Global Voices Online » Racism

St. Lucia, U.S.A.: New Book of Poetry

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:43:33 +0000

From St. Lucia, Caribbean Book Blog interviews Dr. Neal Hall about his new anthology of verse, Nigger For Life.

Greece: Police violence against migrant woman triggers reforms

Asteris Masouras — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:08:24 +0000

Greece has been embroiled in a row over abusive migrant detentions and the lip service paid so far by the new socialist government to honor its pledges to reform the police. Two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, an incident of police brutality against a migrant mother and her child in Athens caused an uproar that have triggered new government promises for police reform.

Photojournalist and blogger Craig Wherlock translated from reports in Greek media:

a 35 year old Armenian woman was beaten, handcuffed and detained in front of her two year old child [..] in Athens last Thursday [..] When she went to get the pushchair carrying her child they grabbed her, pushed her to the ground, kicking and punching her in the belief she was resisting arrest. The hapless mother was handcuffed and taken with her child to the Aghios Panteleimonos police department where she was kept for four hours.

The incident was promptly reported on Twitter by Cyberela:

«Νταήδες» αστυνομικοί ξυλοκόπησαν 35χρονη http://www.enet.gr/104685 (via @enetgr) @chrisochoidis Τί θα κάνετε γι αυτό;

Police “bullies” assaulted a 35 year old woman http://www.enet.gr/104685 (via @enetgr) @chrisochoidis what are you going to do about it?

Citizen Protection minister Michalis Chrisochoidis was harangued by demands to take action. On Twitter vivian_e said:

@chrisochoides Υπουργέ, δεν πάει άλλο η κατάσταση με την αστυνομική βία. Πρέπει να υπάρξουν παραδειγματικές τιμωρίες. Άμεσα

@chrisochoides Minister, it's gone far enough with police violence. Exemplary punishments must be handed out. Immediately

Half an hour after the first tweet, the minister's office responded directly to citizens for the first time through Twitter:

@Cyberela @diakoptis @teacherdude @asteris @magicasland μετά την καταγγελία της 36χρονης η ΓΑΔΑ διέταξε Ένορκη Διοικητική Εξέταση

@Cyberela @diakoptis @teacherdude @asteris @magicasland after charges brought by the 36 year old, police HQ ordered a juried investigation to be made

… to which vivian_e responded

@chrisochoidis Θα σας ρωτάμε κάθε μέρα για την πορεία της ΕΔΕ.

@chrisochoidis we'll be querying you every day on the progress of the investigation

Later, the minister announced that the officers responsible for the incident would be permanently dismissed, and initiated a public consultation for the creation of a special office to monitor incidents of police abuse.

Russia: Anti-fascists Mourn Murder of Activist Killed By Neo-Nazis

Alexey Sidorenko — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:07:20 +0000

Hundreds of young anti-fascists gathered in the center of Moscow. They mourned the murder of Ivan Khutorskoy, an activist of “Antifa,” Russian anti-fascist movement. A blogger chtodelat claims [ENG] it's the sixth “Antifa” murder in Russia during the last few years. The photos of the gathering made by lj-user ottenki_serogo can be found here [RUS].

Qatar: Cartoon of maid abusing child raises ire

Shabina Khatri — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:00:11 +0000

Cartoon published in Gulf Times Nov. 22 2009

Is it satire, or just bad taste?

A cartoon of a crazed, angry-looking woman threatening a child with a dripping bowl of tainted gruel has left many Doha bloggers scratching their heads and looking for answers.

The sketch, titled ‘Housemaid's revenge,' was published in Sunday's Gulf Times, a local English newspaper.

The cartoon depicts a maid - presumably Indian, judging by the red bindi on her forehead and gold hoop earrings - threatening a toddler after being scolded by her employer.

The text reads:

Your mum shouted at me today just because I broke a plate. And I am going to strike back. Count on me you brat, you won't sleep at home tonight! You will stay at Al Sadd Children's Emergency. Open your mouth now. This dish I have made will make you so sick that it will make you dizzy for hours.

Many Doha bloggers strongly condemned the cartoon, but were undecided about the artist's intentions.

On Twitter, Weirdweb said:

No, really, Gulf Times, let it all out. Tell us how you REALLY feel about Indian maids. #racism #paranoia

On the forum Qatar Living,

Commenter Olive said:

There's so much wrong about this cartoon I'm not sure what the editor was thinking when he allowed it to be printed.

Some wondered if the message behind the cartoon was lost in translation.

On Twitter, tomgara said

What is worse in this Gulf Times (Qatar) cartoon - hectic racism or awful 6th-grade writing? The answer is both.

On Qatar Living, the debate turned to treatment of maids by their employers, who sponsor their stay in the country.

genesis said:

Mohammed cartoons are never meant to be funny. Most of his work is dark altough sarcastic. I think it's badly translated, the intention is how cruel some sponsors treat their maids

rMs_000 responded diplomatically:

It describes about the cruelty of some sponsors.. and devilish reaction of house maids. Editor doesn't show any partiality to both of them i say. So its neutral..

britexpat said

The message is quite simple..Abuse the maid and you risk her abusing the child

Satire or not, most found the cartoon to be in poor taste.

On Twitter, rachelannmorris said:

Not funny in any way shape or form

On Qatar Living,

Commenter Amoud said:

I don't like this at all…..Even the bad translation doesn't cover what bad taste this is in.

And Adham Essam chimed in:

Oh my God! I CANNOT believe that was printed. How on earth could they allow something like that??? Which ever angle they were going for, it is completely wrong of them to present the issue like this. For the maid. For the child. For the parents. Disgusting…

For more on the discussion, visit Qatar Living.

Brazil: Do banks have metal or melanin detector doors?

Paula Góes — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:38:05 +0000

On the eve of Brazil's Black Pride Day – celebrated on November 20th, when the country renews its ongoing fight against discrimination – the Circo Voador Audiovisual Collective did an experiment. They filmed two members of their group, of apparently the same age and dressed similarly, trying to enter the same bank at two different moments, carrying the very same bag filled with metal - keys, coins, mobile phone. One of them took a few seconds to get in with no issues at all; the other one could not get in, barred at the revolving door, a regular feature in many Brazilian banks. The first guy was white, the second, black. See the result:

According to the filmmakers, the experiment showed that the metal detector doors are in fact activated by the banks' security guards. In other words, the security method currently employed by banks is based on their personnel's pre-judgment, often plagued with preconceptions, stereotypes and discrimination against certain types of people. On their blog, Circo Voador [Flying Circus, pt] invites readers to join forces, sending their own videos of as many different banks as possible. They explain the experiment:

Na primeira cena aparecem várias pessoas ao redor da bolsa. Todas elas fizeram o teste com a mesma bolsa, algumas foram barradas outras não. Em nenhum momento alguém alterou o conteúdo dos pertences na bolsa. A escolha da imagem do MC Shackal não se deveu ao fato dele ser negro e sim, por termos nos utilizado de câmeras escondidas e o momento em que o registramos, não sofreu interferências externas, como carros ou pessoas paradas na frente da câmera.

