From Dan, the US

In Danny the Blue and White, you write:

the revolution of 1968 failed, but it transformed Europe and the United
States. Danny the Red was a mover of the revolution, and a great source of
inspiration for us, who sought freedom and equality.

1968 was a transforming event: the watershed of the circulation of elites
that is the foundation of the West today. It was a great success in every
respect; it destroyed academic curricula, the authority of churches, the
legitimacy of states and their histories and family relationships. It
created new markets and new sources of wealth, power, and authority. In
terms of short range goals 1968 defeated Lyndon Johnson (by default) and
through Danny's zealous determination, Charles DeGaulle. Remember the
screaming and the rage? The all purpose epithets of "Fascist!" and "Nazi!"
that provided dependable conclusions to debates? And remember the
"Authoritarian Personality" and its corollary about sexual frustration
leading to violence and militarism?
While 1968 was an astounding success for its catalysts and authors like
Cohn-Bendit and Todd Gitlin. The only failure was that of the auxilliaries
or dupes such as myself. Our narcotic political and cultural fantasies
provided us a way of avoiding reality and we were disappointed that there
was a discrepancy between the media hype and the morning after what Tom
Wolfe calls "that lurid carnival."
In his memoirs Gore Vidal recalls a conversation he had with Allen Ginsburg
about Jack Kerouac: "You know around 1968 when we were all protesting the
Vietnam War, Jack wrote to me that the war was just an excuse for 'you Jews
to be spiteful again.' I sometimes think maybe he was right."
I see Danny as a faithful adherent to the goals if not the articulated
ideals of 1968 and his astounding self-confidence and shameless triumphalism
has been thoroughly warranted in terms of his success. Of course he is not a
Kantian; he is a "flexible strategizer" You can't get Kantian if you want to
get laid as Michel Houellebeq so vividly shows in his great novel of 1968
and its disasterous aftermath, Elementary Particles.
As I dimly percieve Danny through the broken clouded lenses of my vestigial
standards of pre-1968 rationality, it is easy enough to "expose the
contradictions" with respect to Danny but why would I wish to do so if the
consequences are so dire and if Danny will only laugh at me and sneer
contemptuously and call me a "schmuck"? In 1968 we had Danny's permission to
"expose the contradictions"; we do not have his permission to do so today.

Dan
Shamir to Dan:
1968 was used for advancement of the Jewish cause. Indeed, in France it
came after de Gaulle declared embargo on weapons to Israel; in the US it was
the break point for the hold of the old elites and the beginning of the Rise
of Jews. To some extent, we can say the same about Russia in 1917. But
while I agree that 'the Jews' had their own agenda, and eventually
manipulated
the revolution of 1968, their agenda was defeated in the Soviet Union; and
it
could be defeated in Europe and the US. The conclusion that I want to avoid
(for I disagree with it) is that the 1968 revolution was wrong. It went
wrong, yes, but the idea was (is) good. The
revolutionaries tried to use the Jews (including bankers and newspaper
owners),
while the Jews used the revolutionaries. Thus, the revolution '68 had its
Trotskys
a-plenty, but it had no Stalin.

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Dear Shamir,

I applaud your sharp report on Cohn-Bendit. I have myself experienced
in Germany the fear of saying anything critical of Israel, let alone of
Jews. The self-censure exercised by Germans and the internalization
of fear of being singled out as antisemit will one day burst out and I
do not relish that day. I keep telling my German friends that they
should use only one yardstick to judge conduct, a universal standard,
not one for Jews and one for others.

I also agree that Muslims are not generally racist, let alone
anti-Jews. I have always felt more at ease with Arabs than with Jewish
zionists. There is lots of racism among Jews. However, it is true
that Israeli and Zionist policies have caused a surge of antisemitism
in Muslim countries that is racist in nature: I am talking about myths
about the eternal nature of Jews, of their inherent wickedness, etc.
It serve no good purpose to close one's eyes to such pathological
developments among Arabs. Here again, let us stick with one yardstick
of opposing all forms of racism and prejudice, regardless towards whom
it is leveled.

Kindly,

Elias

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From Michael McGee
Hello,

I read your interesting article on Daniel Cohn-Bendit's visit to israël and
thought you made some very good points concerning zionist attacks against
those who support fair and equal treatment for all of the semitic peoples in
the Middle East. I have also seen several articles which attack you as being
an "hysterical
anti-semite", but I would like to make my own opinion after listening to
your arguments. My experience has shown that zionists and neo-cons often
attack those who support justice for the Palestinian people as being
"anti-semites".

I am a member of the Green Party in the state of Washington and, my wife
being Alsacian, I have a long experience lobbying on Human Rights in the
European Institutions, including the European Parliament. I am also well
aware that european Greens, as well as many other parties, are struggling
between pro-zionist influences and truely anti-colonialist positions. For
the moment, the zionist sympathizers within the European Parliament that
propose, like Cohn-Bendit or Olivier Dupuis, to bring israel into the
European Union, are still a small minority. A majority of the deputies in
the European Parliament supported a resolution on 10 April 2002 to suspend
commercial and economic ties in the European Union - Israel Association
Agreement and to place an embargo on all arms sales to Israel and Palestine.
(Please see annexe 1 + 2)
Compared with the situation 10 years ago, I believe that the pro-zionist
propagandists are more and more on the defensive in Europe and are attacking
"hysterically" even very moderate political or cultural figures who dare let
the Palestinian people express their views. The zionist attacks against the
popular french radio host, Daniel Mermet, (who is himself jewish) and the
world famous farm union leader from the "Confédération Paysanne", José Bové,
are good examples of these desperate last ditch efforts of zionists to
prevent the world from seeing and reacting to israëli colonial crimes
against humanity.

