Sunday, April 13, 2008

Re-defining realities: One, revising history; the other, shifting a paradigm

The preparations for Durban II are picking up steam. Here are two of its objectives being outlined:

To re-define antisemitism I know some nice and civilized Canadians who would easily buy into this new definition...

To limit our freedom of speech: Again, I know some Canadians, and they more or less the same Canadians mentioned above, who would also find little to disagree with this goal.

And unsurprisingly, these are Canadians who identify themselves very strongly with the Left, that is, the kind of Left that sees no problem NOT fighting totalitarianism, intolerance and legalized murder, if those plagues take place in hot and desert lands, in the Middle East or Africa. How these subjects and these positions converge in this particular manner I cannot imagine. And I mean that genuinely.

What these people would say about this kind of report?

I imagined them five years ago. I might not see a great change in their appearance, but there was something written in their facial features that showed that these people have their freedom to deal with things. As one of them said to me, no one comes and scatters their wares, or chases them away, or demands bribes. They come when they will and leave when they will.

"At the start of my journey I stopped by the newspaper seller to ask how he was after five years of change. He said: I will sum up what you ask in a few words. Despite everything that happened and is happening, I feel pride in the fact that the years of dictatorship are gone. There were no worse years than those, when we were afraid of our own shadows and our own children. I won't claim that the situation now is ideal, but compared to the past, it is much better, without any comparison…

"The residents of Baghdad...reject those who say 'Baghdad fell,' and will answer you sternly if you say this, saying 'it was the regime that fell'…

"I called a friend who lives in Sadr City and asked him how things... He said: I feel love...There are some things I fear, but I do not fear the coming days. People [here] are in a lamentable state and are afraid of evils that may befall them, but they are not despondent. They are awaiting a change for the better.

..."You see that people, despite their proud grief, are talking about hope, and optimism, and the happiness to come. Despite the confusion, the anarchy, and the unconceivable occurrences, you hear the words: the breakthrough is at hand. They speak of the democracy that they had misunderstood, and they emphasize that these five years have taught them a lot and enriched their experience. They have come to know the true from the false and to distinguish between the good and the evil. You hear people saying: April 9 is a national holiday, despite the imported terrorism, or that concocted by the former regime, that came in its wake."

They won't hear the message, the paradigm shift that has taken place, as anticipated by those who have at least some faith in the intelligence and spirit of the people who reside in those hot and desert lands...

1 Comments:

At 8:22 AM EDT, Blogger Roland Dodds said...

“…the kind of Left that sees no problem NOT fighting totalitarianism, intolerance and legalized murder, if those plagues take place in hot and desert lands, in the Middle East or Africa.”

Freedom for all!…unless they live in ex-colonies or have oil under their earth. Then it’s just the evil West interfering in their cultural endeavors.

 

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