And a few aside questions: Is rejecting Sharia law 'islamophobia'? Do you want/support Sharia law for Australia? Do you recognize fatwas? Do you support calls for censorship of cartoons of Muhammad? Do you support the protest that happened in Sydney a few months ago, where children were holding up signs saying 'Behead those who insult Islam'?
Anonymous
What a bizarre string of questions.
You seem to think I’m an Islamist or something. I believe in secular Marxism. Why would I recognise fatwas, want sharia law in Australia, or actively promote Islamism as a philosophy or political theory?
REJECTING sharia law is not Islamophobic - I reject sharia law. But whipping up a frenzied racist campaign against “creeping sharia law”, creating hysterical myths about what sharia law and Islam actually are, is completely different and pretty disgusting! And that’s what people like you are trying to do. Racist hysteria. All sorts of religious beliefs are used to justify atrocities around the world today and in the past. Christianity and Catholicism have a bloody and violent history of that, for example. The fact that Islamophobes want to hysterically zoom in on Islam as THE (only) problem is nothing but pure bigotry.
I’m not trying to glorify Islam, I’m trying to defend Muslims from the atrocious wave of racist bigotry against them that has been actively promoted by the state and, sadly, accepted by many people since 9/11 (though somewhat less so now).
My general philosophical attitude to Islam is similar to my attitude to most or all religious beliefs. Except that the context of 9/11 and the consequent Islamophobic hysteria about “terrorism” across the entire Western world changes everything. In the context of that bigotry, I think Muslims fighting back against racist prejudices in Australia is a great thing, and accordingly, I’ve attended and promoted countless protests over the years to support their fight against the disgusting racism that targets them in Australia.
The key task of anyone against racism in Australia is to attack anti-Muslim prejudice - regardless of what their opinion is on Islamism itself. Simple as that.
The IRA are a terrorist organisation, it's sad when people like you want so hard to be seen as 'left' that they will sympathise on a level with any terrorist organisation. You talk of anti-nationalism yet you are referring to the OF on grounds of Nationalism, what is Scotland's 'pride' or 'shame'? That seems to be a shaky argument. A "left-wing" individual who wants to be open to all people regardless of race/creed is happy to make sweeping generalisations on others?
Anonymous
You know nothing about me. It has nothing to do with what I want to be “seen” as, and everything to do with my political views and analysis of the world.
Anyway, I’m not in the business of using this “terrorist organisation” language. If “terrorism” is defined as violence employed for political means, then the U.S.A. or Israel are “terrorist organisations”. Similarly, the Australian government would be a “terrorist organisation”. Both for their contribution to political violence in the Middle East and their respective regions, and their militarist actions employed with the goal of geopolitical domination. By this definition of “terrorism”, France is committing terrorism against Mali right this moment, for uranium and political gain.
It’s not a shaky argument. Celtic fans are not particularly (Scottish) nationalist, but they want their team to be the best in the country, and they want to be the proudest fans in Scotland. Nationalism is a specific historical and political phenomenon that has roots in the formation of countries over the last few hundred years, and the rise of patriotism, capitalism, and imperialism.
There’s nothing inconsistent with being left-wing and making sweeping generalisations. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with generalisations. The only way you can describe groups and sociological tendencies in society is by generalising. What the Left is against is racist generalisations and any generalisations that strengthen ruling class ideology and bigotry.
This day, 39 years ago, a reign of blood began in Chile, and Pinochet murdered and tortured over 10,000 women, trade unionists, communists, democrats, and other ordinary people during his rule.
Let’s fuckin remember it. I’m not saying not to remember the attacks on the twin towers. But it is possible to remember both, you know.
And, again, while there is nothing remotely wrong with remembering America’s 9/11 - there is a stark hypocrisy that only a minority of the population remembers US-backed terror in Chile on this day.
We may not like to admit it, but it’s a subconscious framework weaved by the logic of Islamophobia and the power of language around “terrorism”. White terror - collateral damage and non-existent. Brown terror - terrorism, pervasive, lurks around every single fucking corner, in our neighbourhoods, in our schools, in our communities.
Fucking crazy. What more can I say.
