"What Must Be Said" -- German poet banned from Israel for writing about nuclear program

By Gunter Grass


Why have I kept silent, silent for too long
over what is openly played out
in war games at the end of which we
the survivors are at best footnotes.

It’s that claim of a right to first strike
against those who under a loudmouth’s thumb
are pushed into organized cheering—
a strike to snuff out the Iranian people
on suspicion that under his influence
an atom bomb’s being built.

But why do I forbid myself
to name that other land in which
for years—although kept secret—
a usable nuclear capability has grown
beyond all control, because
no scrutiny is allowed.

The universal silence around this fact,
under which my own silence lay,
I feel now as a heavy lie,
a strong constraint, which to dismiss
courts forceful punishment:
the verdict of “Antisemitism” is well known.

But now, when my own country,
guilty of primal and unequalled crimes
for which time and again it must be tasked—
once again, in pure commerce,
though with quick lips we declare it
reparations, wants to send
Israel yet another submarine—
one whose speciality is to deliver
warheads capable of ending all life
where the existence of even one
nuclear weapon remains unproven,
but where suspicion serves for proof—
now I say what must be said.

But why was I silent for so long?
Because I thought my origin,
marked with an ineradicable stain,
forbade mention of this fact
as definite truth about Israel, a country
to which I am and will remain attached.

Why is it only now I say,
in old age, with my last drop of ink,
that Israel’s nuclear power endangers
an already fragile world peace?
Because what by tomorrow might be
too late, must be spoken now,
and because we—as Germans, already
burdened enough—could become
enablers of a crime, foreseeable and therefore
not to be eradicated
with any of the usual excuses.

And admittedly: I’m silent no more
because I’ve had it with the West’s hypocrisy
—and one can hope that many others too
may free themselves from silence,
challenge the instigator of known danger
to abstain from violence,
and at the same time demand
a permanent and unrestrained control
of Israel’s atomic power
and Iranian nuclear plants
by an international authority
accepted by both governments.

Only thus can one give help
to Israelis and Palestinians—still more,
all the peoples, neighbour-enemies
living in this region occupied by madness
—and finally, to ourselves as well.

Breeding Studs: How Segregation Continued on US TV into the 1990s

I wrote this piece in 1993 -- nearly 20 years ago; tried and failed to publish it at the time. I was reminded of it while listening to a segment this morning on Democracy Now! about how American Bandstand "was a segregated program for the whole time it was in Philadelphia."

This piece is about the dating show Studs (here's a clip) from the early 1990s, largely forgotten, but it was rather trendy at the time, featuring allegedly witty quips from the contestants. I recall it was parodied by the Simpsons with one contestant giggling: "He was so sexy, I wanted to have sex."

Breeding Studs
by Sam Husseini

I've been having trouble sleeping and, with Letterman off the air this summer, I found myself watching the dating show Studs. After a while, I notice something remarkable: the show is segregated.

Unlike the other major dating program, Love Connection, Studs doesn't have racially "mixed" panels. They have all-white panels and all-black panels; they've also had all Asian panels, though they occasionally have Asians with Europeans. Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs, Latinos, Native Americans, and other ethnic groups are invisible -- apparently they don't date at all.

Why would the producers of "Studs" seek to segregate people? Perhaps they are afraid of contestants saying: "His long dark fudge dreamsicle was just yummy." Or "I wanted to plunge into her wet white gene pool." Or "She was my playboy bunny; She was my jungle bunny." Or "He sure could shake and wiggle -- for a white boy."

Actually, a major culprit seems to be cowardice. When I called the top producers at Studs, which is syndicated on the Murdoch-owned FOX network, were zip-lipped about the reasons for this apparent policy. But an assistant producer conceded that they haven not had "mixed" panels, saying that Studs is concerned that affiliates and advertisers would get edgy. Such thinking leads to the most regressive elements in our society determining what policies are followed.

(When I called up Love Connection, I was told that they question participants about whether they would be OK dating someone of a different ethnicity, and they ask if they actually have dated someone of a different ethnicity. They only put people on a "mixed" panel if they answer yes to both questions.)

Neither do the major media generally do the public a favor when they rhetorically tell people of different ethnicity to learn to live together, while providing us with few images of people from diverse backgrounds caring for one another. If the networks were to begin showing such images, however, they would not be engaging in a public service, rather, they would simply be documenting our reality.

As I was writing this piece, I learned that the show has been cancelled. "Yeah, you're looking at reruns now," the sweet-sounding old secretary I talked to was disappointed,  "Shame, it was just getting good, too. The show started out sort of raunchy and they were just starting to have some nice people on, but I guess it was too little too late." Sort of like my little crusade.

By the logic of the market place, perhaps if they had "mixed" couples, it would have invigorated their numbers.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that "separate-but-equal" status for people of different ethnicities was unconstitutional. That ruling applied to public schools and other government services, but "separate-but-equal" is a practice our major media continue.

