European Political News

A quote from Daniel Hannan MEP at his blog, 30 October 2007

For the past 48 hours, our television studios have been filled with well-fed, sleekit men in pinstripes telling us how critical Saudi Arabia is to British interests. “British interests” is, of course, a much nicer phrase than “my place on the board of a Saudi-funded company”, which is often what they really mean, but never mind. […]

Let’s stop for a moment and analyse the contention, made by every recent British Prime Minister, that the Saudis are “our key allies in the region”. What precisely are these “allies” doing for us? […] Most of us now know that 15 of the 19 bombers on 11 September 2001 were Saudi nationals, and that the majority of foreign jihadists in Iraq are also Saudis. At the same time, there is growing concern about the way Riyadh funds some of the dodgiest mosques in Europe. A devastating new paper by Policy Exchange, authored by Dr Denis MacEoin, draws attention to material sponsored by the Saudi authorities which describes Jews and Christians as enemies of Muslims, lauds jihad and urges that apostates be killed. We meekly accept that it is impossible to open a C of E church in Riyadh, yet we put up with this insidious hate-mongering because, well, the Saudis are “our key allies in the region”.

[…] Saudi Arabia is one of many dictatorships around the world, neither the mildest nor the harshest. We should deal with it in a brisk and businesslike manner, as we do the many other regimes which fall somewhere between the categories of “distasteful” and “rotten”.

This, though, is not enough for the Saudi lobby in London. So determined are they to grovel to the House of Saud that they secured the prejudicing our legal system in order to prevent a handful of princelings from being accused of bribery. […] When a free democracy lowers its standards in order to accommodate a sleazy autocracy, the former is diminished and the latter magnified. We are, all of us, slightly cheapened by the readiness of our leaders to appease a handful of rich men. […] I never thought I’d say this, but I admire the LibDems, who have boycotted meetings with Saudi officials. That they are behaving ethically is clear enough. But they are also behaving patriotically, advancing Britain’s true interests, as opposed to the interests of a handful of lobbyists, government contractors and defence conglomerates.

In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Europalia.Europa and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels have organized ‘The Grand Atelier: Pathways of Art in Europe (5th to 18th centuries)’, which naturally presents a view of pan-European identity and artistic exchange. Indeed, it is hardly surprising to find Dominique de Villepin’s L’Homme Européen in the exhibition’s gift shop.

As with anything that bears the stamp of the European Union, there is much left unstated in ‘Le Grand Atelier’, but its essentially teleological thesis is clear enough – ‘Europe’ represents a definite cultural zone that is the product of Greco-Roman antiquity, the Carolingian renaissance, humanism, and the Siècle des Lumières. As it happens, this conception roughly tracks the proposed EU constitution’s reference to the ‘cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe’. While the quality of the works mustered in the thesis’ defense is undeniable, one would have to be quite sanguine about European unity to draw any meaningful conclusions from it.

The exhibit begins ab ovo with the bequeathal of classical forms and values from the collapsing Roman Empire to the various barbarian successor states. A fragment from the sarcophagus of Richaire, first bishop of Liège, speaks eloquently to this process, comprised as it is of a 3rd to 4th century Roman piece adapted for use in a 10th century burial. This Roman legacy is stressed throughout the room devoted to the Carolingian Empire (described as the ‘true birth of Europe’), as evidenced most convincingly by the Utrecht Psalter’s juxtaposition with a 1st century Neapolitan fresco.

As befits an exhibition held in the capital of an enlarged Europe, the organizers have seen fit to include a selection of works from the Carolingian periphery, for example some exemplary stained glass window fragments from the pilgrim church of St. Hadrian in Zalavar, Hungary. The extent to which denizens of represented Central and Eastern European countries would consider themselves on the ‘periphery’ of the Carolingians is debatable (especially during that period), but such is the magnetism of the European concept. The third room of the exhibition expands Europe’s (artistic) frontiers further, taking into account the Mediterranean basin and demonstrating patterns of cultural syncretism between Norman, Angevin, Byzantine, Andalusian, and Maghreban artistic productions. (Here, perhaps, we are tentatively approaching the idea of a Mediterranean Union recently floated by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy). It is indeed an extraordinary thing to view, for instance, an ivory box with copper and silver niello Kufic inscriptions glorifying Allah, yet which came to function as a reliquary for the remains of Saint Regnobert in Bayeux. Readers are likely to come to different conclusions as to the contemporary relevance of such artifacts.

It is unnecessary in this space to go into too great a level of detail regarding the fourteen rooms of ‘Le Grand Atelier.’ (I would be remiss in not noting, however, that the masterworks of the globe-trotting Netherlandish sculptor Nicolas de Leyde in Room VII are alone worth the €10 entry fee.) ‘Le Grand Atelier’ eventually culminates in a room devoted to eighteenth-century paintings of various picture galleries (real and imagined), with each portrayal of an aristocratic pinoteca designed to celebrate the patronage, purchasing power, and continental reach of the collector. The visual interplay between these buyers and their dealers, at a time when, in historian Norman Hampson’s words, ‘The gentlemen of Europe formed more of a social club […] than at any time before or since,’ is a suitable conclusion to the exhibition. The curtain is dropped in 1787, however, with two works by Pietro Antonio – one of an exhibition at the Salon du Louvre, the other a British Royal Academy counterpart. A few more decades of coverage would have included the apex of pan-European pathways in art, namely Napoleon Bonaparte’s continent-wide spoliation of masterpieces destined for the Louvre galleries. Yet the innocent visitor is spared such enormities.