This is why it is extremely important to keep up the diplomatic pressure
against israëli aparthied within the European Institutions and European
political parties. A positive outcome, as in the case of aparthied in South
Africa, depends on our perserverance and political inteligence.
Parliamentary delegations, religious groups and civil resistance movements,
such as the International Solidarity Movement, which go to investigate the
situation in Palestine have also played a major role in countering israëli
propaganda here in Europe.

In the hope that you are a true supporter of the semitic peoples of the
Middle East,
I look forward to hearing your positions on the Palestinian struggle and the
urgent need for jews of all races to condemn israëli aparthied.

Sincerely yours,
Michaël McGEE



Annex 1

European Parliament resolution on the Middle East
10 April 2002 P5_TA(2002)0173

Situation in the Middle East
The European Parliament,

- having regard to its recommendation to the Council of 13 December 2001 on
the crisis in the Middle East and the role of the European Union in the
region(1), its resolution of 7 February 2002 on the Middle East(2) and its
resolution of 20 March 2002 on the outcome of the European Council of 15-16
March 2002 in Barcelona(3),

A. profoundly shocked by the escalating human tragedy experienced by the
Israeli and Palestinian peoples,
7. Calls on the Council to institute an arms embargo on Israel and
Palestine;
Annex 2
Debates of the European Parliament
SITTING OF THURSDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2003
Application of EC-Israel Association Agreement
Alima Boumediene-Thiery (Greens/European Free Alliance). - (FR) Mr Nielson,
let me take this opportunity to remind you that on 10 April our Parliament
voted on a Resolution to freeze the Association Agreement. Now, eighteen
months later, this Resolution is still being ignored. Could we see this as
unwavering support for the Israeli state's policy despite its violations of
human rights and international law?

We could, for we are talking about economic, commercial agreements, about
financial interests, but we also about the right to life. This colonial war
claims more and more victims. Even though the roadmap made provision to
colonisation to be put on ice, the Jewish colonies continue to grow and
roads around them are still being built. In Israel the situation is tragic.
To conclude, Mr President, I will say that we cannot remain silent. Is it
not our duty to put pressure on the Israeli Government, with all the means
that we have at our disposal including economic and commercial ones? Why not
paralyse the Association Agreement as we courageously did before in South
Africa against the apartheid?

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From Alain Coutte
Thanks for this one Shamir... same as usual and great !

Danny the red, Danny the blue-and-white or Danny the green ?
Well, to me he changed so often his mind, probably each time he changes his
shirt, that he has gone through all the colours of this beautiful rainbow we
used to have in Africa.

As you are aware, to be a politician you need to :
- be a whore capable of killing your parents and children,
- have such an ego that requests you to always carry a mirror with you,
- always be on top of the events with something to say about anything, as
long as the medias talk about you and people can see or listen to you.

We, french, are laughing at Danny's appearances, i often switch to Mozart or
Beethoven classic music instead to hear him, because otherwise i get so
bored i start sleeping on my sofa with my sweet little girl in my arms. We
all know he is an "has been", capitalizing on 1968 when at that time he had
the guts to lead these students in the streets of Paris because he had
nothing to loose and such a big mouth.

One of my customer came to the company this week and told me :
- "What about if God shows his face and tell us all it was a big "joke" he
made on us ?"
I answered him :
- "Well, then Richard Perle, Wolfowitz and all neocons would be out of their
jobs immediately and Israël wouldn't exist anymore !"

So, re-thinking about this one, i told myself, there might exist a 3rd way
for peace achievement by declaring that God had never existed except in the
imagination, and that all religions where purely invented from these nice
stories we tell our children.
Then, would only remains humans on earth, with only one father, and like my
favourite singer John Lennon used to say :
"Imagine..."

Happy thanksgiving holidays to the one having some.

Best regards
Alain COUTTE

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From Manfred Stricker, Alsace
compte-rendu et opinion d'Israël Shamir sur la visite de Daniel Cohn-Bendit
en Israël. Il faut reconnaître que Cohn-Bendit est adroit et connaît bien la
règle de base d'un bon politicien démocrate : chez les propriétaires les
loyers sont trop bas et chez les locataires ils sont trop élevés.
Il faut avoir une bonne imagination pour trouver que le mur que fait
construire Sharon prouve que celui-ci fixe une limite à l'expansion de
l'Etat d'Israël.
L'éducation à la double éthique - une à la maison et une autre en-dehors -
crée un handicap à vie pour la recherche et le traitement de la vérité. Et
c'est même, fort probablement, un obstacle pour arriver au niveau de la
culture européenne telle que les Européens l'ont hérité des Grecs.
Manfred Stricker
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