"They hate our way of life"
Insight 16 July 2005
with Rob Greene
There's a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur confronts a black knight, who challenges him to a duel. Arthur lops off one of his opponent's arms, but the black knight keeps taunting him. "Snick!" There goes the other arm, then one leg and then another, until the knight is reduced to a mere trunk, with blood spurting in all directions. But still he doesn't give up. "Come on then, you coward, do your worst!" he shouts, or words to that effect. Funny thing, defiance.
After the initial shock at watching the horrific images from London last week, the predominant feeling I had was one of admiration for the way the police and emergency services went about their business. They'd trained for just such a situation, of course, but perhaps without expecting ever having to do it for real. They rose to the grisly task magnificently, as far as I could see. My admiration, though, was as nothing compared with the adulation Londoners - egged on by the media - heaped on themselves. Everything, from the spirit of the Blitz to the inherent strength of the multicultural community, was trotted out, as if to suggest that, far from a city being hit without warning by an invisible enemy we had actually witnessed a major victory over the terrorists. "London 1 - Al Qaeda 0" said one headline. Huh?
Prime Minister Tony Blair added to the confusion by informing us on the one hand that the sole purpose of these evil men is to maim and kill (in the absence of a serious political agenda) and, on the other, claiming that the terrorists will never succeed. For men who want to maim and kill - and nothing else - they'd just succeeded remarkably well, I thought. Nor could the WTC, Bali and Madrid be classified as dismal failures, from a maiming and killing point of view.
The Blairs and Bushes of this world are in a bit of a cleft stick over terrorism. Unwilling to admit that there are political motives behind the attacks (opposition to American world dominance, to its friendly relations with undemocratic but oil-rich regimes in the Middle East, to its unquestioning support of Israel and, more recently, to the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq) they have no other explanation to offer than the existence of groups of people who kill others - and frequently themselves - for the sheer hell of it. Not very persuasive -and that's why a new reason has been added to the mantra: "they hate our way of life". Oh right.
So that's why I may in the near future be reduced to a mess on the pavement: they hate my way of life. They've never in my 64 years hated my way of life enough to blow me to bits, but now I'm told they do. Pull the other one, boys. It's a con, designed to keep your public on side. A political motive behind terrorism would suggest that there is a political way to deal with it. This Bush and Blair are not prepared to do. Much better, then, to give people the idea that somehow not governments and their actions are the cause but the general public, the men and women in the street themselves. We're guilty, because of our way of life. There's nothing our leaders can or will do to protect us, so we must take it on the chin and raise our fists in defiance. "Come on you cowards! Do your worst! You won't get us down! We'll keep our way of life!" I can see the bombers of trains and buses shaking with helpless laughter already.
So now we wait to see whose way of life will next arouse the anger of evil men. Could it be the Italians, whose taste for extravagant shirts and artichokes alarms even non-Arabs? Or Denmark, where the Danish way of life - including a diet rich in raw eggs - is now being protected by the most draconian immigration policy in Europe? Or could it be the Netherlands, where our hateful predilections include cannabis, free sex, gay marriage, euthanasia and salt-cured herring with onions and pickle? The same Netherlands where Islamic fundamentalism is currently on trial in the person of Mohammed Bouyeri, the killer of Theo van Gogh? I hope not, but if we're due some punishment at least we'll know it's our own fault, not that of our elected leaders. With the blood of innocents running down the gutter there's only one course of action. Be defiant, that'll teach these evil men.
Link
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been listening to CBC Radio One for some time now and using my nifty mp3 player to record anything I like. So far it's all bits and pieces of various documentaries. When I get it all together at a later point in time, I might upload the sound files.
CBC Radio Overnight consists of the best of radio broadcasting from all around the world, including Radio Netherlands. That's where this article comes from.
The following is my opinion on the article:
Despite its brevity and simple language, it struck me on several levels. First and foremost, the Orwellian connection is inescapable. The portrayal of such incidents immersed in party rhetoric takes away from the positive lessons that can be learned.
A very small percentage of the global Muslim community condones this kind of activity. A smaller percentage of these people then actually carry out these attacks. An even smaller portion of these extremists do it simply out of cold blood. The lesson of course being that there are underlying causes for such expressions of hate and anger. They dont "hate your way of life", they hate how you (the west) have accentuated their problems and tried to take advantage of their internal turmoil and weaknesses.
Much has been said in recent weeks and months about dealing with the problem of terrorism at its roots. That is akin to digging up your own dirty past. It's easy to make such categorical statements that divide the world into two camps. In this day and age when the average person gets most of his information from 5-minute soundbites on the run, it achieves precisely the effect desired by the state: everyone united in ignorance against the evil, freedom-hating terrorists who hate their way of life and will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister goals.
A hypocritical, unilateral and aggressive foreign policy is a big part of the problem. Meddling with the affairs of independent nations for material gains also plays a significant role. This includes propping up unpopular potentates who enjoy brutal repression of dissent. The results of this kind of conduct are in front of your eyes and need no explanation.
The new-found role of the west as the champion of human rights and bearer of the democratic beacon comes with a responsibility to avoid mistakes of the past. One has to go back only 60 years to see western values in action. The modern plague of terrorism pales in comparison. With this backdrop, one can only be too cautious with where the west is tyring to lead the world today.
On the Islamic front, a lack of mostly Islamic education is to blame for such extreme and abnormal interpretations of the noble Qur'an. A concerted effort would be required to undo the damages of years of ignorance. It is being done and I can attest to this fact.
As for North America, I think Al-Jazeera can do wonders in combating ignorance. Its bias can only help offset what's already there.