For all its considerable merits, ‘Le Grand Atelier’ is to a certain extent art in the service of the European dream. In light of Oxford professor Jan Zielonka’s latest writings on the ‘neo-medieval’ paradigm at work in the EU project, it is at least worthwhile to investigate the deep cultural history of pan-European trends. Nonetheless, one is immediately confronted with a sad irony. Elsewhere in the splendid Beaux-Arts complex, one can see the triumphant Gustaf Wappers oil-on-canvas Episode from September Days 1830 (on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville in Brussels), a sort of Belgian (and hence Rubensian) La Liberté guidant le peuple. Yet now, all over Brussels, the Belgian tricolour flag is manifested rather differently. It hangs limply and pleadingly from city windows, or is brandished in the occasional solidarité marches (‘un dieu, un roi, une nation’ proclaimed one banner I ran across of late) that crisscross the capital of a country reeling from popular linguistic-nationalisms and their resultant quisquiliens and vexations. Just as certain monarchical, historical, and religious ties have not always been availing in maintaining Belgian solidarity, thirteen centuries of European artistic pathways are not necessarily firm foundations for an ever-closer political and economic entity (pace ‘Le Grand Atelier’).

 
Le Grand Atelier: Chemins de l’art en Europe (Ve – XVIIe siècle)
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
October 5, 2007 to January 20, 2008
€ 10,00

A quote from EUobserver, 29 October 2007

Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested setting up a Russian-funded institute in Brussels or another European capital to keep an eye on human rights issues in Europe. “With the aid of grants, the EU helps develop such institutes in Russia,” Mr Putin was cited as saying by Reuters, after an EU-Russia summit on Friday (26 October). “I think the time has come for Russia, given the growth in our financial capabilities, to make its contribution in this sphere as well”, he added.

President Putin’s personal envoy for relations with the 27-nation EU, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, explained Moscow’s intentions further. “This is not going to be a joint venture,” Mr Yastrzhembsky said, underlining “the institute will be monitoring the situation in Europe concerning rights of ethnic minorities, immigrants, media and such”.

The Impact of Salmond The West Lothian Question is hardly a new concept. It has been around since the 1970s " yet for the first time its implications have changed it from a hypothetical question to a very real one. It has taken eight years since devolution was first passed down to Scotland for it to really become an issue " but why has it taken so long? The obvious answer is because the English are fed up with the Scots getting the better deal. But if that was the case, why has it taken so long to get to this point? The answer is because Alex Salmond is now the First Minister of Scotland. Propaganda Merchant On the surface it does seem deeply unfair that Scottish MPs get to vote on English matters but not vice versa. But this was just something that bothered a few people and in practice it didnt really make much difference. The reason that the debate has now really picked up is because Alex Salmond is pushing the boundaries, exaggerating the unfairness and causing an unpalatable friction between England and Scotland. He knows that there is not enough appetite north of the border for independence " hence he didnt win a majority government and why the polls consistently tell us that most Scots want to keep the union. Therefore his best hope is to push the boundaries of the system and make the English want rid of the Scots. (more…) Previous in series

A thought that occurred while listening to a programme this morning about longhand letters sent by a member of Scott’s polar expedition of 1912. Personal video is the new longhand. It is now the only form of communications that takes time to do, cannot be read without concentrating, and that we actually keep for posterity. Tags: quote of the day, political blogging  

 

Paul Belien's analysis of the EU Inquisition and the racist smears thrown at the Vlaams Belang party should be required reading for all, so called, conservatives, who are really economic capitalists and social marxists. For such conservatives, even as important as George W. Bush or as useful as Charles Johnson, often harbor a tangle of unexamined liberal-egalitarian assumptions wrapped around an inner strongbox of shallow shibboleths that they haven't either the intellect or the civic courage to examine.

The issue of the Holocaust and Europe's civilizational guilt over the fate of its Jews is indeed central to understanding how "racism" has become the dirtiest word in white-man's vocabulary and "Nazis" or "fascists" lurk behind any social truth the left doesn't like. Thus was the Frankfurt School born and the inner spring sprung that has animated the ruling elites of the West in their suicidal quest to eradicate "racist and xenophobic behaviour" and "discrimination."

Something I wrote here recently bears on this subject:

"It has not been explained how admitting to Switzerland over 300 thousands mostly primitive and Jew-hating Muslims can expiate for indifference to the Nazi slaughter of the Jewish kin of Einstein, Freud, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Wittgenstein, von Neumann, von Mises, and von Stroheim."

And elsewhere: 

"The evil lies of racist National Socialism cannot be expiated with the mawkish lies of its revolted daughter, universalist multiculturalism. The former ended in 62 million dead, and a continent destroyed; the latter is well on its way to a cave-in of civilization." (2)

The Spanish writer Sebastián Vivar Rodríguez may have best expressed the paradox of the Eurabian gambit in his lament "Europa murió en Auschwitz". A poor English translation can be read here, but Vivar Rodriguez deserves better, and perhaps will get it in this forum.

Unlike the Confucians, Daoists or Zenists, we are a cultural species apparently unable to internalize and act on any reality but that which we construe at either of the far ends of the arc of the pendulum. We go from Hitler to our self-inflicted Hitler's revenge; from vile, racially targeted, industrial-scale mass murder to masochistic, self-erasing impotence; from scientific racism to nonscientific anti-racism; from ein volk to "celebrating diversity."

To dwell only at either of the far ends of the pendulum's arc is a perversion of human reality and its relegation to the quantum realm of Schrödinger's cat. Invented by Erwin Schrödinger to challenge the thinking of quantum theorists, this cat lives with an artificially induced 50% chance to die, and therefore is construed in orthodox quantum physics as simultaneously dead and alive. But in the reality inhabited by sentient beings, a cat may only be alive or dead. Besides, the idea that anything alive can be isolated from reality and treated as a theoretical or ideological construct is so crazy, even in the realm of theoretical physics, that Einstein praised Schrödinger in these words:

You are the only contemporary physicist, besides Laue, who sees that one cannot get around the assumption of reality — if only one is honest. Most of them simply do not see what sort of risky game they are playing with reality.

Nowadays, the risky games with reality are played by Eurocrats and Democrats, pseudo-Tories and ersatz-humanists. Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the European Parliament's Holocaust remembrance resolution that Paul Belien quotes are a perfect example of the Euroelite's demented utopianism bearing evil seed. Viewed in the context of the "Framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia," the thrust of EU's actions is to muzzle the European people and exact their submission to a vision of Eurabia dear to the hearts of Europe's bien-pensants. And, precisely as Paul Belien states, Europe's sadomasochist and profoundly tyrannical dhimmis–by-choice are running away from the Holocaust into the arms of another Holocaust.