There are several people around the bag in the first scene. They all took the test carrying the same bag, some of them were barred others were not. Nobody ever changed the bag's contents. We have chose to include the scene we shot with MC Shackal not because he's black but because we used a hidden camera and when we shot him, there were no external interferences, such as cars or people standing in front of the camera.

Many people reacted on the Circo Voador blog's comment box. Some of the readers shared similar experiences, such as Dona Biologia [pt], a teacher:

Coloquei chaves, celular, bolsinha de moedas no local indicado e a porta apitava e travava. Por fim, o rapaz chamou um pseudo gerente que atravessou a porta e, dentro do caixa eletrônico da agência, me fez abrir a bolsa de provas e quando não viu nada que justificasse, teve a audácia de dizer que fora a minha bolsinha de lápis. Me arrependo até hoje de não ter processado o banco pelo constrangimento.

I put keys, mobile phone, coin purse at the indicated place and the door set the alarm off and locked. Finally, the guy called a pseudo manager who went through the door and, inside the bank's ATM, he made me open my bag of [students] essays and when he found nothing to justify [his attitude], he had the audacity to say it was my pencil case. I still regret not having sued the bank for the constraint.

Christiano J. Jabur [pt], who was once barred at a metal detector door in São Paulo because of a digital camera, claims that discrimination against people in the same revolving doors happens in banks regardless of the colour of the skin:

Tive que colocá-la numa caixinha para conseguir entrar no banco. Mas uma senhora de idade, também branca, que tentou entrar na agência da Nossa Caixa, na mesma cidade, foi barrada e não conseguiu entrar de jeito nenhum, mesmo chamando a polícia. O gerente do banco ininuou que ela poderia ser criminosa, pois existem muitas pessoas hoje, acima dos 50 e 60 anos de idade, cometendo crimes (o que não deixa de ser verdade). Não vou dizer que não exista preconceito contra negros e pardos nos bancos, por parte de vigilantes e atendentes. Mas dizer que são só os negros que são barrados nas portas giratórias é uma bela de uma mentira.

I had to put [the camera] in a box in order to go inside the bank. But an elderly woman, also white, tried to enter a Nossa Caixa branch in the same city and was barred and could not get in at all, even after calling the police. The bank insinuated she could have been a criminal, because there are many people over 50 to 60 years committing crimes nowadays (which is actually true). I will not say that bank security guards and attendants have no prejudice against black and brown people. But to say that black people are the only ones to be barred by revolving doors is a lie.

On the other hand, a security guard called Leandro [pt] explains in the same comment box how the system works, and criticizes the way the video has been interpreted by some:

Sou Vigilante (segurança), e posso afirmar, este sistema é falho, mas este vídeo esta sendo usado para sujar a imagem de profissionais que estão apenas cumprindo ordens… os ‘controles’ podem sim travar e destravar as portas giratórias, mas isso não é valido para todas as agencias, são sistemas diferenciados pra cada agencia ou cada porta giratória… e não temos controle sobre o “Nível de travamento“ de cada porta (isso é de responsabilidade do gerente), que costuma variar de 4 a 7 níveis, por isso vc pode entrar em uma agencia e ficar travado e em outra passar sem problema algum…
Sei que intenção de vc's não é esta, li o que estão propondo e apoio totalmente, mas não esta sendo divulgado desta forma, outros sites e meios de comunicação estão colocando informações “picadas”, pela metade… eu mesmo recebi um Email como Titulo: “Vigilantes racistas?”

I am a security guard and I can tell you this system is flawed, but this video is being used to soil the image of professionals who are just following orders… there are ‘controls' that can indeed lock and unlock the revolving doors, but this is not valid for all branches, the system is different for every branch or individual revolving door… and we have no control over the “level of locking” of each door which usually ranges from level 4 to 7 (this is the managers' responsibility), and this is why you get caught in a branch but may go inside another one without any problems…
I know that it was not your intention, I have read what you are proposing and I fully support it, but it is not being circulating this way, other websites and media have published bits and pieces of half information… I have myself received an email with the subject line: “Racist security guards?”

The video has gone viral on the blogosphere too. Rafael Cesar [pt] says that whether the doors shut on white or black people is besides the point:

A questão é que sabemos que aquele detector de metais é muito mais uma desculpa para os seguranças fazerem o controle da forma como julgam apropriada do que qualquer outra coisa. O que trava, mesmo, é aquele controlezinho que eles carregam. Comigo é rotineiro, sem qualquer exagero, passar por aquela porra sem metal nenhum na mochila (já deixei até estojo naquela caixinha ao lado por causa de lapiseira) e me travarem. Ou seja: o que volta e meia detectam em mim é um meliante em potencial, porque por várias vezes não havia qualquer metal a ser detectado. Se eu não tinha metal, por que ‘a porta’ travou? E, se eu tenho metal, por que logo em seguida ‘a porta’ destrava?E nessa de o crivo da segurança passar pelos olhos dos seguranças, é claro que o indivíduo negro leva a pior. Assim como leva a pior com a polícia, com emprego etc.

The point is that we know that a metal detector, more than anything else, is just an excuse for the security guards in charge to use their own judgment the way they see fit. The doors are locked, in fact, by the litlle remote control they carry. For me it's a habit, with no exaggeration, to go through that shit without any metal in my backpack (I have even left a case in the box next to it because of a pencil sharpener) and I get stuck. In other words: what they detect in me every now and then is a potential thief, because several times there was no metal to be detected. If I was carrying no metal, why did ‘the door' locked? And if I am carrying metal, why is it that soon after ‘the door' unlocks? As the security measure is filtered through the eyes of security guards, of course the black guy is worse off. The same way he is worse off with the police, in employment, etc…

Helio Ventura [pt] takes the opportunity to republish a text written in March 2007 asking if revolving doors detected metal or melanin after a black customer was killed inside the bank in Rio de Janeiro:

Rio de Janeiro, sexta-feira, 22 de dezembro de 2006, 13 horas e 20 minutos. O micro-empresário negro Jonas Eduardo Santos de Souza, 34 anos, estava na fila da agência do banco Itaú da Av. Rio Branco, da qual era cliente há 10 anos, para operações de rotina. Mas ele foi vítima do racismo que persiste em existir em nosso país, apesar de muitas vozes da elite e da intelectualidade negarem. Ele foi morto com um tiro no peito por Natalício de Souza Marins, 29 anos, vigilante da agência.
Ao tentar entrar na agência bancária, Jonas foi parado pela conhecida e constrangedora porta giratória. Ele foi abordado por Natalício e obrigado a pôr na bandeja todos os objetos que possuía. Como a porta continuava travando, Jonas foi obrigado a tirar inclusive o cinto. O gerente foi acionado por Natalício, e só autorizou o acesso do jovem micro-empresário à agência após exigir que Jonas provasse ser cliente da agência, mostrando um cartão do banco. Após o constrangimento, já dentro da agência, Jonas e Natalício continuaram a discutir, até que o vigilante, demonstrando total despreparo para o exercício da função, sacou seu revólver e matou Jonas, que não teve chance de defesa. […]
Assim como também poderíamos estar do outro lado, o de Natalício, também negro, um pai de família que teve suprimidas as oportunidades de acessar uma profissão que pudesse dar melhores condições à sua filha de 5 anos, que se viu obrigado a pleitear apenas funções que exigem menor qualificação, como a de vigilante. Ele também foi atingido pelo racismo estrutural que assola este país. Isso em nada muda o fato dele ter agido equivocadamente: é um homicida e deve receber as sanções legalmente previstas. E ser também negro não atenua o crime. Mas nos faz perguntar: que sistema é este que coloca dois semelhantes em lados opostos, fazendo com que um tire a vida do outro? Até quando fatos como este acontecerão? Percebemos o quão perverso é este “racismo à brasileira”, uma política de extermínio silenciosa, disfarçada de risco social e fatalidade.

Rio de Janeiro, Friday, December 22 2006, 1:20 pm. Black micro-entrepreneur Jonas Eduardo Santos de Souza, 34 years old, was queuing up at branch of an Itaú bank in Rio Branco, of which he had been a customer for 10 years, for routine transactions. But he was the victim of the racism that continues to exist in our country, despite the denial it exists which comes from many sections of the elite and intelligentsia. He was killed with a shot to the chest by Natalício Marins de Souza, 29, a security guard at the branch.
When trying to enter the branch, Jonas was stopped by the well known and embarrassing revolving door. He was approached by Natalício and forced to put all his objects in a tray. As the door was still locked, Jonas was forced to take even his belt off. Natalicio called the manager, who only authorized the young micro-business owner to get in after requiring that Jonas proved he was a branch's client, showing his bank card. After the embarrassment, inside the bank, Jonas and Natalício continued to argue until the security guard, showing total unpreparedness for the job, took out his gun and killed Jonas, who had no chance to defend himself. […]
We could just be siding with Natalicio, also black, a family father who had had no opportunity to find a profession that could provide better conditions for his 5 year old daughter, being forced to apply only for jobs that required lesser qualifications, such as security guard. He too was hit by the structural racism that plagues this country. This does not change the fact that he acted wrongly: he is a murderer and should receive the penalties provided by law. And also being black does not mitigate the crime. But it does make us wonder: what system is this that puts two likes on opposite sides, causing one to claim the life of the other? How much longer will events like this happen? We realize how wicked this “Brazilian racism” is, a quiet policy of extermination, disguised as a social risk and fatality.

Andréia Freitas [pt], who once managed to get undisturbed inside a bank with a kitchen knife she had bought earlier on in the day, says that the sad conclusion is that people only see each others' surfaces:

Por que será que cresceram os assaltos a banco realizados por homens de terno e gravata? Por que será que hoje existe o roubo de carros em estacionamentos e os assaltantes chegam no local pra assaltar de carro importado? Golpes de estelionatários em hotéis de luxo, em lojas de grife, em restaurantes cinco estrelas…

A resposta é óbvia: O mundo é movido por “aparências”! Sim… se você é considerada uma pessoa “bem apessoada” a vida fica mais fácil pra você em todos os aspectos. Agora… se você não está tão “bem vestido”, ou seu cabelo “acordou” num dia ruim, ou seu sapato tá meio surrado, pode apostar que a vida não será bolinho pra você.

O ser humano vê as aparências! Se as portas dos bancos fossem realmente controladas por uma máquina, por um dispositivo eletrônico de segurança, os dois caras do vídeo do YouTube tinham sido barrados! E nada mais justo do que barrar OS DOIS, que portavam objetos de metal.

Why is it that bank robberies are increasingly being carried out by men wearing suits and ties? Why is it that nowadays there are cars being stolen inside parking lots and the robbers arrive there driving imported car? Scam in luxury hotels, designer shops, five stars restaurants…

The answer is obvious: the world is moved by “appearances”! Yes… if you are considered a “handsome” person, life is easier for you in all aspects. Now… if you're not as “well dressed”, or have had a bad hair day, or your shoes are a little worn out, you can bet that life will not be a piece of cake for you.

Human beings see appearances! If the doors of the banks were actually controlled by a machine, an electronic security device, the two guys of the YouTube video would had been barred! And nothing more fair than barring the TWO OF THEM, as they were both carrying metal objects.

An online petiton [pt] launched with the experiment demanding that Brazilian banks stop using revolving doors and invest in x-ray systems or safety equipment that shows customers' real belongings has been signed by over 2,000 people so far. Over all, the plea is that everyone is treated with respect by the banks.

Taiwan: Foreigners face discrimination from banks

David Reid — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:27:53 +0000

Patrick Cowsill writes about the difficulties foreigners face in getting a credit card in Taiwan.

Egypt: German Justice for Marwa El Sherbini

Tarek Amr — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:01:10 +0000

Finally, justice has been served in the case of Marwa El-Sherbini, the Egyptian woman who was stabbed to death inside a German courthouse by a Russian-German immigrant. After nearly four and a half months, Alex Wiens has been sentenced to life imprisonment, without a possibility for early release.

Bikya Misr, wrote about the case:

After nearly four and a half months, the Marwa el-Sherbini saga has come to a conclusion of sorts after a German court sentenced the man who stabbed the “veiled martyr” 17 times inside the court in July to life in prison without possibility of early release. Egyptians, Arabs and Germans alike have welcomed the verdict and hope Europe and the Middle East can begin to heal the wounds of the killing and move “toward a better future.”

Hicham Maged wrote about how glad he is for the ruling, and that he has real trust in the German justice system:

The judge was aware about various tricks from the killer's defence team and here I quote the words according to this article: “ He killed … not out of fear but out of revenge. He consciously exploited her innocence and defencelessness. ” I agree with this and do not forget that he also tried to kill her husband.
I am glad that the courtroom where betrayal took place has been washed up physically and morally by applying justice. Consequently, my trust in the German justice system was needless to mention because this crime was shocking for all of us not only Germans. For that matter, only today Marwa and her unborn baby can rest in peace after compensating from the killer.

