Enemies within
11 September continues to deliver bizarre repercussions and unexpected alliances. The International Herald Tribune reported this week on the latest survey of racist sites on the internet by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The main finding was that some American extremist white supremacist groups have allied themselves with Islamic extremists in applauding the events of 09/11. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Center describes a logic of my enemys enemy is my friend in the white supremacists. To take one example, the homepage of Aryan Action, a Floridian master race, urges its fellow supermen to Support the Taliban. Smash the ZOG.
ZOG, in case you didnt know, isnt a faraway planet, but stands for the Zionist Occupation Government a racists way of referring to the US Government.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is said to have backed the findings, noting in a recent report widespread domestic US support for the terrorist attacks. With the militantly anti-American and pro-Nazi features of contemporary right-wing extremism, the Law Center describes a developing axis between neo-Nazis in North America and Europe and Islamic extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere.
It goes on to say that Although neo-Nazis have long despised Arabs and Muslims, the two groups have increasingly been working together against common enemies.
Alarming stuff.
The internet is the main source for conspiracy theories, apologies and applause surrounding the 11 September attacks. The shared anti-Semitism of the white and Islamic extremists has come together to see 09/11 as a Zionist enacted conspiracy, blamed on Arabs and strengthening the might of the federal US government.
The IHT points to a movement called Christian Identity, made up of many hate groups, including the 11th-hour Remnant Messenger, the brainchild, as it were, of Carl Story and Vincent Bertollini, described as two former Silicon Valley magnates. The movement claims that the English-speaking and Germanic people are the true descendants of the Israelites while the Jews are the descendants of Satan. Non-whites are considered soulless subhumans.
As for Bertollini, well the Diary is unclear on that one.
Final word to the Simon Wiestenthal Center report which describes the newly bonded groups as based both in the United States and abroad, and range in composition and ideology from Arab to Islamic to anti-globalist and anarchist, to fascist and radical right-wing. Most oppose the war on terrorism against Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organisation in Afghanistan, and against other global terrorist networks.
Shifting alliances
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that conservative US Christian organisations have joined forces with Islamic governments to halt the expansion of rights and protection for women, children and gay people at UN conferences.
According to the Post, the combined efforts of the Bush administration and conservative Christians, who have sided with the Vatican, have cultivated links with more than fifty moderate and hardline Islamic governments. These include Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Iran.
So whats going on here? Well, Austin Ruse, President of the New York-based Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute tries to explain: We look at them as allies, not necessarily as friends. We have realized that without countries like Sudan, abortion would have been recognized as a universal human right in a UN document.
Apparently, US and Iranian officials huddled during coffee breaks at last months UN summit on children in New York.
Mokhtar Lamani, a Morrocan representative of the fifty-three nation Organization of Islamic Conferences at the United Nations, explains it as so: The main issue that brings us all together is defending the family values, the natural family. The Republican administration is so clear in defending the family values.
The Islamic-Christian alliance is thought to have been formed in the UN General Assembly on AIDS in June 2001 through a mutual opposition to efforts to try and protect prostitutes, drug users and homosexual men from contracting the virus. Last month the alliance prevented the children summit from including a reference to reproductive health care services in the final declaration. The Bush administration thought the phrase could be used to promote abortion, and has appointed a number of anti-abortionists and creationists onto its UN delegation.
An unnamed European diplomat at the UN is reported as saying that the Christian right are trying to undo some of the landmark agreements that were reached in the 1990s, particularly on womens rights and family planning. The source says that The US decision to come into the game on their side has completely changed the dynamics.
And the alliance is raising eyebrows for many reasons. This alliance shows the depth of perversity of the US position, says Adrienne Germaine, president of the International Womens Health Coalition. On the one hand were presumably blaming these countries for unspeakable acts of terrorism, and at the same time we are allying ourselves with them in the oppression of women.
Next stop Brigham Young University School of Law, where the World Policy Center (a Mormon group) holds a conference in which anti-abortionists and UN critics will join hands with more than sixty UN delegates, including those from conservative Catholic and Islamic countries.
Closed democracy
The tragic fire that ravaged an unlicensed Beijing internet café this week, killing at least twenty-four, looks set to bring the hammer down on internet use in the city generally.
The government have tried various tricks to hamper the operation of the cafés, such as restricting access, requiring government permits, and so on. But the New York Times estimates that there are about 2,400 internet cafés in Beijing, only 200 of which are licensed. Most of those thought to have died in the fire were students, with whom the internet is immensely popular. The authorities tend to see the internet as dangerous and subversive politically, socially and culturally.
The fire has given them an excuse to take the action they have long wanted to. After an emergency meeting on Sunday, Mayor Liu Qi ordered all internet cafés, illegal or otherwise, to close down immediately. There will be no licenses granted to new internet cafés in the future, and those already licensed will be forced to reapply and certify that they meet relevant requirements. The Mayor warned that any illegal cafés will be severely punished.
The ins and outs of Israel
Israels tourism policy has taken a new twist. On Monday, an Israeli Tourism Ministry spokeswoman declared her nations intention to reward those who visit the country despite the dangers.
The thank you campaign will involve handing tourists a sticker on arrival reading Israel loves you together with a red rose, and on departure awarding them with a certificate of appreciation.
The Palestinian intifada has halved the number of tourist visits to Israel in the last two years. Revenues from tourism have slipped from $4 billion to $2 billion a year.
And more want to head the other way too. The BBC reports that Israeli applications for German citizenship have risen sharply. In the first two months of 2002, Germany received nearly five hundred applications from Israeli citizens. If that trend continues, it will be a rise from the year before, which was a rise from the year before that.
Quotes of the week
I am not losing you, because you are going to paradise. Our message to the Israeli occupiers and killers is that this is our land. And our sons that we love are no more dear to us than our land. Their blood will redeem it.
Naima Abed, mother of Mohammed Abed, a twenty-three year-old who was killed in a clash this week with Israeli soldiers after allegedly trying to lure them into an ambush with a booby-trapped car. Naima Abed was seen with her son on a video released by Hamas, before heading into martyrdom. He kissed her on the head as she spoke, before placing his green fighters headband with an Islamic inscription over her white scarf.
Weve always opposed unilateral attempts to try to decide these issues.
Richard Boucher, US State Department Spokesman, contextualising US opposition to the building of a 360 kilometre Israeli fence separating West Bank Palestinians from Israel. The fence embodies the currently popular notion of unilateral separation.
It really means early action of some kind.
Condoleezza Rice, US National Security Advisor, clarifying President Bushs new policy of preemptive attack. The policy signals an end to Cold War doctrines of deterrence and containment.
How often do Americans these days get to play the role of good losers on the international stage? Soccer used to be one of our few opportunities to keep a low profile.
Christopher Glarey, a fan of the US soccer team, lamenting his nations progress in the World Cup Finals in the IHT.
Contact the Diary editor: dominic.hilton@opendemocracy.net