Fjordman once wrote that the European elites have traded international warfare for civil war at home. The European peoples will not subject themselves to socialist Eurabia indefinitely. The people, betrayed by the actions of their own leadership caste, now find  themselves culturally impaired, disarmed, overtaxed, gradually losing their civil liberties, tied-up-and-muzzled in the face of an unending stream of vile abuse, violence, petty crime, ingratitude, insensitivity, and exploitation by tens of millions of Third-World foreigners who should never have been allowed to settle in Europe in the first place.

They will not be satisfied with sullen submission for much longer. Looking in vain for leaders, for political parties that have the courage to state that the Emperor's new clothes are just tattered figments of utopian insanity, simple-minded people may fall for fringe neo-fascist leaders who, almost alone, seem to see what the townsmen on the street see.

It is the great luck of Europe's priestly caste that parties like the Vlaams Belang, SVP and BNP exist, for they too see and speak the truth, and provide an alternative that the common folks can join instead of supporting fringe movements that may expound the truth in some ways but spout lunacy (e.g. "the Jews did it") in others. If civil wars and Hitler redux are to be avoided in Europe, it will only be because parties like Vlaams Belang have ascended to power and have given a voice and a vent to the suppressed aspirations and anger of many millions. So if Nazi skinheads applaud VB, therein lies the hope that violent sociopaths be transformed into content, enfranchised citizens. It's no different from MoveOn crazy fringe lefties showing at the Democratic Party's convention.

One hopes that the knee-jerk overreaction by Charles Johnson and other American "conservatives" will yield to a more thoughtful posture.  For the Western white elite's endless preoccupation with racism and perceived xenophobia, and its worship of tolerance as the supreme virtue is a deep psychosis -- Hitler's revenge --  that ought to be recognized as such. Moreover, as this psychological dysfunction leads to acts as insane as building mosques in West Point and Oxford, dropping the Holocaust from the British school curriculum, and turning Brussels' storied churches into Islamic asylums, it is in fact a staggered suicide-by-Trojan-horse. And lastly, the psychosis leads to a denial of reality; even reality as solidly established through 80 years of statistical research as racial differences of mean IQs, body types, comparative advantages etc. And reality is a jealous mistress. Spurned, she will return to take her revenge.

The normal folks, who have not graduated from École normale supérieure or Oxford, have no use for Schrödinger's cat or EU's 278-page, single-spaced definition of cat that includes all the prohibited attributes thereof. They live with and love the cats of reality: playful and cruel, and full of paradoxes, and full of life's energy until they fall under a truck one day, however socially unjust that may be.

If the elites play at Schrödinger's cat, normal people have more use for Joshu's dog. Joshu, one of the greatest Zen masters in history, lived in China in the 9th century. One day a monk asked Master Joshu: "Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?"  Joshu answered: "Mu."

"Mu" may sound nonsensical, but it’s a direct response to  foolish sophistry. It is one of the most famous one-word affirmations of reality in history, the other one being General Anthony McAuliffe's response, "Nuts", to the request of surrender made by German commanders besieging Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge.

The distance from Bastogne to Brussels is only 150 kilometers. But the distance from Tony McAuliffe's 101st Airborne Division of 1945 Bastogne to the Eurabian pashas sitting on high thrones in the Brussels of 2007 may be expressed in light years. The role of saying "Nuts" now belongs to the Vlaams Belang. The least racial hysterics ought to do is reflect upon that before launching their N, R and F projectiles.

 

---

Notes:

1. Source of the Schrödinger paradox illustration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Katze.jpg.

2. Takuan Seiyo, "The Wolfe, the Buffalo, and Our Lost Ability to Make Distinctions," Quarterly Review, Spring 2007.

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality Author: John Gribbin ASIN: 0553342533

In his Scottish National Party leader’s speech at the annual conference in Aviemore, Alex Salmond stated that the Treasury receives �32bn a year revenue from North Sea oil revenues based on a price of $86 per barrel. He contrasted Westminster’s financial “squeeze” with the �32 billion a year the Treasury receives from North Sea oil revenues now oil prices are around $86 a barrel. (Scotsman) Bearing in mind that the official forecast for the current year is less than a third of that figure at �10.4bn - and that even that figure is double the �5.2bn figure for 2004-5 - can anyone provide me with a detailed citation and calculations for Mr Salmond’s �32 billion number? Tags: alex salmond, oil revenue forecast, 32 billion

This morning the Independent has a piece by Stephen Glover about the paper’s virtual reprinting of a Foreign Office Briefing note as pages one and three of the paper, without admitting that this was the case. Stephen Glover comments (retyped because the column cannot be accessed on the web <g>. Technical problem rather than “vanishing”, I think, on this occasion. Update 11:30 - it is back.). I’m reprinting the brief item in full. The original is here. Facts? I don’t think so I should have written last week about the strange case of The Independent and the Foreign Office memorandum. On 18 October, this paper presented “10 myths about the EU treaty” on its front page, and ran an article on page three debunking these myths. A sharp-eyed Eurosceptic named Neil O’Brien noticed that the article was almost a verbatim reprinting of a Foreign Office briefing note. Contrary to his editor Simon Kelner’s reaction: “I am completely unapologetic about our attempt to explode the myths that have been allowed to develop in what has been an extremely one-sided debate,” Mr Kelner told MediaGuardian.co.uk. “What we printed was a collection of facts, which our political editor independently verified. “The source doesn’t really make a material difference. What matters is whether those facts are accurate or not. And no one, as far as I can see, is doubting the truth of what we printed.” Stephen Glover argues: Does this do? I don’t think so. I should declare that, unusually for a columnist on this paper, I am a Eurosceptic, but I don’t think this makes any difference to my argument. The Independent was not, of course, reproducing facts, but an interpretation of facts. Whether this interpretation was correct or not is beside the point. Imagine how we would feel if the Daily Mail or The Daily Telegraph reproduced a Tory briefing note without attribution. Even if we agreed with the interpretation, we would feel that we had been wrongly kept in the dark. How much stronger would we have felt this if these newspapers had passed off an official policy paper as their own work when the Tories were in power? A newspaper is perfectly within its rights in agreeing with the Government of the day, but if it directly borrows its arguments it should say so. Even then it would be preferable, by way of establishing one’s independent credentials, to amplify and refine those arguments oneself. I’ve had a bit of a go at the Indy over the last couple of weeks, but fair do’s to them for carrying the other opinion too. Tags: guido fawkes, stephen glover, independent, foreign office briefing, simon kelner