Zeinobia was happy with the verdict, and she also wrote in response to those who believed that it is a political verdict, and that the German court ruled in favour of Marwa in order to please the Egyptians, and Arabs:

Now I want to say something, some racists “and they are not few in the world now”, will say that this is a political verdict ; the court had to take to win the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world and to save the German interests is the Islamic world.
Well with my all respect I said it before and will say it again; do not think of Marwa as a Muslim woman; think of her as a Pregnant woman and a mother who was brutally stabbed 18 times in front of her little boy. He killed two souls, innocent souls because of blind hate and racism. He deserves to be behind bars for the rest of his life for taking the life of innocent souls and take the life of a mother from her child

Aam Mina on the other hand wrote a post, making fun of those who believe in conspiracy theories and were expecting the Germans to rule in favour of the murderer:

مش عارف ليه من ساعة الجكم مش سامعين صوت الناس اللي فلقتنا وقت الحادث عن عنصرية الألمان و كرههم للعرب و المسلمين و عن إن القضية هتتظبط و الراجل هياخدله سنة أو سنتين و خلاص و انه الحل الوحيد هو الجهاد و محاربة الغرب الصهيوني الفاسد العلماني الكافر

I don't know why, since the announcement of the verdict, I haven't heard any of those who kept on talking about the Germans and how racist they are, and that they hate Arabs and Muslims. They also claimed that the court will rule in favour of the murderer and he will be imprisoned for a year or two only, and that our only hope is to declare sacred war against the secular, rotten, Zionist, and infidel West.

He then wrote about many the lessons we are supposed to learn from this incident:

دي بعض الدروس المستفادة من الغرب الكافر
١- سرعة العدالة.. جريمة القتل تمت في يوليو ٢٠٠٩ يعني من حوالي ٤ شهور.. ماحتاجناش ٢٠ سنة دراسة للقضية زي ما بيحصل عندنا
٢- عدالة الحكم.. تم تطبيق أقصي عقوبة علي المتهم و هي المؤبد (عقوبة الإعدام غير معمول بيها في القانون الألماني) من دون التمييز ما بين مسلم و مسيحي أو عربي و ألماني.. الكل سواسية أمام القانون

Here you are some lessons we have to learn form the infidel West:
1. Serving justice soon: The murder took place in July 2009, i.e. about 4 months ago, and it didn't take them 20 years to study the case, like what happens here.
2. Justice itself: The murderer received a maximum penalty - execution is not available in the German law - without any discrimination between a Muslim, or Christian, an Arab or German. They are all equal in front of law.

Finally, Hicham Maged wrote:

What happened to Marwa should be a ‘wake-up’ call that make people work for achieving this both by criticising extreme actions taken against people because of their faith or race and understanding our differences and this simply means to quite stereotyping from whoever against whoever.

Egyptians! Algerians! Wake UP!

Marwa Rakha — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:49:04 +0000

From ferocious marketing campaigns to Facebook wars, hacking, and owl burning, the November 14th match between Egypt and Algeria has turned into an ugly war. Egyptian-Algerian actor Ahmed Mekky dedicates this wake-up call to the hypnotized mobs:

In hats off for Mekki,
Zeinobia wrote:

After hearing provoking and insulting rap from both Egypt and Algeria attacking each other , Ahmed Mekki ; Egyptian-Algerian Actor/director/rapper released this song which I believe should have been released earlier as it could help a lot in making both sides wake up from this stupidity.

Nawara Negm is falling in love with Mekki:

احمد مكي عمل الاغنية دي: اول جريمة في الكون كانت بين اتنين اخوات؟
انا ح احبه بقى، مين اللي كاتب الكلام؟ ده واحد بيفهم
ح تفرق معاكوا كتير لو قلت لكوا اننا والجزائريين متطابقين في الدي ان ايه؟
في حاجة واحدة، اننا نثبت ان الهبل وراثة، وده يبقى سبق علمي نقدر نتقدم بيه للجامعات العالمية ونقول حققنا فتح علمي

Ahmed Mekki wrote this song? The first crime committed on earth was between two brothers? I am falling in love with him! He who writes such lyrics is someone with good brains. Would it make much of a difference if I told you that we (Egyptians) and Algerians share the same DNA? Yes! It only proves one thing; idiocy is genetic!

The lyrics:

أول جريمة فى الكون كانت بين اتنين اخوات
قابيل هايبل يا ريتنا بنتعلم من كل اللى فات
تاريخنا عاد نفسه مليون مرة و ما بنتعلمش
و بنسال نفسنا دايما طب ليه ما بنتقدمش؟
قالها راجل حكيم زمان
فى الاتحاد قوة و فى الفرقة ضعف
ياريتك تفهم معنى كلمة ضعف
عارف الغرب اتحول عالم اول ليه؟
مشيوا بالظبط عاللى فى يوم جدودك قالوا عليه
الغرب اتعلم مننا فكرة الاتحاد
و ترجم كل كتبنا للغاتهم و استفاد
و احنا بقينا عالم تالت و كرهنا لبعض زودها
خلانا عالم مكانه ساكت
يا مصر و يا جزائر انتوا احفاد شهداء
لرفع اسم العروبة فوق فدوها بالدماء
و الله لو عملتوا نص اللى اتعمل ما بينكوا ساعة ما امريكا جت غزت العراق
ما كاتش دخلت
خير أجناد الارض و اقوى و اعظم ثوار
لو اتحدتم مع بعض صوتكم هيكون جبار
قريت جرايد برة و شوفت اليو تيوب و اتنكدت
ياااه لما الحفيد يضيع جهد الجد
صراع الاخوات بقى مانشيتات فى جرايد الغرب
كل المحطوط عاليوتيوب مش تشجيع .. دى اسمها حرب
تشجيع بلدك من حقك .. مش بس حقك دا واجبك
اهتف .. قوم ارفع علمك
شجع اخوك من قلبك و اوعى تخلى الانانية و العصبية تشوه وطنك
الوطن العربى .. ما هو وطنى و وطنك
فيكو نفس الأديان .. فيكوا نفس الألوان
نفس القارة .. نفس الوطن .. انتوا الاتنين اخوات
فوقوا

The first crime on earth was between two brothers;
Cain and Abel!
How I wished we would learn from the past!
Our history has been repeated over and over a million times once and again
but we never learn!
We still wonder why we never progress though we never learn.
A wise man of all times said it:
The sum of the parts is bigger than the whole.
I wish you would really understand
the meaning of being weak and divided!
Do you know why the west is leading the world?
Because they followed exactly what your ancestors inscribed.
They learnt our belief in unity and
translated all our books into their tongues and progressed.
And here we are third world countries
and our mutual hostility made it even worse.
We have become the countries that stood still.
Yo! Egyptians and Algerians!
You are the grandsons of honorable martyrs;
who died in the name of Arab unity.
Had you done half what you are doing now
when the USA invaded Iraq, they couldn't have!
You are the best soldiers and the greatest revolutionists,
if you join forces your voice would be deafening!
I read foreign newspapers and watched YouTube videos;
I was mortified.
Alas! When the grandson puts the grandfather to shame!
The brother's war has made headlines in western media;
everything posted on YouTube is a war in the name of cheering.
Cheering for your country is not only your right; it's your duty!
Cheer! Raise her flag!
But do not let selfishness and intolerance deform the Arab world.
Yes! The Arab world is your home and mine!
We share the same roots, the same colors,
the same religions, the same continent,
the same home, yes! we are brothers!
Wake Up!