Please keep this discussion civil and ignore the flamebaits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Video*
Man speaks truth on Iraq
Insight 16 July 2005
with Rob Greene
There's a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur confronts a black knight, who challenges him to a duel. Arthur lops off one of his opponent's arms, but the black knight keeps taunting him. "Snick!" There goes the other arm, then one leg and then another, until the knight is reduced to a mere trunk, with blood spurting in all directions. But still he doesn't give up. "Come on then, you coward, do your worst!" he shouts, or words to that effect. Funny thing, defiance.
After the initial shock at watching the horrific images from London last week, the predominant feeling I had was one of admiration for the way the police and emergency services went about their business. They'd trained for just such a situation, of course, but perhaps without expecting ever having to do it for real. They rose to the grisly task magnificently, as far as I could see. My admiration, though, was as nothing compared with the adulation Londoners - egged on by the media - heaped on themselves. Everything, from the spirit of the Blitz to the inherent strength of the multicultural community, was trotted out, as if to suggest that, far from a city being hit without warning by an invisible enemy we had actually witnessed a major victory over the terrorists. "London 1 - Al Qaeda 0" said one headline. Huh?
Prime Minister Tony Blair added to the confusion by informing us on the one hand that the sole purpose of these evil men is to maim and kill (in the absence of a serious political agenda) and, on the other, claiming that the terrorists will never succeed. For men who want to maim and kill - and nothing else - they'd just succeeded remarkably well, I thought. Nor could the WTC, Bali and Madrid be classified as dismal failures, from a maiming and killing point of view.
The Blairs and Bushes of this world are in a bit of a cleft stick over terrorism. Unwilling to admit that there are political motives behind the attacks (opposition to American world dominance, to its friendly relations with undemocratic but oil-rich regimes in the Middle East, to its unquestioning support of Israel and, more recently, to the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq) they have no other explanation to offer than the existence of groups of people who kill others - and frequently themselves - for the sheer hell of it. Not very persuasive -and that's why a new reason has been added to the mantra: "they hate our way of life". Oh right.
So that's why I may in the near future be reduced to a mess on the pavement: they hate my way of life. They've never in my 64 years hated my way of life enough to blow me to bits, but now I'm told they do. Pull the other one, boys. It's a con, designed to keep your public on side. A political motive behind terrorism would suggest that there is a political way to deal with it. This Bush and Blair are not prepared to do. Much better, then, to give people the idea that somehow not governments and their actions are the cause but the general public, the men and women in the street themselves. We're guilty, because of our way of life. There's nothing our leaders can or will do to protect us, so we must take it on the chin and raise our fists in defiance. "Come on you cowards! Do your worst! You won't get us down! We'll keep our way of life!" I can see the bombers of trains and buses shaking with helpless laughter already.
So now we wait to see whose way of life will next arouse the anger of evil men. Could it be the Italians, whose taste for extravagant shirts and artichokes alarms even non-Arabs? Or Denmark, where the Danish way of life - including a diet rich in raw eggs - is now being protected by the most draconian immigration policy in Europe? Or could it be the Netherlands, where our hateful predilections include cannabis, free sex, gay marriage, euthanasia and salt-cured herring with onions and pickle? The same Netherlands where Islamic fundamentalism is currently on trial in the person of Mohammed Bouyeri, the killer of Theo van Gogh? I hope not, but if we're due some punishment at least we'll know it's our own fault, not that of our elected leaders. With the blood of innocents running down the gutter there's only one course of action. Be defiant, that'll teach these evil men.
Link
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been listening to CBC Radio One for some time now and using my nifty mp3 player to record anything I like. So far it's all bits and pieces of various documentaries. When I get it all together at a later point in time, I might upload the sound files.
CBC Radio Overnight consists of the best of radio broadcasting from all around the world, including Radio Netherlands. That's where this article comes from.
The following is my opinion on the article:
Despite its brevity and simple language, it struck me on several levels. First and foremost, the Orwellian connection is inescapable. The portrayal of such incidents immersed in party rhetoric takes away from the positive lessons that can be learned.
A very small percentage of the global Muslim community condones this kind of activity. A smaller percentage of these people then actually carry out these attacks. An even smaller portion of these extremists do it simply out of cold blood. The lesson of course being that there are underlying causes for such expressions of hate and anger. They dont "hate your way of life", they hate how you (the west) have accentuated their problems and tried to take advantage of their internal turmoil and weaknesses.
Much has been said in recent weeks and months about dealing with the problem of terrorism at its roots. That is akin to digging up your own dirty past. It's easy to make such categorical statements that divide the world into two camps. In this day and age when the average person gets most of his information from 5-minute soundbites on the run, it achieves precisely the effect desired by the state: everyone united in ignorance against the evil, freedom-hating terrorists who hate their way of life and will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister goals.
A hypocritical, unilateral and aggressive foreign policy is a big part of the problem. Meddling with the affairs of independent nations for material gains also plays a significant role. This includes propping up unpopular potentates who enjoy brutal repression of dissent. The results of this kind of conduct are in front of your eyes and need no explanation.
The new-found role of the west as the champion of human rights and bearer of the democratic beacon comes with a responsibility to avoid mistakes of the past. One has to go back only 60 years to see western values in action. The modern plague of terrorism pales in comparison. With this backdrop, one can only be too cautious with where the west is tyring to lead the world today.
On the Islamic front, a lack of mostly Islamic education is to blame for such extreme and abnormal interpretations of the noble Qur'an. A concerted effort would be required to undo the damages of years of ignorance. It is being done and I can attest to this fact.
As for North America, I think Al-Jazeera can do wonders in combating ignorance. Its bias can only help offset what's already there.
Please keep this discussion civil and ignore the flamebaits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Video*
Man speaks truth on Iraq
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