HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GARY!!!

David and Goliath all over again

For my BA history I researched the coverage of the 1967 Six Day War in Dutch newspapers. In 1967, the religious and atheist Netherlands alike were suffering from an unbearable feeling of guilt regarding the country’s relatively high proportion of deported Jews during the Second World War. Not surprisingly, its media were biased in favour of Israel. Israel was portrait as the victim and the weaker party in the conflict.

It is more surprising, however, that last week’s Economist employed similar rhetoric. The Economist argues that Israel’s Labour Party is willing to give up the West Bank in exchange for peace, while Hamas only vaguely promised to respect international resolutions. On top of that, The Economist mentions not less than three times that Hamas denies Israel’s right to exist.[1]

Of course this is true and I am the last person to support Hamas or not to recognise Israel, but in this context it is essential to mention that Israel does not respect international resolutions either. Thousands of Israelis live in settlements, largely on the West Bank, that are illegal according to UN resolution 55/132.

Besides this, the remark that “the immediate security concerns [that] are always uppermost in Israel’s mind” suggests that home made bus bombs impose a bigger threat than Israel’s US sponsored army. I believe that many Lebanese families can argue the contrary.

Of course a leader is expected to be opinionated, and without metaphors such as ‘David and Goliath’ and ‘the Holy Land’ The Economist’s argument is more subtle than that of the Dutch newspapers in the 1960s. However, the premises in this argument are more biased than the conclusion and exactly this subtlety is worrying.
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References
[1] ‘A two-headed monster’, in: The Economist, February 17th-23rd 2007, p.17.

Easy criticism

In my social environment it has always been popular to criticise the United States. It does not go as far as a boycott on McDonalds and Hollywood movies, but certainly beyond the US foreign policy. It is totally acceptable to call Americans retarded farmers, brainless consumers, fat fanatics and to imitate their way of speech. Even though I have never been on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and despite the fact that I have met many intelligent and healthy Americans, I have to admit that I consider this way of thinking as normal.

The reality struck me when I read a review of the book Uncouth Nation: why Europe dislikes America by Andrei S Markovits. Markovits argues that “anti-Americanism is the only face of xenophobia still broadly accepted in Europe.”[1] Even though the reviewer concludes that Markovits’ argument lacks nuance, this is an interesting point. For example, how can the entire United Kingdom be in shock when Jane Goody makes fun of her Indian housemate’s accent, while clearly no one would care a least bit had an American been the target of Jane’s bullying?

A further interesting point Markovits makes is that anti-Americanism is the only thing Europeans have in common and is therefore the main building block of European identity. Anti-Americanism indeed seems to be a premise rather than a conclusion in European debates. Although European anti-Americanism is not always unfounded, it is an easy game to play. With failing attempts to advance the unity reached so far with a constitution, it is about time for Europe to focus its criticism on itself.
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References
[1] Mary Fitzgerald, ‘Love to hate you’, in New Statesman, 12 February 2007, p.59.

Between trivialisation and ignorance

Child soldiers as pop-culture icons? Recent movies, such as The Last King of Scotland and Blood Diamond, and music by bands like the Gorillaz and Radiohead indeed suggest that child soldiers have been put under a prominent spotlight in the entertainment industry.

In last week’s Time Magazine Belinda Luscombe expressed her concern that child soldiers will become trivialised. The danger is “cheap, ubiquitous images, dropped in like clip art for a hit of emotion and danger,” she argued.[1]

Ms Luscombe might be right, but the fact that the issue of child soldiers has been put on the international agenda can not be ignored. For example, the first trial of the International Criminal Court will be against Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese rebel leader accused of weaponising children.

The dilemma between trivialisation and mass awareness knows many examples. Journalists may find Michael Moore aggressive and his humour misplaced, but he did advance the debate about the US government and media to a wide public. Many historians agree that Schindler’s List is full of historical flaws, but they have to admit that this movie exposed a broad American audience to the holocaust. The political correct intelligentsia might doubt the motives of artists such as Bob Geldof, Bono, and Madonna, but the truth it that they have drawn more attention to Africa and all its problems.

So what is the greater danger here?

There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers, mostly in Africa, but still there are many people in the west who don’t know about their existence. If the choice is between trivialisation and ignorance, the first is by far the lesser of two evils. ______________________________________________________
References
[1] Berlinda Luscombe, ‘Pop Culture Finds Lost Boys’, in Time, February 12 2007, pp. 62-64.

Ceci n’est pas une pipe

Most people would agree that what they see here is a pipe. Not René Magritte. By writing the words ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ he challenged people’s common view and forced them to rethink what they easily would have accepted as the truth. And Magritte turned out to be right. The title of this painting, ‘La trahison des images’, explains that what we see is in fact not a pipe, but an image of a pipe.

Magritte would have been a good journalist. He took the obvious not for granted, but used his own common sense to judge the situation. The treason of images, which makes people see things that do not exist, is comparable with the treason of PR. The journalistic equivalents of René Magritte are the men and women who decide not to listen to PR and government propaganda, to go against the status quo and to challenge it with their own investigation of it.

Like Magritte, they often turn out to be right. In the past, alternative journalists have opposed seemingly unchangeable situations, such as the Vietnam War and colonialism. More recently, when a large part of the world believed that the war in Iraq was a good decision, alternative voices such as John Pilger and Michael Moore challenged it and revealed the lies in the Bush administration’s propaganda.

The importance of alternative voices in journalism is evident. What you see is not always what you get.

How music made history

In 1968 a group of Czech musicians formed the band the Plastic People of the Universe, influenced by music such as The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa.

Another fan of The Velvet Underground was the writer and political activist Václav Havel. He did not underestimate the power of art, and part of his activism consisted of smuggling western LP’s into the country. When he finally met his idol Lou Reed in 1990, he told him that it was thanks to him that he had become Czech president in 1989.

Needless to say, the Czech authorities were no big fan of the Plastic People. After several conflicts, they finally arrested the band in 1977 and put them in prison. This inspired Havel and some others to write the Charta 77, which resulted in a political active group under the same name. All members played an important role in negotiating the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The end of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia got this name because of its non-violent nature, but also with a wink to… exactly: The Velvet Underground.

Václav Havel encouraged the Plastic People of the Universe to get back together, which they did. They still play concerts these days. They even played a concert in London two weeks ago. I discovered this today. Shit. I missed my chance to see music history perform life…

Today my basil plant died.