Egypt: One day before playing Algeria

Marwa Rakha — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:11:15 +0000

Hisham of GVO covered the Algerian side of the online feud and tension over the decisive football match due to take place in Cairo on November 14. The encounter will determine which of the two teams will qualify to next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Some Egyptian bloggers enjoy a game with a twist.

Sue of AdBasha posted the Coca-Cola TV ad supporting the national team and wrote:

In what can only be called a brilliant initiative, CocaCola brings its fans an utter sense of nostalgia, mixed with goosebumps and smiles and even loud laughter.
With their latest National Football Team sponsorship campaign, “1989″ marks some of the best commercial content I've seen in a long while.

20 years ago, same two teams, same crucial crossroad, same month…Egypt and Algeria met for a World Cup qualifying game; A Special Dedication to 80 Million Egyptians.

Zeinobia called the campaign a beautiful marketing disaster:

If you hear tomorrow that angry Algerian hooligans have crashed every single Coca Cola bottle in their country , do not be surprised.
If you hear tomorrow that someone has set the Coca Cola factory there on fire do not be surprised.
If you find that the Algerians are calling for boycotting Coke do not be surprised.
Despite how beautiful this ad is from the artistic point of view , I do not know if it is the suitable time to release it in this tension between the two countries.
The Algerian FM has visited Egypt to speak with his Egyptian counterpart and there is talk that the presidents of both countries will attend the match in order to ensure maximum security , I do not know about the Algerian President’s security but I know ours very well.

Henkel came up with a counter campaign entitled, “From Egyptian mothers to the Egyptian team”:

Meanwhile, MohAly is fed up with all the noise:

I am definitely cheering for Egypt, I even will allow my students to leave 30 mins early to watch the match, but I still can't see why is it as important as October war (as some papers have written)?! Does this mean if Algeria wins, it will be another Naksa that will take another 40 years to fix its consequences. I am wondering that we have reached a stage where I wish that we take our work as serious as we are dealing with football issues!

Football is the opium of the masses and in Egypt it is used to distract people from real issues but what about Algeria, Zeinobia thinks that:

Algeria is suffering from the similar problems that we have in Egypt and driving anger and despair. They are headed by sick president who refuses to leave his place , an army that controls the country, ghost of terrorism moving around and youth that want to leave the country in every possible way because of the economic conditions !!

The Egyptians and Algerians love their countries so much and are extremely angry that they feel helpless in front all these challenges despite they are not ; they just need a strong motive , a strong and real motive not a pseudo match for 90 minutes.

SandMonkey summed up the war explaining how the Egyptians are gearing up:

There is a football tradition of killing owls in order to jinx your opposing team. It has been relayed to me that an Owl holocaust was started last week and is continuing until this very moment.

Tamer from the popular TV show el beit beitak went on TV a couple of days ago and informed the Egyptian audiences of the Hotel the Algerian team will be staying in, and urging the Egyptian people to “go there and hang out” until the day of the game.

How the Algerians retaliated

Algerian airlines has donated 3000 free tickets to hardcore Algerian fans in order not to have their team stand by its lonesome against the cheering might of 80,000 Egyptians.

Algerian hackers hacked the Egyptian football association webpage today, and put the Israeli flag on it (??!!!?).

Algerian municipality workers have stopped the paperwork for an Algerian girl getting married to an Egyptian guy, telling her that she can come back for it after Saturday’s game.

And what happened one day before the game

Egyptians dying for a ticket to the Game attacked all ticket selling centers in droves today. The Elite Heliopolis Sporting club managed to secure a couple of thousand tickets to sell to its members, only to have word of this reaching the Egyptian population and having hundreds of Egyptians storm into the private club to get their hands on tickets. 40 police cars were called to secure the facility.

The Bus carrying the Algerian team got attacked today, with Egyptian fans reportedly attacking it by throwing rocks at them. And then this is where the story gets hazy: The Algerians claim that the rock throwing reached such a degree, that the windows chatters and 4 of their players got injured. The Egyptian officials deny that any Algerian players got injured, and some are even claiming that the Algerians are making the entire thing up, with them breaking the glass of the bus themselves to set the Egyptians up. There are videos here and here. You make up your own mind.

Zeinobia thinks this video is sad:

It is very sad because it will be much better if I had heard those football fans screaming “We Want better education , We Want better health care system, We Want clean water and clean streets, We Want better salaries and better food , We Want democracy , We want our rights backs “ but unfortunately all what I heard was “We Want tickets” !!! It was just loud lost scream !!

Japan: Hitler's “Mein Kampf”, the manga version

Scilla Alecci — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:33:36 +0000

After more than 80 years since its first publication, Hitler's Mein Kampf has become a Manga comic.
The 190 page volume, which sold some 45,000 copies in the first printing, tells in a very simple way the story of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood to his rise as the leader of the National Socialist Party.

Cover of the manga 我が闘争 (Mein Kampf)

It is part of a series by the publishing company East Press which in the past has released the manga versions of several heavyweight literary works such as Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and Marx's The Capital.
Since further publication of Mein Kampf is already banned in several countries including Germany and Austria, the manga Waga Toso (我が闘争), as it is translated in Japanese, has given place to very different reactions abroad and in Japan, as blogger zoffy well sums up.

注目されている背景には、
・本書の著者がナチスドイツの独裁者アドルフ・ヒトラーであること。
・そして、ドイツでは今なお本著作の出版が禁止されていること。
・さらに、内容がネオ・ナチの思想を助長するのではないかといった懸念が世間にあること。
などの事情がある。
これに対し出版社側は、
「有名な本だが、読んだ人は少ない。どんな思想があれほどの悲劇を生んだのか、『悪魔』で片付けられるヒトラーの人間の部分を知る材料になると思った」
と企画の理由を話している。

Among the elements that caught [foreign media's] attention are:
- the fact that the author of this book was the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
- The fact that its publishing is still banned in Germany.
- The widespread fear that its content might encourage neo-Nazi sentiment
On the other hand, the publishing company argues as reason for such a choice the fact that “It's a famous book but very few people have read it. We think this Manga will provide clues to Hitler both as a human being and also to his way of thinking which led to such tragedy, though he is now dismissed as a ‘monster’

Two scenes from the manga 我が闘争 (Mein Kampf)

Commenting on this particular manga, many bloggers chose to copy-paste an article published in the daily Asahi Shimbun on September 20th and titled The manga version of ‘Mein Kampf' is a hit. Reactions range from critical to calling it “a historical resource” (売れる「わが闘争」漫画版　苦言も「歴史資料」の声も) [ja].
The same article, translated in English 　by the same paper a few days later, states the cause of the ban by saying that “The Finance Ministry of the state of Bavaria, which holds the copyright to the book, has refused to grant permission to reprint it out of sensitivity to victims of Nazi atrocities.”