A quote from Albert Speer (1905-1981), Nazi Germany’s Minister for Armaments 1942-45, Inside the Third Reich, chapter 6

Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of distinguished Arabs. When the Mohammedans had attempted to penetrate beyond France into Central Europe during the eighth century, his visitors had told him, they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours. Had the Arabs won this battle, the world would be Mohammedan today. For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faith by the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith. The Germanic peoples would have become heirs to that religion. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament. Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous natives, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire.

Hitler usually concluded this historical speculation by remarking "You see, it's been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn't we have the religion of the Japansese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?"

A cartoon from Indexed. Tags: cartoon, indexed

A quote from Wikipedia

Occident [the West] (1964-1968) was a French far-right militant political group, often described as fascist-leaning. A number of members of Occident later were prominent members of right-wing parties, and even obtained ministerial positions. [...] Occident, like many similar groups, use a symbol resembling the celtic cross as its emblem. [...] Former members include: [...] Patrick Devedjian, (French politician) [...] Alain Madelin (French political leader) [...]

[Patrick Devedjian] was appointed Minister for Local Liberties in 2002, serving until 2004. He was the Minister of the Industry in 2004, serving until 2005. He was a close adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy and supported his candidacy for the Presidency of the French Republic. After the election, [...] he became President of the Conseil général des Hauts-de-Seine, the richest département in France. [...] Devedjian proposed an amendment to a proposed bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide [...]

[Alain] Madelin is the French major politician the most in favor of the international policies of the United States, and supported the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Because of this, he has, in the past, generally been considered with favor by the US press.

  
A quote from Charles Johnson (who knows nothing about Europe) of the American website Little Green Footballs, 28 October 2007

I’m getting a lot of support from European readers, and also a lot of people trying to rationalize away the White Power symbol [i.e. the Celtic Cross] on Filip DeWinter’s bookshelf.

 
A quote from Baron Bodissey (who knows Europe well) of the American website Gates of Vienna, 27 October 2007

Ladies and gentlemen, the handcuffs labeling you as “racists”, “Nazis”, and “Islamophobes” are simple to remove and discard.

The door of the PC Multicultural bus unlocks easily, and invites you to jump off and escape.

A quote from Adolf Hitler, 28 August 1942 [p. 667 Hitler's Table Talk; 1941-1944 translated by N. Cameron and R.H. Stevens, Enigma Books (1953)]

Had Charles Martel not been victorious at Poitiers – already, you see, the world had already fallen into the hands of the Jews, so gutless a thing Christianity! – then we should in all probability have been converted to Mohammedanism, that cult which glorifies the heroism and which opens up the seventh Heaven to the bold warrior alone. Then the Germanic races would have conquered the world. Christianity alone prevented them from doing so.

This “Politics Podcast” is excerpted from Episode 12 of the Wolverhampton Politics Show. Matthew Revell takes a look at the practical and ideological in the world of politics. Blogger Dizzy aka Phil Hendren talks about the film Ministry of Truth that was part of the BBCs Why Democracy? season, and discusses the practicalities of implementing a law to prevent politicians from knowingly misleading the public. 11 minutes. Download audio file (20071028-wolverhampton-politics-matt-revell-ministry-of-truth-film.mp3) Tags: politics podcast, wcrfm, matt revell, dizzy thinks, ministry of truth

A quote from Diana West on her weblog, 27 October 2007

[T]he Left engraved onto our collective consciousness its demonology of American capitalism, the CIA and suburbia. When that wasn't enough, there was always the Sieg-heiling, boot-clicking Nazi. And not just in World War II dramas, where he belongs. Whenever a hero in a plot needs a villain, there always seems to be a Nazi lurking. Where German Nazis don't work, there are South American Nazis. Where South American Nazis won't do, there are South African Nazis. Where South African Nazis stretch our credulity there are Religious Right Nazis. From Tom Clancy to Indiana Jones, Nazis are forever.

And now, even as our liberties are no longer threatened by Communism and we face a new threat from Islam, we still seem to have Nazis on the brain. Our liberties are contracting every day in the face of expansionist Islam, but it is still the specter of Nazism that distracts us – some of us, anyway.

One of the greatest injustices to the victims of racism, and in particular the holocaust, is the trivialization of it. One does not have to agree with the Dutch “Islamophobic” anti-immigration politicians Geert Wilders or Rita Verdonk, but what kind of person writes something like: “Whenever I see people such as Wilders and Verdonk I think of the Kristallnacht! The moment the Jews were rounded up...”?

People who write such things do not care about the suffering of the Jews. They merely abuse the Nazi crimes for their own petty political objectives. The example quoted above comes from the Dutch correspondent of the far-left Belgian blog Yelloman. This blogger is an intolerant, immoral Stalinist activist. The politicians in the European Parliament, however, are hardly any better.

On January 27, 2005, the European Parliament voted a resolution “on remembrance of the Holocaust, anti-semitism and racism.”

