those poor, unhappy, oppressive, misogynistic, homophobic, illiberal perpetual victims, our place must lie with other democratic and liberal societies. And that means Israel. Of course, everyone is welcome to criticize its government. The Israelis do all the time.

8 comments:

  1. it's all too depressing, as their population expands they will turn from protestors to oppressors.

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  2. Ms Chesler would have enjoyed listening to the Spanish Ambassador to the USA, yesterday addressing a small audience with considerable candour.

    He had a very clear view of the problems associated with large numbers of Muslim immigrants. As he said, Spain has no problems with their many Eastern European or South American immigrants, as they want to integrate. Unfortunately Spain's experience of the Muslim immigrants is that they want to set themselves apart and will not integrate, from which, unsurprisingly, local tensions arise.

    We pussy foot around these very real issues, with the result that the only safe thing to say is to call Israel "war criminals" and Palestinians "Victims". Whatever happened to sensible and free discussion of real issues?

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  3. Well, I would very much like to read this article, but the indented text is far too small to read. I could copy and paste it all into a Word document, and view it at 150%, but why should that be needed to keep up with one of the best blogs? Incidentally, it is pretty difficult to see the words I am writing now. Some of us retired chaps have reasonable, but not 20:20 vision. Spare a thought for us!

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  4. I was one of the many hundreds of thousands that went to Washington DC last Saturday. We were there for many reasons (healthcare reform, the bailouts, the overspending etc.) I have to say that we have been portrayed in a negative light in most of the mainstream media or we were just ignored. And now if you disagree with the Obama administration you are labeled a racist! Truly unbelievable what is going on over on this side of the pond. Thank you for your great blog!

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  5. Alfred, do you have a link to that story?

    Guest 2, you have a point and I think I shall stop putting those quotations into small font. As long as they are indented, it should be OK. I, on the other hand, keep asking people to acquire some kind of a moniker.

    Natalie, thanks for reading this blog. Many of us here have been following this extraordinary saga but I think the tide is slowly turning your way in America. Not here. After all, all you guys in Washington DC (I hear at least half a million and possibly over 1 million) and at other tea parties are gathering more and more supporters. And even the MSM is getting a little anxious about all those accusations of racism. So, keep up the fight. We'll do what we can to support you. :)

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  6. Dear Helen,
    Thank you for your support of us over here. I hope that we will always help each other England (UK) and US should always look out for each other.
    PS Get Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin! It is a great book for all of us.
    -NJ

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  7. I hear good things of Levin's book and shall try to get hold of it. I am, as you may have realized ;) a confirmed Anglospherist.

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  8. Sorry, it was a meeting that I attended. Sometimes these opportunities just come your way. If I can find a link, I'll post it.

    For Guest - You might want to try using firefox, where you can zoom in and make the text bigger, or maybe it is time for a larger screen.

    Acquiring a moniker is still difficult on this site. I try and login properly, but, as I don't use a windoze computer, it just doesn't seem to work.

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