Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (8758)	2/11/2005 9:57:39 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

When pigs flew in Britain By Jonathan Romain The day Michael Howard became leader of the Conservative party in Britain back in October 2003 was the day some British Jews began to worry. "It's not good for us to be too high profile," some said, "it will cause a backlash." Others feared that if Howard became prime minister and then made unpopular decisions, the entire Jewish community would suffer from any resultant opprobrium. Such fears have leapt to the fore in the run-up to the general election anticipated in May of this year. A series of posters were produced by the Labour election campaign team and posted on their Web site for party members to peruse and then vote for the best one. One of them attacked Conservative economic policy with the headline "The day the Tory sums add up" and depicted two pigs flying, with the faces of Michael Howard and his Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin (who is also Jewish) transposed on them. Some British Jews erupted in outrage at what they considered a contemptible attack on the religious affiliation of the two Conservative politicians. Personally, I was not at all perturbed. Many voters do not know that Howard is Jewish, and certainly not Letwin, so the ad was not pandering to a widely held perception. Even more importantly, there is nothing anti-Jewish about the phrase "pigs might fly." It is in common parlance, and something I often use myself to describe something I consider ludicrous. There is a thin dividing line between vigilance and paranoia, but in this case the poster was clearly an economic opinion rather than a religious jibe. The use of pigs was cleverly linked to a set phrase and not a Goebbels-type image. I was much more bothered by another of the posters, which showed Michael Howard swinging a gold watch and declaring, "I can spend the same money twice." It may indeed be the case, as Labour activists claimed, that it was based on a hypnotist in a popular television series. However, it was uncomfortably close to resembling a Fagin-figure, with anti-Semitic undertones that did not state out aloud but whispered subsconsciously "Jews are good at picking your pocket." Even if - to give Labour strategists the benefit of the doubt - that was definitely not the intention, it was unwise to use an image that could be misinterpreted so easily. The distaste was compounded because only a few days earlier on Holocaust Memorial Day, Prime Minister Tony Blair had declared that "the Holocaust did not start at Auschwitz but with the first brick through a Jew's window." If he had added "and through the first accusation of Jews being untrustworthy in public office," his election managers might have got the message more clearly. It is possible that we Jews have overreacted and seen anti-Semitism where none existed, but I believe it was right to raise the alarm and send a warning shot across the bows of all political parties that in the frenzied approach to an election, they should steer well clear of fanning religious or racial prejudice. It is especially important at this election because of the growing courtship of what is seen as "the Muslim vote," and the danger that some might think it useful to suggest that a Jewish leader would be less well disposed to them. With a Muslim population of 1.6 million compared to 300,000 Jews, some might find the political mathematics very tempting. Still, potential problems should not be confused with actual realities. It would be totally wrong to talk of institutional anti-Semitism in Britain: After all, this whole issue arose precisely because the right-of-center Conservative party chose to elect a Jew as its leader! Moreover, the result was that the two offending posters have been discarded, while the Labour Party has proclaimed its ongoing commitment to fight all forms of racism and bigotry. British Jews were right to protest: Sometimes it is useful to get mainstream political parties to restate the obvious. It is also good to remind people that prejudice never dies, it just lies dormant, and our task is to keep it asleep for as long as possible. Jonathan Romain is rabbi of Maidenhead Reform Synagogue and author of "Jews of England" (M. Goulston Educational Foundation). rabbi@maidenheadsynagogue.org.uk Anti-Semitic? Labour's posters showing Howard with a watch (top) and Howard and Letwin as pigs (above).

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (8758)	2/12/2005 7:02:54 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 32591

Saudi official: Teaching, not poverty, root of terrorism Blames 'indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably' Countering the assertion of many in American academia, a Saudi official said extremist teachings, not poverty or unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in the kingdom, the homeland of billionaire Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. At a news conference in Riyadh, Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi blamed the spread of terrorism on the "indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably" and training in Afghan camps, reported Arab News, an officially sanctioned Saudi newspaper. "I don't believe that terrorist movement has anything to do with unemployment," the minister said. Al-Gosaibi, noting the wealth of bin Laden and his associates, said "I am not aware that somebody has been driven to terrorism simply because he could not find a job." Saudi Arabia's official unemployment rate was 5 percent, about 150,000 people, the minister said. But unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 30 percent, according to Arab News. Just two weeks ago, a Washington human-rights group released a year-long study concluding the government of Saudi Arabia is disseminating propaganda through American mosques that teaches hatred of Jews and Christians and instructs Muslims that they are on a mission behind enemy lines in a land of unbelievers. The 89-page report by Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom, "Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques," concludes the Saudi government propaganda examined reflects a "totalitarian ideology of hatred that can incite to violence." The report says the fact it is "being mainstreamed within our borders through the efforts of a foreign government, namely Saudi Arabia, demands our urgent attention." worldnetdaily.com