Steps backward for Britain

The newly appointed Welsh Secretary Peter Hain could not have said it better: “It is a shameful stain on Britain that we now have racists and fascists representing our country in the European Parliament.” He was referring to the election of Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons of the British National Party (BNP) to the European Parliament. The voters from Northwest England and Yorkshire and Humber should indeed be ashamed of themselves for electing these two.

The BNP is a reincarnation of the British Union of Fascists, a neo-Nazi party of the past. Its entire political program is focused on demonizing Islam and advocating compulsory repatriation of nonwhite immigrants and residents from the UK to their native lands. BNP claims that it is not a racist party but asserts it will not allow UK to be a nonwhite multiracist society either. Its membership is mostly working class racists, anti-immigrant and nonwhite haters. Most of them are relics of the British Empire and the one whom people know well. They still believe in the sci-fi theory of directed panspermia, spread of viruses such as swine flu by the comets, and say there is no global warming and instead the planet earth is heading toward the ice age.

The fascism is raising its ugly head once again in the European community due to the recent economic angst coupled with the action of making the immigrants scapegoats. In the UK the recent “expenses scandal” of MPs and resulting voters’ apathy and poor turnout helped the ultra right-wingers to pick most of the protest votes. But, the general popularity of BNP victors was evident from the reception Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons received from the mostly white protesters who pelted them with rotten eggs and tomatoes and greeted them with slogans “Nazi scum-off our streets” before them delivering victory speeches. Now the anti-racist campaigners are being urged to target these MEPs with pots of ethnic fare such as vindaloo curry, samosas, chow mein, African gumbo, etc. etc to show their abhorrence. The BNP, on the other hand, boasted on their website that their fight for “Britons and Britishness” had even been endorsed by some veterans of World War II who joined the party. It is an irony that we just celebrated the 65th anniversary of D-day and the soldiers who fought to get rid of Nazis in Europe and out of Britain are now sending fascists and Nazis to European Parliament to represent Britain.

It is not exactly a step forward in terms of the advancement of British society.

Iqbal Paul, Montreal, Canada published 17 June 2009

Writing on the wall

Arab News front-page picture — Writing on the wall (June 15) — spoke volumes. The photo, showing US President Barack Obama in the traditional Arab headdress that is normally worn by the Palestinians, tells us of the contempt the Zionists have for him. After the US president’s landmark speech in Cairo in which he urged Netanyahu to agree to a two-state solution, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his policy address set conditions that torpedoed all peace moves. He said the Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish state and that Palestinian refugees would not be allowed to resettle in Israel.

Netanyahu’s speech was meant to appease the right-wing Israeli politicians and was barely anything more than the continuation of the Stern Gang tactics. The Israeli premier does not want peace but favors only land-grab tactics. His main goal is the elimination of Palestinians by any means. That the picture portrays Obama as anti-semitic and a Jew hater shows how much the Israelis crave for peace and how serious they are in the resolution of the Palestinian issue.

S.H. Moulana, Riyadh published 17 June 2009

Writing on the wall 2

The picture on the front page of Arab News showing US President Barack Obama in traditional Arab headdress (June 15) is an indication of a rift between Israel and the United States. It shows the discontentment of the Israelis with the US president. It is also the sign of a beginning that will usher in a victory for the Arabs and the peace-loving international community who are fed up with the belligerent attitude of Israel. Israel is probably realizing now that its days of being the “pampered child of the US” are over. Most Americans I have spoken to do not endorse their government bowing to Israeli demands. Israel may now be planning to harm Obama by running a smear campaign against him. Obama should be prepared to pre-empt any Israeli move to harm him should he decide to do justice with the Palestinians and address the issue without a bias.

Alwee H. Attas, By e-mail published 17 June 2009

Indian team’s defeat

The principal reasons for India’s rout in the World Cup Twenty20 games is the third-rate batting and incorrect captaincy decisions. The first four batsmen — Gambhir, Sharma, Raina and Jadeja — had not been delivering, yet Dhoni persisted with them stubbornly in the top order!

Jadeja scored 26 runs in 35 balls, when, in such fast-paced matches even 35 runs off 25 balls are inadequate! The Pathan brothers and Yuvraj are rapid scorers, but were held back in the play order, in last match with England, which led to a pathetic batting performance. Indian fielding too, has been wanting, compared to other countries. Dhoni is yet to mature as a captain and needs more time, leadership and strategy inputs.

Indian cricketers become “stars” in the country with just one victory. They squander time on celebrity activities instead of spending it on practice.

Rajendra Aneja, Dubai published 17 June 2009

Fighting America’s war

Aijaz Zaka Syed (June 12) begins by accusing the Taleban of the mosque bombing when no such thing has yet been conclusively proved. Nor have the Taleban made any such claims. This bomb blast should be seen in the light of similar incidents in Iraq where many independent journalists like Robert Fisk have discovered hidden hands of foreigners or occupying powers out to provoke civil and sectarian conflicts.

And even the tribal standoff with the Taleban is insignificant compared to the tribal support to them, especially the refusal of Baka Khel and Jani Khel tribes to hand over Taleban suspects to the military. And the Taleban command wide support in the FATA regions and the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.

There is no denying that the Taleban committed many atrocities in Swat by killing people whom they accused of spying and by demolishing schools imparting secular education, but blaming the Taleban alone will not solve the problem. Our government deserves the blame in equal measure for starting the conflict in the tribal areas by letting the Americans carry out indiscriminate drone attacks, not to say anything of severe bombing by our own air force, resulting in large-scale civilian casualties and damage. It is important, therefore, for the government and people to understand the root of the problem and stop fighting America’s war by hunting the Taleban in border areas. I hope the Taleban and Pakistan would come to an amicable settlement for the greater good of the country.

Shahid Faisal, Karachi, Pakistan, published 16 June 2009