Near the end of the resolution, the EP states (items 6-8) [the bold-face being our addition] that it:

6. Welcomes the declared intention of the Luxembourg Presidency to restart the stalled discussions on the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating Racism and Xenophobia, and urges the Council to reach agreement on a ban on incitement to racial and religious hatred throughout the EU while preserving legitimate free speech;
 
7. Invites the [European] Commission to start a review of the application of the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC aimed at strengthening European Union anti-discrimination measures and to organise a major conference involving all the actors concerned, in particular political representatives, public institutions at a national, regional and local level, and NGOs and associations active in this field;
 
8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the [European] Council [=the meeting of the European heads of state and government], the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the [EU] Member States and candidate countries.

 
If we read the “Council Framework Decision on combating Racism and Xenophobia”, we find that it imposes an end to free speech:

[T]his proposal provides for the approximation of the laws and regulations of the Member States regarding offences involving racism and xenophobia. Racist and xenophobic behaviour must constitute an offence in all Member States and be punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties. [...] Racism and xenophobia will mean belief in race colour, descent, religion or belief, national or ethnic origin as a factor determining aversion to individuals.
 
Certain forms of conduct outlined below committed for a racist or xenophobic purpose will be punishable as criminal offences:
* public incitement to violence or hatred;
* public insults [e.g. the Danish cartoons] or threats;
* public condoning of genocide or crimes against humanity as defined in the Statute of the International Criminal Court;
* public dissemination or distribution of tracts, pictures or other material containing expressions of racism and xenophobia;
* directing of a racist or xenophobic group (by “group” is meant a structured organisation consisting of at least two persons established for a specific period).
 
[…] In all cases, racist or xenophobic motivation will be considered as an aggravating circumstance in determining the penalty to be applied to the offence.

 
Since 2005 the governments of the European Union member states are persecuting – on the basis of the above Council Framework Decision and the above EP Holocaust Resolution – people who express concern about the Islamization of their countries.

As the British conservative philosopher and author Roger Scruton said in a speech in Antwerp last year, the charge of racism and xenophobia in the EU countries “has become the equivalent of a charge of heresy in medieval Europe, of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, or of ‘deviationism” in the Stalinist state.” However, as Mr. Scruton pointed out, “we have a duty to brave the charge of ‘racism and xenophobia’, and to discuss every aspect of immigration.”

Mr. Scruton made his remarks in a speech to the Vlaams Belang party – a party which has been accused of racism and xenophobia by the Belgian authorities. “There are many people in this country,”Mr. Scruton added, “who believe that I should not talk to you at all, and that by doing so I become tainted with the very charge that has been levelled at you: the charge of racism and xenophobia. By talking about this charge, I hope to deflect it. I am neither racist nor xenophobic; I am in the habit of assuming that the same is true of others, until they have shown evidence to the contrary; and I am glad that a Party exists that is willing to brave this charge, in order to discuss the problem that is in the minds of all ordinary Europeans today.”

When the EP Resolution of January 25, 2005, came before the European Parliament it was almost unanimously approved with 617 votes to 0 with 10 abstentions. Among the ten abstentions were the three Vlaams Belang members of the EP. One of the latter, Frank Vanhecke, the VB chairman, said he feared that the resolution would be used against parties who “fight for European values and European peoples.” Mr. Vanhecke was right. Today we see how this resolution exploits the Holocaust in order to introduce support for legislation silencing the peoples of Europe and submitting them to radical Islamist ideologies that are paving the way for new Holocaust.

The Egyptian-born Jewish author Bat Ye’or (a pseudonym meaning “daughter of the Nile”) and her family were expelled from Egypt in the 1950s because they were Jewish. She, too, is worried about the trivialisation of the Holocaust by the left and the far-left for the advancement of its own political aims. When recently she expressed her worries at a public meeting she was insulted and called… a racist. A lawyer who was present says that though Bat Ye’or was treated most disgracefully “few people reacted. People are not ready to fight the new anti-Semitism.” The Europeans did not fight the previous anti-Semitism in the 1930s, and they are not fighting the present one. Europe did not prevent the previous holocaust. It does not seem able to prevent the coming holocaust either. And maybe, paradoxically, feelings of guilt for the horrors of the past are preventing some people from doing so.

As Roger Scruton says it needs courage to brave the charges of racism, xenophobia or neo-Nazism in order to speak out. This courage is what Europe lacks.

Unfortunately, some Americans realize that Europe is in for a disaster but seem to think that it is only getting what it deserves. Europe has to be destroyed by the Muslims as a punishment for the Nazis’ crimes during WWII. Last year, I was invited to speak about the situation in Europe at one of America’s major universities. For two days my host subjected me to the most terrible accusations. He told me I would have to suffer for what my ancestors had done to his ancestors. “One cannot respect the Europeans,” he said. “America should have nuked Europe during WWII instead of Japan. If ever things turn nasty in Europe I will make sure that neither you nor any white European will be allowed to seek shelter in the US. I would rather invite the Muslims in than you and your lot, because one can respect Muslims but not Europeans.” Since my host was Jewish and had lost his family in the war I could understand his anger, but not his short-sightedness. I think he did not mean all he said, though it was an upsetting experience and one of the most unpleasant moments in my life.

Why do I mention all this today? Last week almost 80 people from 15 European countries, plus sympathizers from the US, Canada and Israel, convened in the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss a common strategy to fight Islamism. This important and historical event, which shows that there still is a fighting spirit among some Europeans, has been criticized by Charles Johnson, the owner of Little Green Footballs, an influential American neo-conservative website, because members of the Vlaams Belang were present. Though the VB did not organize the conference, it provided an important part of the logistics and the security of those attending. Johnson says the VB is a neo-Nazi party. His arguments are:
(1)    that the party abstained in the European Parliament from approving the above mentioned Holocaust resolution;
(2)    that early this month the party organized a “white supremacist” demonstration;
(3)    that Nazi skinheads applaud the party;
(4)    that neo-Nazis link to VB videos.

Instead of being able to write about last week’s meeting I have been busy answering emails from friends who, because Charles Johnson is such “a respected anti-Jihadist,” fear that they have been fooled by the VB. The issue is hotly debated on American blogs (here is a detailed account for those interested).

