Tuesday, July 11, 2006
From the comments: Europe and anti-Semitism
Oh yeah? Just because one European is an asshole every European is one?
Thanks a lot!!!!!!
You know, I am European and I am a Soldiers Angel who officially adopted four American Soldiers and one British Soldier and who is a DJ of HOOAH!!!! Radio and you dare to put out the "Jewish" thingy? Why don't you call Europeans Nazi? It makes it a lot easier!
I support the Americans because I believe in what they do and do not bash them just because there are Soldiers that murdered, tortured, slaughtered, raped and massacred people in Iraq.
Why?
Because it ain't right! Just because one is a freakin asshole, not everybody is one!
Oh, and I won't think of Americans bad, just because you called us Europeans names, it doesn't mean that every single American is like you!
And oh yeah, I AM PISSED OFF BY YOUR STATEMENT, BECAUSE I AM A PROUD EUROPEAN!
Have a nice day
Tanker Angel Nelly
Nelly,
Thank you very much for supporting American soldiers.
Yes, it is looking like the story holds water, and American Troops are guilty of raping and murdering a young Iraqi girl, and that breaks my heart and is a black mark on all of us.
I don't recall Stephen D. Green getting voted "Soldier of the Year," though.
Nevertheless, I should point out that, as another commenter notes, most of the ballots were cast prior to the end of the tournament (yeah, that makes a lot of sense).
Ask for European antisemitism, why don't we just ask the Jewish community in France what there experience is?
Of course, why should we be surprised? French viciousness toward Jews isn't exactly new:
There is no doubt that Vichy was not only willing but eager to help the Nazis by agreeing to their demands - which kept increasing from the spring of 1942 onward - for the deportation of France's foreign Jews. The agreement between Rene Bousquet, the Secretary General of the French police, and Nazi S.S. Gen. Carl Oberg provided that the French police would assist in ''the repression of all the enemies of the Reich.'' As is well known (and was dramatized some years ago in a somber and moving film, ''Black Thursday''), it was the French police who, at the Germans' request, rounded up 13,000 foreign Jews in Paris on July 16 and 17, 1942, and seized many thousands more in unoccupied France in late August of that year. Pierre Laval had defiantly told a group of American Quakers a few weeks earlier that ''the French government was glad that a change in German attitude toward foreign Jews gave France an opportunity to get rid of them.''
And then there's this news report from just last week:
Neo-Nazis hijack gala to burn Anne Frank diary
Sure, these skinheads are extreme, even for Germans (though I also know a woman my age who grew up in Germany and showed me the cigarrette burn scars on her own arms that were caused by schoolyard bullies who thought she was Jewish.)
But let's disregard the actions of a few vile lunatics for now - and instead look at the considered actions of France and other European govrenments. The elected representatives of the people of Europe continue to be all too willing to buy into the worst characterizations of Israelis, while excusing away - and even enabling - the murderous activities of Hezbollah:
In the past two weeks, the officials said, France has rebuffed appeals by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, which would prevent it from raising money in Europe through charity groups. The United States has long called Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but the French, American and European officials said, have opposed doing so, and argue that making such a designation now would be unwise, given the new turbulence in Lebanon.
To be fair, the governments of Italy, Poland, and The Netherlands supported listing Hezbollah - an organization responsible for murdering hundreds of Jews - as a terrorist organization. That's three - out of more than twenty.
(Not incidentally, these three governments also contributed troops to the Iraq war effort - for which I'm very grateful.)
If I am going to cut Europe any slack over their history of anti-semitism, they've got to show me some evidence that except for a few crackpots on the fringes, that it's over with.
Splash, out
Jason
Comments:
Jason, if you're so damned outraged by Euro anti-semtisism and racial intolerance, go read this article that outlines the antisemitic, intolerant history that may lie behind this sad story: A Racist Slur at the World Cup?
There is no excuse for Zissou's act. He will live with the shame forever. But before you go making an ass of yourself with halucenations about the role of antisemitism in this incident, you should take a moment to familiarize yourself with the background of racism and intolerance in this sport.
There is no excuse for Zissou's act. He will live with the shame forever. But before you go making an ass of yourself with halucenations about the role of antisemitism in this incident, you should take a moment to familiarize yourself with the background of racism and intolerance in this sport.
Sacrebleu!!!
I'm shocked...SHOCKED...to discover that racism exists among Europeans.
I originally meant the post as a joke - a satire of Europeans, though not of Zidane specifically, whose actions speak for themselves.
I was not seriously suggesting that Zidane's motives were antisemitic. There are levels of irony which you're not getting.
So it turns out that Eurobigotry did, indeed, play a role?
Indeed, it was at the heart of the incident?
In that sense, I was right all along - just not in the manner I hinted at originally.
But if you're thinking I seriously posited that antisemitism played a role in this incident, that's a hallucination on your part.
I'm shocked...SHOCKED...to discover that racism exists among Europeans.
I originally meant the post as a joke - a satire of Europeans, though not of Zidane specifically, whose actions speak for themselves.
I was not seriously suggesting that Zidane's motives were antisemitic. There are levels of irony which you're not getting.
So it turns out that Eurobigotry did, indeed, play a role?
Indeed, it was at the heart of the incident?
In that sense, I was right all along - just not in the manner I hinted at originally.
But if you're thinking I seriously posited that antisemitism played a role in this incident, that's a hallucination on your part.
Nelly's original comment is disturbing. Jason did not imply all Europeans were bad. However the response you made indicates that rather than solving the problem you'd prefer to shoot the messenger.
Not that that's strictly a European style of doing things, America has many problems which it is not taking a rational approach to solving. Take for example, Bush-hate. Sure, he's not the best president, but the criticism of him is extremely lacking in substance. Bush's defense of his own policies is pretty lacking as well.
Tony Snow is a breath of fresh air, but too little too late.
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Not that that's strictly a European style of doing things, America has many problems which it is not taking a rational approach to solving. Take for example, Bush-hate. Sure, he's not the best president, but the criticism of him is extremely lacking in substance. Bush's defense of his own policies is pretty lacking as well.
Tony Snow is a breath of fresh air, but too little too late.
# posted by 
: 1:19 PM
: 1:19 PM
