Saturday, October 8, 2005
Widely linked is this story of a Norwegian teacher who's been ordered to stop wearing a Star of David necklace -- it being potentially offensive to Muslim students.
Aftenposten: Teacher told to drop Star of David
Teacher Inge Telhaug said he feels this is a violation of his freedom of speech.
"I can't accept this. It is a small star, 16 millimeters (0.6 inches) that I have around my neck, usually under a T-shirt. I see it as my right to wear it," Telhaug told NRK.
Telhaug teaches immigrants Norwegian language and culture at the education center. Telhaug is not Jewish.
"I see it as the oldest religious symbol we have in our culture, because without Judaism there would be no Christianity," Telhaug.
The principal of the school, Kjell Gislefoss, feels that the Star of David can also be interpreted as a political symbol for the state of Israel, and is afraid the star can provoke and offend students, for example immigrants from the Palestinian territories..
This is but one of a disturbing number of stories where identifiably Jewish events and symbols (Holocaust Remembrance Day in England, for instance...Piglet anyone?) have been declared to be "offensive to Muslims." Perhaps it will be acknowledged at some point that such instances feed, and rightfully so, concern about Muslim immigration and integration, and that those expressing concern deserve a better answer than having "racist" or "bigot" screamed in their faces. Further, if Norway (in this case), is experiencing a wave of new immigrants for whom a Jewish symbol is a provocation, isn't that a question that should have been resolved before such people were allowed into the country in the first place?
And what's to prevent this">http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/no/flag.html>this symbol from being deemed similarly offensive?
Okay, let's try linking the old fashioned way:
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/no/flag.html
Quite true. (You missed the quote marks around the url in your first comment, BTW.)
In some conversation with a norwegian fella I know from a couple online groups that symbol actually *is* considered offensive by many in Norway. The reason? The skinheads and neo nazi movement has "taken the symbol and national anthem as their own and now we don't sing the anthem anymore because of that."
Hell, makes good sense to someone I guess...
Nick Cohen piece concerning anti-Semitism in Great Britain. His opening graph is succinct and telling, if obviously so at this point:
"If you challenge liberal orthodoxy, your argument cannot be debated on its merits. You have to be in the pay of global media moguls. You have to be a Jew."
h/t AtlasShrugged
Also, OT, but Trans-Int has an open piece in their quarterly on the investigations in the wake of M-11 in Spain.
Yeah, I linked that Trans-Int piece as a headline quick-link below, although it doesn't show if you come here via RSS or the like.
I had seen and 90% very much liked that Nick Cohen piece, but didn't link it since you only get one free look at it at the New Statesman site. Didn't know he had his own site where it was available. Thanks for that.
Yes, I understand, I agree with him less than that, roughly in the area of 75%. But he probes and he does get some important things right. Minimally he's willing to face some things forthrightly even while he falls back on some other formulations and characterizations I'd very much disagree with. Yet, he's transparent, he's unbeguiling, he probes into some areas honestly enough and addresses some things others are blinded to or more consciously avoid.