There is, however, no beef to Charles Johnson’s allegations.

(1) The VB was right regarding the Holocaust Resolution. It is a disgrace that Christian-Democrats and other European mainstream Conservatives do not dare to oppose the Left’s abuse of the Holocaust. The VB should be applauded for its courage, rather than branded neo-Nazi.

(2) The VB did not organise a “white supremacist” demonstration. Johnson’s website links to a picture of a group of people carrying a white supremacist flag and a number of Flemish flags. He claims this picture was taken earlier this month and says there are VB flags on the picture. I do not see any VB flag on the picture. Johnson got this picture from the Yelloman blog, a far-left Belgian website – the very same website which wrote about Geert Wilders and Rita Verdonk “Whenever I see people such as Wilders and Verdonk I think of the Kristallnacht! The moment the Jews were rounded up...”

Interestingly, Yelloman does not mention when and where the picture with the flags was taken. It is unclear where Johnson got his information about a demo earlier this month, but certainly not from the Yelloman link he refers to. There is also something fishy about the picture. The Flemish lion flag which we see on the picture is the official flag of the Flemish regional government. This lion has a red tongue and red claws (the three colours of the flag – black, yellow and red – refer to the tricoloured Belgian flag). The flag of the Flemish secessionist movement (which is the flag VB people ALWAYS use) has a black tongue and black claws.

Let us take a more detailed look at Yelloman’s article. It is entitled “Nazi symbolism and Vlaams Belang.” It claims that VB people are fond of symbols like the Celtic cross, the triskel and the swastika.

It is true that the Celtic cross is a popular symbol in Flanders. It was placed on the gravestones of Flemish soldiers who fell during the First (not the Second) World War. The Flemings used to harbour a lot of sympathy for the Irish and the 1916 Irish Rebellion. The Celtic cross, however, is also used by so-called “neo-pagan” followers of the French anti-American and anti-Christian philosopher Alain de Benoist. Though there may be individual VB members who sympathize with de Benoist, this is not the position of the VB. Yelloman also claims that the German Wehrmacht used to paint the Celtic cross on its army barracks during WW II. I have never heard that argument before (and I doubt whether it is true). Moreover, the Wehrmacht was the regular German army. Its symbol is the German cross, which the Bundeswehr still uses today.

The triskel is another Celtic symbol, which is used by the separatist movement in (the French province of) Brittany. Yelloman refers to a local VB official who has a triskel on his weblog. Yelloman claims that it is a symbol of apartheid because the far-right South African whites use the triskel as their symbol. The latter is something I have never heard before either. It may be true or not, I do not know.

Finally the swastika. Yelloman refers to one Bjorn Roose, another local VB member, who last January opposed an EU proposal (initiated by the German government) to ban the swastika everywhere in Europe. Roose criticized this as an example of Political Correctness gone wild in Germany. He argued that the EU proposal is ridiculous because the swastika is an old Hindu symbol, which can also be found on medieval paintings and on ornaments in medieval cathedrals. According to the EU legislation, Roose wrote, these swastikas will have to be removed. He wondered whether the EU will soon ban the crucifix because the Ku Klux Klan ties its victims to a cross.

(3 & 4) Johnson’s two last charges against the VB are that Nazi skinheads applaud the VB and neo-Nazis link to VB sites. During the past days several far-left and even pro-Islamist groups have linked to Johnson’s website. Does this prove that Johnson is a leftist and a pro-Islamist? Yes, it does if we judge Johnson by his own standards. Friends tell me that I should not say that Charles Johnson is an Islamist who disguises himself as one of their adversaries. But, hey, why should we not judge a man by his own standards? Because we are decent and responsible people.

 

Can I suggest that you do not go to the Brussels neighbourhoods of St Joost or Schaarbeek tomorrow? This is for the simple reason that, from information I have received from local shopkeepers and cafe owners there is a major demonstration planned for the morning. Not only is the Turkish community planning to put upwards of 10,000 people on the streets, but so is the local Kurdish community. Both of these planned demonstrations have been banned by the police, but in the light of the rioting here over the last week, I wouldn't put much confidence in the manifestation not going ahead.

This picture should give you an idea of how the area is getting pretty tense. The flags are not for fun, and the streets are oddly quiet.

What is not completely apparent is that many of the Turkish flags being flown (this photograph was taken this morning at the end of my street) have the head of Kemal Attaturk superimposed upon the crescent and star.

In this quarter one often sees Turkish flags flying, particularly when Galatasaray or Besitkas are playing but these are new. I have never seen these flags before, they are all the same and brand new. They of course show show support for the Kemalist constitution and are nationalist rather than Islamist.

There are strong suggestions that the Turkish community are in part being directed by the Turkish authorities, who are displaying a show of force at the heart of the EU. They are not happy about the way in which the EU has been stringing them along over accession, they are not happy about suggestions that the EU might recognise the Armenian massacres as a genocide and they are not happy about the response of the EU to the PKK incursions into Turkish territory in the last weeks.

Brussels, the rumours are saying, is to learn about the power and discipline of the Turkish people.

Mike Rouse reports on the implosion of the local Labour party in Northampton South among recriminations, backstabbing, covert plots and all the usual shenanigans of such situations. I’m not going to attempt to navigate the controversy, except to note that various long standing members - including the local MP for eight years - we’re thrown out of the Party, and the dead hand of the Regional and National Parties were involved in wielding various seemingly random knives in various seemingly random and unconstitutional directions. Needless to say - and according those on the receiving end - the unconstitutional actions were only corrected where it was convenient. Here is Mike’s post. Here is the 117 comment thread on Labour home that was “vanished” from the site, then magically restored. Persevere - the bottom half is more interesting. Here is the comment thread on Mike’s site as a PDF. Here is the article in the local paper. The upshot is that we now have “Northampton Independent Voice” standing in the South of the Town. I’ve posted before that I support placing community loyalty over party machinations. So - go Northampton Independent Voice. (Is there really a ward called “Lumbertups” - wonderful!). Wrapping-Up The other glaring lesson for both Labour and the Conservatives from this fiasco is pretty obvious: get a private forum for members. Now. See how the Lib Dems operate in this respect. Tags: northampton independent voice, labour home, mike rouse, northampton, tony clarke

