Posted April 26, 2002

Nationalists

Many thanks for Justin's balanced article on Le Pen. I have been reading about this guy for about 10 years. The American Media is totally lobotomized and corrupt.

A good rule of thumb is to have the opposite opinion of anyone that our Media is strongly against. Nationalists like Pat Buchanan, Jorge Haider of Austria and LePen all seem to evoke the same negative emotions from the ruling class. That's as good a reason as any to vote for them.

~ PJC

The West

Scott T. from Delaware's (Backtalk April 23rd) apparent irrefutable and unarguable history is incorrect. The PLO was created in 1964 by the Arab League, not by Arafat. Arafat was not involved in the PLO at the time. It was not until 1968 that Arafat's party Fatah became significantly involved in the PLO and it was 1969 that Arafat became the PLO's chairman.

I find Raimondo's theory (or is it Emmanuel Goldstein's?) about the influx of Sephardic Jews into Israel as to somehow being a cause of Israel's recent actions in Jenin to be rather odd. Demographic changes in Israel will certainly affect her politics, but the Zionists' disrespect of the rights of the native inhabitants began long before when most of the Jews in Palestine were from western countries. These Westernized Jews were responsible for the massacre at Dier Yasin and driving out many of the native inhabitants. While it is not enough to look at the West to act Western, neither is it enough to be from the West or live in the West to act Western. There are many good ideas contained within "Western values." Unfortunately, the West itself has rarely lived up to these values.

~ R.S., Minnesota

Land

I regularly read Antiwar.com and find it very informative, especially your "Behind the Headlines". I don't always agree with your views, but we are all allowed our own views!

I am a Boer as referred to in ... [Justin Raimondo's] article "The meaning of Le Pen". I actually want to comment on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. We are now 8 years under black (ANC) rule and I see an analogy between our (Boer/Afrikaner) nation and the Israelis. The common denominator is land. Under apartheid the blacks demanded "one man, one vote", dismantlement of their bantustan, equal rights etc. We were told by our own NP Government and black politicians that once they got these rights we would have peace. Let me tell you there is no peace (contrary to what you hear in the media about this "miracle country"). White farmers are killed and maimed by the hundreds. Us city folk are also not spared, every day you read about murders, robberies, rapes of white people. Then there is the corruption that is crippling the country. As in Israel it is also an issue about ownership of land. The accusation is that we took the land from the blacks because they were there first. Well were they? According to historians the so-called Koi-san were there first, so shouldn't we all leave the country and give it back to the Koi-san?

The same sort of arguments form the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. My advice to any Israeli would be not to give one more inch of land to the Palestinians. The Israelis are also promised peace once they give land back to the Palestinians. Let me assure you, there will be no peace. Why? Because of the hate the Palestinians have towards the Israelis, hate because of what the Israelis accomplished and for what they are. They built a prosperous country out of nothing (same as my forefathers). Nothing will ever be enough for these guys, they won't rest until every Israeli is driven into the sea.

And to all liberal Americans who jump on the "land" bandwagon, shouldn't you give America back to it's indigenous people, the Indians? And a bit off the topic, the Boers were also lambasted over the so-called bantustan. What are reserves where the Indians stay other than a bantustan?

Ask any Boer you come across, they will tell you that we should have voted No in the referendum. My advice will be the same for the Israelis, say No.

~ Hendrik R., South Africa

End Times Destruction

This inane comment by Ken E. is entirely off base and deserved an editorial response from someone on your staff.

"These people -- Christian, Muslim, and Jewish fundamentalists and fanatics won't be happy until half the world is dead or dying in radioactive ashes -- because then they'll be right. Their whole life, their whole worldview will be rendered correct. And if they have to genetically engineer a red heifer, bulldoze every home in Palestine, or manufacture pretexts to invade Iraq to do it, by god, they will."

I suppose I would be characterized as a "fundamentalist" based on the commonly enunciated five fundamental doctrines: (1) the inspiration and what the writers call infallibility of Scripture, (2) the deity of Christ (including his virgin birth), (3) the substitutionary atonement of his death, (4) his literal resurrection from the dead, and (5) his literal return at the Second Coming. (From Catholic Answers).

While fundamentalists believe (according to the Bible) that there will be massive end times destruction, that does not mean that they relish it, approve of murder and war crimes, want to "bulldoze every home in Palestine, or manufacture pretexts to invade Iraq." Such a statement is absurd, bigoted, and irresponsible.

There are many hateful people in this world who want war and destruction. Not a few of them are in Washington, DC. Perhaps this is more fitting analysis of the current world situation:

II Timothy 3:13 "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

Just because St. Paul said it as truth does not mean he liked it.

~ TI, Taiwan

PLO

Responding to a member of the US Military, Scott T.:

Actually the Egyptian Government under Gamal Abdel Nasser founded the PLO on January 1, 1965. Arafat didn't take it over until after the June, 1967 war. As for the Jordanian and Egyptian governments being in charge of the West Bank and Gaza for two decades after the mass expulsion of Palestinians from [what] became Israel, that is true and so what? Avi Schlaim, prominent Israeli historian, wrote a book exposing the secret deal between Israel and the then King of Jordan, Abdullah, to partition Palestine between them. None of this legitimizes the 35 year old Israeli Occupation of the remaining 23% of Palestine that the PLO has agreed to accept for a settlement. As Americans we have a responsibility to stop the use of our money and arms to oppress the Palestinian people. Scott T. should learn some history instead of constructing nonsequiturs.

~ Michael P. Hardesty

Rotten Apples

Remember when the Jugoslavs escorted journalists to Racak, to witness the raging battle between police and insurgents -- and remember how Jugoslavia was ultimately destroyed by the lies about the Racak "Massacre".

That's at least one excuse to keep journalists out of Jenin during a military offensive -- there are too many rotten apples in the journalism trade, and they don't mind lying to help their dirty little agendas along.

Let's hope the real journalists yell a little louder this time, and we get to know the truth before it's too late. Judging by the reports from hundreds of independent sources in Jenin, the media might finally have itself a real massacre to sing about -- don't screw it up this time.

~ Milivoj S., Australia

Nutball

I visit your site often. ...I do not agree with your views on a number of subjects but I prefer courageous independent analysis and opinion to the mainstream tailored, doctored, mass-propaganda which is what the media in the western world is today.

I wanted to bring to your attention a minor detail that may or may not have skipped your attention, since we are living in very "interesting" (literally in the Chinese sense) times. I have read ... [Justin Raimondo's] reference to nuts around the world with your standard phrase "nutball", but it seems the worst nutballs don't reside in the far-left or right but in the American mainstream.

It seems the biggest nutball on the loose is a MIT professor of Economics by the name of Mr. Paul Krugman of the venerable New York Times. In fact, the New York Times is partisan to such an extreme in its media coverage on a number of issues that it might as well declare itself the ringleader of democratic (and perhaps the Neocon) propaganda machine. But on the point, Mr. Krugman is actually comparing the US Republicans in general and George Bush in particular to Le Pen's Front National! (His Logic is rather loose but then he's on the Editorial board of America's lousiest newspaper!)

~ RE, London