There are exceptions to this, for example the "cop shows" with the "salt and pepper" police teams. But contrast this apparent progress with the fact that there has not been a prominent African American/European American couple since The Jeffersons. Despite the Cosby Show's long run and the family's middle class orientation, none of the Cosby kids dated whites. It seems that blacks and whites can easily come together to fight, occasionally to laugh, but rarely to love.

News outlets are guilty of separatism as well. The Associated Press puts news of specific interest to African Americans under the heading "urban," though it includes news from South Africa and Haiti. More disturbing, however, is that the AP's "urban news" is categorized under "entertainment." How entertaining.  The real negative fallout, however, is that few white, mainstream journalists are likely come across such information when it is categorized in such a manner.

Even shows that are unusually courageous on other issues are reluctant to have black and white couples. For example, Roseanne, a show that has portrayed issues of gender, class and sexual orientation with rare frankness, has stayed away from "black/white" couples.

Shows like Studs do not pretend to judge people on the content of their character; but neither should they segregate people on the color of their skin. 

Holbrooke: Annan got his UN job because he did what the U.S. wanted #Syria

AP reports: "Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan on Thursday was appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis"

Via Francis Boyle -- from Richard Holbrooke's, To End a War (1998) p. 130:
 
Operation Deliberate Force came after a magnificent effort ... Annan’s gutsy performance in those twenty-four hours was to play a central role in Washington’s strong support for him a year later as the successor to Boutros  Boutros-Ghali as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Indeed, in a sense Annan won the job on that day.

International Humanities Center Apparently Ripped off Activist Groups, including @dechristopher -- Putting Soprano Mobsters to Shame

Commondreams reports: "Over 200 nonprofit groups including Tim DeChristopher's Peaceful Uprising have lost funds totaling about a million dollars since their fiscal sponsor has shut down suspiciously, leaving some of the groups unable to pay staff, bills or continue needed projects." 

Peaceful Uprising adds: "We were recently shocked to learn that our fiscal sponsor, International Humanities Center, (a California-based 501(c)(3) charitable trust) had spent the money donated to Peaceful Uprising on their own operating costs. They claimed to be unable to give us access to the funds or to return them – which has left us unable to pay our small staff, rent for our space, or any other expenses. As it turns out, we weren’t the only ones to be deceived – over 200 other Projects under IHC’s fiscal sponsorship were also caught by this horrific surprise."

Afghan Women's Mission, founded by Sonali Kolhatkar, writes that it has lost around $400,000: "We were informed in mid-December 2011 that International Humanities Center (IHC), the non-profit group that we had hired to manage our funds since 2003, has lost all of our donations. All of the nearly 200 organizations that had accounts with IHC are the victims of this theft. Altogether, about $400,000 donated to Afghan Women’s Mission to fund RAWA’s projects were lost."

This reminds me of Christopher from the Sopranos robbing a benefit concert: 

Re Iran and Israel now, must understand Lavon Affair, when Israel had agents bomb US targets in Egypt

From the Wikipedia entry for The Lavon Affair: 

The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation,[1] a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and British-owned targets. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents" or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canalzone.[2] The operation caused no casualties, except for those members of the cell who committed suicide after being captured.

U.S. Citizens Arrested in #Bahrain during Peaceful Protest @huwaidaarraf & @radhikasainath in Gov Custody @WitnessBahrain

American Citizens Arrested in Bahrain during Peaceful Protest Huwaida Arraf & Radhika Sainath in Police Custody
 
For immediate release
 
Febraury 11, 2011
 
(Manama) – US Citizens Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath were arrested by Bahraini security forces in Manama on Saturday during a peaceful protest in near the Standard Chartered Bank downtown.  Protesters had marched into the city center to reestablish a presence of nonviolent, peaceful protest leading up to the 1-year anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising in Bahrain.
 
Huwaida and Radhika were in Bahrain as part of an international solidarity effort aimed at providing an international civilian presence to report and monitor the situation on the ground.  Leading up to February 14, Bahraini authorities had prevented journalists, human rights observers and other internationals from entering the country, leading many to fear a brutal crackdown.  The two women are part of the Witness Bahrain initiative ( http://www.witnessbahrain.org ), which arrived in Bahrain in response to a call by Bahraini democracy activists for international observers.
 
Just yesterday, top US human rights envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, called on the Bahraini authorities to respect the rights of Bahrainis to peaceful protest and to refrain from using excessive force.  Huwaida was dragged away by numerous security forces after sitting on the ground, and it is widely reported that detainees have suffered physical abuse while on the way to and at police stations.
 
Both women were part of a peaceful protest marching near the Pearl Roundabout – site of last year’s peaceful round-the-clock protest in Bahrain, modeled after Egypt’s Tahrir Square – when they were attacked.  Both are human rights lawyers, and both have experience as human rights activists in Palestine.  Additionally, both were part of the National Lawyer’s Guild delegation to Gaza following Operation Cast Lead to investigate possible war crimes and illegal use of American weaponry on a civilian population.
 
For more information:
 
adamsop at gmail.com 
http://www.witnessbahrain.org