A column on the abortion debate in the Independent this morning from Joan Smith. Men Should Take More Responsibility Joan Smith: Men have a responsibility for abortions, too Yep - agree with that. The discourse around abortion is weirdly gendered, as male doctors and clerics sound off about women and ignore the substantial input (so to speak) of their own sex. Any evidence in your article of them ignoring the “substantial input of their own sex”? Thought not. All the opinions I have heard are very clear that men should take responsibility. The debate certainly is weirdly gendered. But since you bring up the “male doctors and clerics”, can I ask why you seem to forget about the female doctors and clerics, Joan? But - as you say - the debate is weirdly gendered. Where are all the anti-abortion GPs confronting their male patients and telling them to use contraception or check that their partners are protected? I rather suspect that they are in the surgeries talking to their patients - male and female - about contraception. At least when they are not fighting this sort of bizarre slur. Meanwhile, back at Parliament Meanwhile, the legal situation is this (from the FPA site): Your partner, or the father of the child, has no legal rights. Responsibilities without Rights? Joan Smith is calling for men to take more responsibilities. No problem with that whatsoever. How about giving them some rights to match? You can’t have the one without the other. Tags: matt wardman, joan smith, abortion, men

Coming to a town near you soon (except that there will be a camera on it and you will have run your id card through a slot and give a DNA sample to prove you read it). And a blunt reminder that “Peace Campaigning” without a willingness to defend ourselves is futile. And no - I don’t agree with everything it says on the website in the sign. “In 1934 Robert Cecil planned the unofficial Peace ballot which revealed that ten and a half million (of eleven and a half million responses) were in favour of disarmament; almost all responders were in favour of the League. Ignored by the UK government, which was embarking on a massive rearmament programme, Cecil proceeded to found the International Peace Campaign, to mobilise world-wide opinion in favour of peace through disarmament and negotiation.” (source: Peace Pledge Union) This quote is a study in our fickleness and foolishness in the face of emotional campaigning. Fortunately he didn’t succeed. In my opinion it would have cost us our country. Tags: photo of the day, balls of the day

A quote from Vanishing American at his blog, 25 October 2007

[N]eocons or mainstream Republicans are the most politically correct of all those on the ‘right’, and the most prone to condemn and name-call those to their right. They often have a classroom snitch attitude, and love to catch people out in some transgression of political correctness, the better to position themselves as enlightened and non-bigoted.

This has got to stop if we are ever to make any headway against our common enemies. The fact that America and the West in general are so divided is a factor in the seeming success of the assault of the West. If we had any degree of unity, kinship loyalty and integrity, we would not be such easy prey for would-be conquerors. […]

Let’s be honest: the words ‘fascist’ ‘nazi’ ‘bigot’ are just like the overused and devalued word ‘racist.’ They have been used to describe anybody right of center, anybody who bucks the politically correct system. The people who use these words have cried wolf one time too many. Do they listen to themselves? Do they realize how they are discrediting themselves with this hyperbole and name-calling?

I suppose there are real ‘fascists’ and Nazis out there somewhere, but their numbers are insignificant; they hold no power. So where do we get this idea that there are fascists under the bed waiting to get us, or conquer the world? I don't know of any, and I read many different media sources. So while we in the West are busily calling anybody to our right a ‘fascist’ and Nazi, there are real totalitarians, mostly on the Left, destroying our countries and cultures. […]

What it all boils down to, again, is that many of the blustering neocons, despite their hawkishness on the Middle East situation, are themselves ‘surrender monkeys’ at home, […] I don’t think the gap can easily be bridged, but can we not at least call a truce, if we really are all on the right, and if we understand that we have common interests and common enemies? It only helps our enemies, whoever they are understood to be, to have us calling each other names, attempting to strike a self-righteous PC pose at the expense of those to the right of us. […] This is no time to be playing the more-PC-than-thou game.

I was interviewed on the Matt Revell’s Political Radio programme last night. The interview was about how the Society of Homeopathy had a post removed from the Quackometer blog rather than addressing the (very serious) questions raised, and the changes that we need in the way the libel laws work in this country. We discussed what homeopathy is (effectively a Placebo effect - which can work, sometimes, for certain conditions), and talked through what has happened, and some of the questions raised. My favourite Homeopathy anecdote is that the homeopathic treatment as administered will contain more of Oliver Cromwell’s urine than the active ingredient with which the Homeopath started. [Edit: video added in response to comment 1] This video from Richard Dawkins illustrates the “Cromwell” analogy. Go straight to 30 seconds from the end for the Cromwell bit, but the whole thing is fun. It’s Dawkins on the material sciences - so he makes good sense. Potentially a good treatment for superstitious Puritans (unfortunately most Puritans are intensely rational), then. Or credulous New Agers. My interview is airing in early November. Anyway - on to a plug for Matt Revell. Matt does extended coverage of national issues, as well as locally orientated interviews. He also has a niche giving coverage to minority parties. You can listen to all his previous shows here. Or you can listen to an extracted item concerned with national politics on Sunday morning on the Politics Podcast on the Wardman Wire. Tags: homeopathy. society of homeopaths, matt revell, wolverhampton politics, politics podcast Previous in series

Tonight (Wednesday evening) heavy rioting erupted in Turkish quarters of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Buses and trams were attacked. Several cars were torched and shops destroyed. Police forces were unable to restore law and order in the boroughs of Sint-Joost-ten-Node and Schaarbeek where since last Sunday the animosity among Turks is running high. Turkish flags are omnipresent. In some streets the Turkish crescent and star adorns almost every house.

The Turks’ anger was provoked by rising tension with Kurds along the Iraqi-Turkish border and by the debate in the American Congress about the Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. On Sunday night Turkish youths in Sint-Joost destroyed the pub of Peter Petrossian, an ethnic Armenian who had to flee for his life. Apparently, some Turks think that by attacking the Armenians in Brussels they can convince the world that the Turks never committed a genocide of the Armenians.

