Posted on 04/13/2002 11:29:23 AM PDT by My Identity
Diversity education is fast becoming the new wave of PC.
Oxymoron. How can one be a "conservative" and a "fascist" at the same time? More typical deliberateness in changing the true meaning of words.
From Mirriam-Webster's On-line Dictionary:
Main Entry: fas·cism Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si- Function: noun Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces Date: 1921 1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition 2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control - fas·cist /-shist also -sist/ noun or adjective, often capitalized - fas·cis·tic /fa-'shis-tik also -'sis-/ adjective, often capitalized - fas·cis·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb, often capitalized
These people act like animals no matter where they live. If they still identify themselves so strongly with their Arab brethren, what the hell are they doing in Europe? They should be thrown out ASAP.
According to the link I posted above, the US is the largest Jewish nation in the world. But think how it would be for them if moslems in the US were to become a greater minority than the Jews. The US would become another hell for them.
Oh, but they will have learned the lessons of history and armed themselves...
Right, Schumer?
Right, Feinstein
This explains much. Anti-Semites tend to be uneducated oafs.
The significance of the story is that the Volksunie, the party of the government official in question, is the party from which the Flemish Bloc split off - in other words, it has the less, shall we say, emphatic views of the two.
Added to the Holocaust denial incident, I would not be running to embrace Flemish nationalism either, if I were a Jew in Belgium. Holocause denial is so stupid that one should assume that it is never innocent; it is invariably a front for anti-Semitism.
For that matter, an a priori distrust of European ethnic nationalism would not really be foolish on the part of European Jews either.
Of course, it's also the case that Jews have plenty of enemies on the Left who may be more dangerous collaborators with Muslim bloodlust. I'm not writing this to attack the Flemish Bloc, or Belgian nationalism, or anything of the sort, only to suggest that Belgian Jews may not be as dumb as some posters seem to think in not embracing either without a lot of thought.
Alas, the article you refer to makes a total mix-up of everything.
First of all, as in any country, there are the typical dumb skinhead neo-nazis that tend to lift their right hand in order to provoke. They have no political parties in Flanders so they are of no political importance.
Secondly, there was the Volksunie (People's Union) that had as its main issue the defence of Flemish interests against the Walloon (the remaining 40% of Belgium) interests. From the Volksunie, 1 person (Johan Sauwens) was present at a private meeting, not of neo-nazi's as implied in the article, but of ex-Eastern Front soldiers. *Some* of these people, now well over their seventies, fought against the Russian armies because they preferred a German occupation with a possibility for Flemish independence over a continued forced cohabitation with the Walloons (French-speaking) in Belgium.
*Many* other Eastern Front soldiers fought against communism, sometimes out of ideology, but often because the Catholic Church had called upon them to go defend Europe against the "imminent godless communist invasion".
Anyway: in this meeting of aged people, a Volksunie minister, attending out of sympathy for these folks, was spotted and the usual liberal Nazi smearing tactics were used to make him leave office. Afterward many respectable politicians of various parties admitted this was just a political vendetta.
Then there's the Flemish Bloc, which spawned from the Volksunie in 1977 after the latter swallowed an horrible ill-negotiated compromise with the Walloon minority, giving them a spectacular political over-representation. Ever since, the more radical people striving for Flemish independence quit the Volksunie and joined the Bloc. As the closing sentence of the article you refer to states, a quick-and-dirty nazi smear is the only defence the Belgian/Walloon coalition has to oppress the Flemish urge for independence. An independence would cost them dearly by halting the huge money transfers from Flanders to Wallonia, so a lot is at stake for them. Ever since the 2nd world war, anyone (even someone born in the seventies as I am) who dares to pursue Flemish independence is branded a "nazi" and bashed with the wartime collaboration of yore.
So I don't agree with your conclusion that the Jewish community is right to oppose the Bloc, just because it gets smeared with the "nazi" epithet all the time.
You say Holocaust denial is a precursor to anti-semitism. First of all, the law I mentioned does not punish only *denial*, but any form of "minimisation" (its interpretation is - quite conveniently - at the liberty of the judges). So out of all human history there is one Holy Number carved in stone and anyone questioning its accuracy can be imprisoned. I'm not sure if questioning the 6M would be a precursor for anything, but this kind of law seems like a precursor for totalitarian mind-control and oppression to me. That's why I appreciate the American First Amendment so much and wish we had one, too.
As an engineer, my scientific stance would be to either lock down the entire human history or to leave ALL of it open to historians. This kind of law is a disgrace and even encourages scepticism ("forbidden fruit"), which could not have been its intent.
Finally the term "Belgian nationalism" you used is a contraction in terms. Towards the end of the 19th century, a Belgian minister once told the king: "Sire, there are no Belgians". Indeed, there are the Walloon and Flemish peoples, each vying for monetary and power gains. From 1830 until now the Walloon minority has managed to extract copious amounts of money from the Flemish (divided) majority using "national (=Belgian) solidarity" as an excuse. More and more Flemish are fed up with it, and dragging Naziism into the story to squelch them is the cheap recourse of the Walloon scoundrel :-) .
Islam Vs. The World
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 2, 2001;
Author: Alan CarubaCivilization Envy
Source: National Review Online; Published: September 28, 2001;
Author: Jonah GoldbergTerror's Homebase, All Over The Map -- Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam
Source: Wall Street Journal-- Book Review; Published: | March 29, 2002;
Author: Adrian KaratnyckyThey Live to Die (Islam Martyrdom)
Source: Wall Street Journal; Published: April 7, 2002;
Author: Reuel Marc Gerecht20 Suppressed Facts About Israel, Islam
Source: Koenig's International News; Published: April 9, 2002;
Author: Jim BramlettHOROWITZ: A MIDDLE EAST HISTORY PRIMER
Source: News and Opinion.com; Published; April 10, 2002;
Author:David HorowitzArafat Must Go!
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: April 10, 2002;
Author: Alan CarubaNetanyahu speaks before the US SENATE
Source: http://netanyahu.org/netspeacinse.html; Published: April 10, 2002;
Author: Netanyahu address US Senate
1. I did not argue that Belgian Jews were right to be suspicious of the Flemish Bloc. I said it was understandable that they would be suspicious.
2. People who reckoned the Nazis would be OK if they would get the Walloons off their back don't sound particularly reassuring to me.
3. Not only the report I posted, but others as well, suggested that the minister in question was not just attending, but singing Nazi songs.
4. I said nothing about the law concerning holocaust denial in Belgium. I said that a party whose officials include Holocaust deniers would reasonably make Jews nervous, because Holocaust denial is a reliable indicator of anti-Semitism. Holocaust denial is not a matter of "questioning the magic number" but of claiming that the figures have been grossly exaggerated by Jews for venal purposes.
5. I put it to you that if science worked the way you suggest history should work - that we should assume that no question is ever settled and that all knowledge is constantly up for grabs - we would still be living in caves arguing about 1 + 1.
6. "Belgian nationalism" was indeed imprecise. I meant to say "nationalist parties in Belgium."
7. I took no position for or against the Flemish Bloc. Nor would it make the slightest difference to the future of the Flemish people if I did.
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