However, journalist Yoshio Kisa (木佐芳男), former correspondent in Germany for the daily Yomiuri Shimbun and author of essays such as The Question of War Responsibility - Germany's unaccounted for past (戦争責任”とは何か―清算されなかったドイツの過去), says he does not agree with Asahi's explanation.

だが、発禁となっている本当の理由は、そんなきれいごとではない。出版すれば、ドイツをはじめヨーロッパ各国にいるネオナチ組織の聖典となって、政治的な大問題となりかねないからだ。バイエルン州の州都ミュンヘンのキオスクに立ち寄れば、いくつかの極右新聞が売られていることに気づく。ドイツには、それぞれ数千人の動員力を持つ極右・ネオナチ組織が複数ある。当局は、彼らを刺激しないように細心の注意を払っている。

The real reason why they ban its publication is not so considerate. The big issue is that it might become the political ‘Bible’ of those neo-Nazi associations that exist in every European country, starting with Germany.
If you could look at a newspaper kiosk in Munich in the state of Bavaria, you would see that extreme rightist newspapers are there being sold. In Germany there are several neo Nazi groups which mobilize some thousands of right extremists. The authorities are very careful about not provoking them[…]

Kisa, who considers the presence and actual danger of the rightist groups in Japan to be irrelevant if compared to those in Germany and in other European countries, also reflects on the publication of such a book in Japan.
　

日本で今、漫画版の『わが闘争』がどんな意味を持つか、どれだけの影響力があるかはよくわからない。しかし、４０年近く前の訳者の意図と漫画版刊行の意図とはそうちがわないだろう。
　平野氏はこんな言葉も書いている。　「戦争経験なき世代こそ、この書を読むべきではないだろうか。この書をくもりなき目で読み、客観的に判断することが、この世代にとって必要であり、戦後の教育を受けたものなら、十分な判断力をもって読むことができるのではないか」

I'm not sure what meaning and influence the manga version of Mein Kampf could have now in Japan. However, the intention of those who translated it 40 years ago and those who published the manga now, cannot be that different.
[Translator] Hirano used these words:
“The generation that didn't experience the war are actually the people that should read this book. This generation needs the clear mind and objective view required to read such text. Anybody who has received post-war education should be able to read this book with a good sense of judgement, or so I hope.”

　
The manga depicts Hitler as a man obsessed who accuses the Jewish people of being the origin of all Germany's evils. Its anti-Semitic thought is paramount and it seems unlikely that such a flawed figure could lead any reader to feel fascinated by his personality.

As some bloggers pointed out, the manga version of Mein Kampf is an abridgement of the dictator's ideology and may be seen instead, as a different way to be introduced to the study of history. It needs to be supplemented with other sources theternal suggests, praising the interesting East Press publishing project of making manga out of the world works of literature.

何かの話題が関心を呼び、より深い議論や理解に進むことはよいことだと思う。漫画では描き切れていないヒトラー本人の『わが闘争』原作も読んだ方がよいし、他の関連本を読むのもよいだろう。読書はそのように進んでいくものだ。関連おススメ漫画としては、『マンガで鍛える読書力』でも紹介した水木しげるの『劇画ヒットラー (ちくま文庫) 』もよいし、手塚治虫の『アドルフに告ぐ』はかなりのおススメだ。

I think it's good to raise interest in some topics for this can develop into a deeper debate or understanding. It's good to read the original Mein Kampf written by Hitler to cover those parts absent in the manga and it also good to read other books that are related to it. That is the way reading develops. As related comics, I would suggest Shjigeru Mizuki's Gekika Hitoraa (Hitler's comic strip) which is also suggested in Manga de Kitaeru Dokushoryoku (Training reading through manga) and, for sure, Tezuka Osamu's Adorufu ni tsugu (Tell Adolf).

USA: Fort Hood massacre puts spotlight on Muslims in Army

Bhumika Ghimire — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:35 +0000

A shooting rampage carried out by US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan that killed 13 and injured 31 in Fort hood, Texas has once again put Muslims in America under the spotlight - especially those serving in the army.

Moments after Major Hasan was announced as the suspected shooter, there was clear discomfort among newscasters and commentators regarding his religious and ethnic background. It's also been widely reported that Muslim service members have sometimes faced attacks from fellow services members.

Howard M. Friedman, Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Toledo, says in his blog ReligionClause:

“The military has been actively recruiting Muslims with the linguistic skills and cultural understanding needed to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However Muslims in the service face suspicion by some of their officers. “

Whatever suspicions of Muslim service members existed before the shootings, one can only fear that they may have been heightened by the mass murder in Fort Hood. Questions are still being raised as to whether Major Hasan was an extremist who carried out the attack based on religious ideology or he was simply mentally ill.

In Canada, writer Gwynne Dyer, at Vancouver weekly free paper Straight.com, argues that pointing out the murderer's religion overlooks some very serious issues:

“After a few days while the commentariat hesitated before competing narratives, the media are settling on the explanation that it was ethnic/racial/religious abuse that drove Nidal crazy. Bad people doing un-American things were ultimately responsible for the tragedy, and there’s an end to it.

The one explanation that is excluded is that America’s wars in Muslim lands overseas are radicalizing Muslims at home. Never mind that the homegrown Muslim terrorists who attacked the London transport system in 2005, and the various Muslim plotters who have been caught in other Western countries before their plans came to fruition, have almost all blamed the Western invasions of Muslim countries for radicalizing them. Never mind, above all, that what really radicalized them was the fact that those invasions made no sense in terms of Western security.”

Fox News, often criticized for its bias on issues related to immigration and conservative politics, is reportedly calling for the “screening of Muslims” in the army. At the Veterans Today website, a retired officer of the United States Coast Guard, Tom Barnes, says the news channel is playing up the stereotype to create “us versus them” tensions:

“… the news channel is being very “unhelpful” to say the least if this initially reasonable question soon turns into another Fox Channel crusade against “them”. This stuff is not only getting old, it is dangerous. The story is here.

As I have previously pointed out, this kind of thing has happened before in the U.S. Armed Forces. I am getting tired of Fox News telling me who my enemies are. All the time. Non stop. I had no idea there were so many “thems” out there!”

A number of newspapers are now examining how Major Hasan's actions will affect Muslims serving the in US army, and Muslim residents around Fort Hood.

Here is a video report by euroamericannews on YouTube about how some Fort Hood Muslims view the events.

As the investigation of the massacre continues, the spotlight on Muslims serving in the army will likely continue.

Denmark: Immigrants offered money to leave the country

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:54:37 +0000

Denmark is offering immigrants from “non-Western” countries 100,000 Danish kroners (US$20,000) if they volunteer to give up their legal residency and move “home”. This is just one of many creative initiatives spearheaded by the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party to make foreigners - and especially Muslims - feel unwelcome in this small European country of 5.5 million inhabitants.