Tonight the youths attacked Kurdish shops. They also set fire to several cars.

Belgium’s Muslim population consists mainly of Moroccans and Turks. In the past rioting Muslim youths were mostly Moroccans. The Turkish community is controlled by the Turkish embassy. The latter used to restrain the Turkish population so as not to upset the Belgian authorities and thwart Turkey’s chances of EU admission. This policy seems to have changed recently. In Antwerp, too, Turkish youths demonstrated tonight.

The events in Brussels indicate that in admitting large numbers of immigrants Belgium has also imported the ethnic quarrels of the Middle East.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Moroccan youths have been burning cars for more than a week now. Today a 15-year old Amsterdam schoolboy was stabbed by youths. The boy survived the attack but is seriously wounded. On 11 October a 16-year old Amsterdam boy was stabbed to death in school. On 4 September a similar incident occurred in the Belgian city of Ghent where a 14-year old Belgian boy fought for his life after being stabbed in the throat by two immigrant youths from his school.

A quote from Liberal Democrat MP Richard Younger-Ross

Europe is vital to Britain's interests, but as Europe has grown, it has become less democratic and more centralised. Legislation is not properly scrutinised. It has its own momentum, overriding both national and European Parliaments. The Reform Treaty does not address these problems.  Gordon Brown has said that there will be no further treaty changes for at least 10 years. That is to freeze in place an undemocratic and centralising system. I cannot accept that. For the sake of democracy, I must oppose this treaty and support calls for a referendum on it.

I still haven’t fully got to grips with this Indexed cartoon. It is one to print out and pass around while you are listening to your boss/MP/Minister droning on. It must have been an exceptionally boring day for someone to create this. The title is: STUDIES A cartoon from Indexed. Tags: cartoon, indexed

Friends of the Earth Europe have released a cartoon animation about how Exxon Mobil continues to fund climate change deniers, and how its advertising campaign is misleading regarding it’s environmental behaviour. As well as the concern about climate change there’s another issue below the surface that is alluded to in the film - lobbying transparency within the EU. With the EU institutions being the second most lobbied political institutions in the world (only Washington has more lobbyists than Brussels) what should be done to make sure it is known who is working for whom? Kallas’s transparency initiative might help, but after all that’s only voluntary.

[UPDATE]
Turns out that this post has been syndicated on the Exxon Mobil page of Google Finance. I’m sure some censorship will come in there once Google realises that some negative things might appear beside the share prices!

On a comment over at Ellee Seymour’s blog, Tim Almond asked me: Consider the how the Internet is distorted by Google dominance. Thats where it *could* end up. How do Google distort the internet? That is a huge question, and I have posted my comments over at Poliblog Perspective . Here’s a quote from the Economist to whet your appetite: The big new fear is to do with the privacy of its users. Google’s business model (see article) assumes that people will entrust it with ever more information about their lives, to be stored in the company’s cloud of remote computers. These data begin with the logs of a user’s searches (in effect, a record of his interests) and his responses to advertisements. Often they extend to the user’s e-mail, calendar, contacts, documents, spreadsheets, photos and videos. They could soon include even the user’s medical records and precise location (determined from his mobile phone). More JP Morgan than Bill Gates Google is often compared to Microsoft (another enemy, incidentally); but its evolution is actually closer to that of the banking industry. Just as financial institutions grew to become repositories of people’s money, and thus guardians of private information about their finances, Google is now turning into a custodian of a far wider and more intimate range of information about individuals. Yes, this applies also to rivals such as Yahoo! and Microsoft. But Google, through the sheer speed with which it accumulates the treasure of information, will be the one to test the limits of what society can tolerate. Read the rest at Poliblog Perspective. Tags: poliblog perspective, google, market share, fud

A quote from the Daily Mail, 24 October 2007

Vincent and Pauline Matherick will this week have their latest foster son taken away because they have refused to sign new sexual equality regulations. To do so, they claim, would force them to promote homosexuality and go against their Christian faith. The 11-year-old boy, who has been in their care for two years, will be placed in a council hostel this week and the Mathericks will no longer be given children to look after. […]

Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services department asked them to sign a contract to implement Labour’s new Sexual Orientation Regulations, part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal. Officials told the couple that under the regulations they would be required to discuss same-sex relationships with children as young as 11 and tell them that gay partnerships were just as acceptable as heterosexual marriages. They could also be required to take teenagers to gay association meetings.

When the Mathericks objected, they were told they would be taken off the register of foster parents. Mr Matherick, a 65-year-old retired travel agent and a primary school governor, said: “I simply could not agree to do it because it is against my central beliefs. We have never discriminated against anybody but I cannot preach the benefits of homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God.” Mrs Matherick, 61, said they had asked if they could continue looking after their foster son until he is found a permanent home, but officials refused and he will be placed in a council hostel on Friday.

The roundup is a compendium of last week’s outstanding posts in the British Blogosphere. Britblog Roundup No. 140 (23-Oct-2007) is hosted at the Wardman Wire. 5 minute spot on Radio 5 Live 30 September 2007: Download audio file (20071023-britblog-review-podsandblogs.mp3). For the full Pods and Blogs Roundup to download, visit Chris Vallance’s site. Tags: Tags: britblog roundup, britblog, audio, podcast, bbc pods and blogs, bbc podsandblogs, chris vallance, matt wardman

Ooops! It’s Wednesday and I’ve missed PMQs by half an hour. It can’t be that important after all. Life and lunch continue. Tags: gordon brown, pmq, david cameron

From the Adam Smith Institute blog. The other night my wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while lying in bed. I looked over at her and, in my sexiest voice, asked her, “Wanna have sex?” “No,” she answered. I said, “Is that your final answer?” “Final answer,” she replied. “I’d like to phone a friend,” I said. Hmmm. Tags: adam smith institute, joke of the day