According to the Danish People's Party, a coalition partner of the two ruling right-wing parties of the Danish government, paying immigrants to leave Denmark will save the state money on social services and “problems” [da] in the long run. “It costs quite a lot to have maladjusted immigrants in Danish society,” said financial spokesperson of the party, Kristian Thulesen Dahl. Funds have also been set aside for campaigns by local authorities who wish to encourage immigrants to leave the country. The government have not yet calculated how many people can be expected to accept the offer.

Around 10% of the population in Denmark are immigrants or descendants of immigrants including from neighboring countries, as well as the rest of the world. The primary issue in politics and the media for the past many years has been the “integration” of Muslim and other non-western immigrants and the tension arising from a perceived clash of cultures. Danish politicians have created some of the most stringent immigration laws in all of Europe, and continue to score high for it in polls.

How much, to leave the country?

In response, a sarcastic public Facebook group [da] protesting the law has been set up to collect 100,000 kroners to pay the leader of the Danish People's Party, Pia Kjærsgård to leave the country.

The group has over 16,000 members, and the tagline says, “100,000 kr. dear friends - and maybe she'll do it”. The group creators pledge to offer any additional money collected to the minister of integration, Birthe Rønn Hornbech from the governing Liberal Party, in case she should be amenable to leaving the country as well.

The debate on the Facebook group page is heated. Some offer witty comments about who else should be kicked out of the country or what else should happen to them, while others counter that the offer from the Danish government is a generous offer and should be welcomed by immigrants who are unhappy in Denmark and would prefer to leave. One commenter disagrees with the hype, and reminds everyone that a similar policy has been in place for several years, but the amount of money on offer was only 10 times smaller.

Facebook commenter Dan Cornali Jørgensen says [da]:

Jeg har måske misforstået konceptet?
Drejer det sig ikke om et lovforslag som giver ikke-integrerbare udlændige mulighed for at sige ja-tak, til en check på 100.000 kr. mod tilsagn om frivilligt at rejse hjem til deres oprindelsesland? Umidelbart virker det storsindet og absolut humanistisk, da vi må formode at 100.000… kr. er en anseelig formue i det pågældende land, og nok til at starte en anstændig tilværelse i det land som de tilsyneladende har så stærk tilknytning til…

Have I perhaps misunderstood the concept?
Isn't it about a law that would give un-integratable foreigners the opportunity to say yes-please to a check of 100,000 kr. to voluntarily travel home to their country of origin? It seems magnanimous and absolutely humanitarian since we must assume that 100,000 kr. is something of a fortune in that country, and enough to start a decent existence in the country they apparently have a strong attachment to…

Pensioners must report travel of more than 2 months

Another initiative negotiated this month by Danish People's Party is a law that requires all pensioners and early retirees in Denmark [da] to report to their city government if they plan to leave Denmark for more than two months at a time. Ostensibly, the goal is to stop people “for instance, Iraqis” from receiving pension payments in Denmark while they may be collecting wages in another country at the same time. The most popular example is that of an Iraqi-Danish politician, Samia Aziz Mohammad, who was discovered to be collecting pension funds while she was earning high wages from the Iraqi parliament. She has since paid the money back [da] to the Danish government. Another pensioner was discovered by the Danish press to be earning wages from the Kurdish parliament.

Members of parliament of both the Liberal Party and the Danish People's Party have argued that the new restrictions will also cut down on holiday visits by fake refugees to their home countries, and repatriation of family members who spend too much time abroad.

The fact that all Danish pensioners wil in effect will become suspects of fraud is something the biggest association of the elderly in Denmark, DaneAge, is vocally angry [da] about. Many comments on newspaper articles [da] support the government's attempt to cut down on fraud, while others draw comparisons to East Germany (GDR) travel bans of the past.

One Danish blogger, Erik Bentzen on Dette og Hint, says [da]:

Enhver kan sige sig selv, at meldepligten ikke dæmmer op for noget som helst, da den ikke indebærer nogen form for effektiv kontrol.

Det er ren chikane og tom signalpolitik, som øger kommunernes administrative arbejde til ingen verdens nytte.

Reglen er så amøbeintelligent, at den forhåbentlig giver bagslag, næste gang pensionisterne skal til stemmeurnerne.

Anybody can see, that the new reporting rule isn't going to stop any fraud, since it does not involve any kind of effective control.

This is pure harassment and empty symbolic politics, which increases the administrative work of local government for no reason whatsoever.

The rule is so amoebae-intelligent that it hopefully will result in backlash next time the pensioners will vote.

Saudi Arabia: A Blogger's Praise Of Britain

Ayesha Saldanha — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:38:26 +0000

Maram Meccawy is a Saudi writer and blogger, currently living and working in the UK. She recently wrote a post called “Why am I ready to defend Britain?“

Maram starts by saying:

كنتُ دائماً أعلن أنني أحب بريطانيا..فهنا أحلى ذكريات طفولتي، وهنا الوطن الثاني الذي عشت فيه (ولا أزال) ردحاً من عمري. ولم تكن لدّي مشكلة كبيرة مع كون بريطانيا دولة عدوانية بامتياز (تاريخياً وفي الحاضر أيضاً ) باعتبار مشاركتها في الحربين على أفغانستان والعراق، لأنني كنت هنا منذ البداية وأعرف بأن هناك فرق شاسع بين ما يقوم الساسة بتنفيذه وبين ما يريده الشعب حتى في دولة ديمقراطية مثل المملكة المتحدة. فأنا أدرك بأن أقوى المنظمات الشعبية المعارضة للحرب موجودة هنا، وأفضل الأفلام الوثائقية التي فضحت جرائمها أنتجت في هذا البلد. وأراقب يومياً الجدل الدائر في الصحافة والإعلام وأروقة السياسة حول رغبة الشعب في رؤية قواته تنسحب من هذين البلدين وأن يفتح باب المحاسبة والمحاكمة لكل من تسببوا بهذه الجرائم.

I've always said that I love Britain…This is where the best memories of my childhood are, this is my second country, where I have lived for a long period of my life (and still do). I did not have a big problem with the fact that Britain is an aggressive state (historically and in the present as well) especially in regards to its participation in the two wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, because I have been here since the beginning and I know that there is a great difference between what the politicians implement and what the people want, even in a democratic country such as the United Kingdom. So I understood that the most powerful grassroots anti-war organisations are here, and the best documentary films exposing the country's crimes have been produced here. And I see on a daily basis the ongoing debate in the press and media and the corridors of power regarding the people's wish to have their troops withdrawn from these two countries, and to open the way to holding accountable and putting on trial all those responsible for these crimes.

ومع مقتي الذي لا أخجل من التصريح به علناً ورفضي للسياسات الخارجية لحكومات لندن المتعاقبة، إلا أنني كنت دائماً أكن احتراماً كبيراً لسياساتها الداخلية والتي تقوم على احترام حقوق الإنسان وعلى إنشاء مجتمع متعدد الثقافات.

Despite my hate, which I am not ashamed to admit publicly, and my rejection of the foreign policies of successive London governments, I have always had great respect for their domestic policies which are based on a respect for human rights and the establishment of a multicultural society.

فأنت في بريطانيا ليس مطلوباً منك أن “تنصهر” أو ” تتبرطن” حتى يعتبرك الناس واحداً منها. تستطيع أن تكون مسلماً وبريطانياً، يهودياً وبريطانياً، وأسودأً وبريطانياً، وتستطيع أن تصل بالأمس أو تولد هنا ومع ذلك تقول بفخر بأنك بريطاني ولن ينكر عليك أحد ذلك. صديقاتي الفرنسيات والإسبانيات وغيرهن من الأوربيات المتحدرات من غير البلد ذاته الذي يحملون جنسيته (حتى لو كان بلداً أوربياً مجاوراً) يعلنون بصراحة بأن الوضع ليس كذلك في بلدانهن. فالجزائري يظل غريباً في فرنسا ولو كان جده هو من هاجر إلى باريس قبل مائة عام يوم أن كانت الجزائر بالأصل جزء من فرنسا.

When you are in Britain you are not required to “assimilate” or “become British” for people to consider you one of them. You can be Muslim and British, Jewish and British, and black and British; you can have arrived yesterday or have been born here, and still say proudly that you are British – no one will deny you that. My French, Spanish, and other European girlfriends with roots outside those countries whose nationality they hold (even roots in a neighbouring European country) openly admit that the situation is not that way in their countries. An Algerian remains a foreigner in France, even if his grandfather was an immigrant to Paris a hundred years ago at the time that Algeria was actually part of France.

حدثان في الأسبوع الماضي لفتا انتباهي بخصوص خصوصية بريطانيا.

Last week two events drew my attention regarding the particular quality that Britain has.

Maram goes onto to describe attending a recruitment event at Oxford University with the oil company she works for. During the event some protestors started demonstrating about what they argued the oil company had done in various parts of the world, accusing it of having acted criminally. Security guards started to remove the protestors, but a company official agreed to let them have their say for five minutes, saying that he respected their right to freedom of opinion. However, after the five minutes were up the protestors would not allow the official to continue, and kept heckling. Despite the disruption, the company official was disappointed when one of the protestors was finally carried away by force; he said that Britain was a free country and no one should be thrown out because he or she disagreed with the company's activities.

The second event that caught Maram's attention was a particular episode of the weekly BBC television programme Question Time, in which a panel of politicians and others face questions on current issues from a studio audience. Controversially, Question Time had allowed the chairman of the rightwing British National Party and Member of the European Parliament, Nick Griffin, to be part of the panel for this programme. Nick Griffin has previously been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

After setting the scene, Maram describes what happened on the programme:

عودة إلى غرفن فقد أعطي الفرصة ليحدثنا عن خزعبلاته ويشتم الجميع دون أن يؤذيه أحد! وإنما استطاع زملائه في البرنامج من الأحزاب الأخرى وعلى رأسهم الوزير جاك سترو وكذلك الجمهور الحاضر (من بيض وسود وآسيوين ومسلمين ويهود ومسيحيين وغيرهم) بأن يردوا على أفكاره المتخلفة بمنتهى الهدوء والتحضر ويعروه أمام الجمهور البريطاني، فبدا (خريج جامعة كامبريدج) وكأنه طفل يحاول إغاظة الكبار بقول كل الكلمات التي طلبوا منه سابقاً أن لا يقولها..ثم بدا كفأر في مصيدة لا يقوى على الخروج منها…وكان أجمل تعليق ذلك الذي قاله أحد الحضور من المسلمين إذ عرض عليه أن يشتري له تذكرة للقطب الشمالي ليستمتع بالحياة في بيئة بيضاء لا تعكرها الألوان المزعجة!

Going back to Griffin, he was given the opportunity to tell us his nonsense and curse everyone without anyone troubling him! Indeed his fellow participants on the programme from other parties, led by the minister Jack Straw, and the audience present (white, black, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and others) were able to respond to his backward ideas in a very calm and civilised manner, and expose him in front of the British public. This Cambridge University graduate seemed like a child trying to anger his elders by repeating all the words he had previously been told not to say…Then he seemed like a rat in a trap, unable to leave it…The best comment was by one of the Muslims in the audience; he offered to buy him a ticket to the North Pole to enjoy life in a white environment, unmuddied by annoying colours!

انتهت الحلقة منذ أربعة أيام … ولم يخسر أحد وظيفته، ولم تقم انتفاضات ولا نزلت قوات الشغب إلى الشوارع! وواصلنا جميعاً حياتنا بسلام.
بعد أن شاهدت الحلقة ليلتها أطفأت جهاز التلفاز، وذهبت لأنام وأنا أشعر بفخر خفي لأنني متواجدة في هذا البلد العظيم وبالتالي جزء منه، وأغمضت عيني وأنا أقول لنفسي بأن البلد الذي يمنح هذا القدر من الحرية للناس ليعيشوا ويتحدثوا دون خوف – مالم يخالفوا القوانين المعلنة المعروفة – لهو أجدر بقعة جغرافية بأن يتداعي الناس للدفاع عنها ولم لم ينتموا إليها عرقاً أو ولادة أو سكناً أو رحماً..فوطن الحرية هو واحة يستظل تحتها الجميع..في حين أن أوطان القمع هي سجون لأهلها..وشتان ما بين الواحة وزنزانة السجن الباردة..

The episode was four days ago…and no one lost his job, no uprisings were started, and the anti-riot police did not move into the streets! We have all continued our lives in peace.
After watching that show that night, I turned off the television and went to sleep with a secret pride that I live in this great country and as a result am part of it. I closed my eyes telling myself that the country which offers its people this amount of freedom to live and speak without fear - as long as they don't break any known laws - is the most worthy geographical spot for people to rally to its support, even if they do not belong to it ethnically, by birth, or by residence…A nation of freedom is an oasis for everyone to enjoy its shade, while the nations of oppression are jails for their people…and what a difference between an oasis and a cold prison cell…

Cuba: Blogging Prejudice

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:53:39 +0000

Late one night, a Cuban taxi driver stops for Yoani Sanchez because of the colour of her skin, but when he learns that she's a blogger, his unease reveals another kind of prejudice: “His spectrum of classification stigmatizes not only some shades of color, but also certain leanings of opinion…that also lead, on this Island, to displays of segregation and rejection.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Determining Racism

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:50:23 +0000

“The important thing, I think, is that if you don't want to be a racist, you need to focus on how you treat people, not on how you react to people”: Trinidadian Ian Ramjohn suggests that “in the end, it all boils down to what you're used to.”