[lit-ideas] Re: 21. century European anti-Semitism
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2004 20:08:46 -0700 (PDT)
--- John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I am feeling somewhat bucked by a
> piece in this morning's
> Japan Times describing the sweeping victory of UMNO
> and its BN partners
> in the recent elections in Malaysia--the first time
> in recent history
> that a moderate party that espouses racial and
> ethnic tolerance has
> soundly trounced an Islamic fundamentalist
> opposition. in a country
> where Muslims are in the majority.
There were presidential elections in Algeria lately,
and they were won by the incumbent president
Bouteflika, not an Islamic fundamentalist by anyone's
reckoning. There were parliamentary elections in
Jordan in 2003, and they were not won by Islamic
fundamentalists. Whether this will bring significant
changes for the better remains to be seen, but frankly
one is skeptical.
Indonesia, too, has an allegedly moderate, certainly
not an Islamist, party in power, which got there
through elections. (Unfortunately, this party, mainly
based in Java, turned out to oppress the populations
of Aceh and West Papua, which happen to be more
traditional Islamic.) Indonesia is probably listening
to the wind of change now, as we can see from this
infromative article:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/FD17Ae04.html
The Islamist parties may gain strength but they are
not likely to be in power. In Sudan, too, there were
elections in recent memory (January 2001, "deemed
fair"), and they did not bring Islamic fundamentalists
to power. (Though there is a significant Islamist
opposition, whose leader, Hassan Al-Turabi, has been
jailed recently.) But unfortunately the Sudanese
government is now engaged in a veritable ethnic
cleansing of the Muslim non-Arab populations in the
West of country.
It may be infered from this that I find the remarks,
with their implicit contrast between the "moderate"
and "Islamic fundamentalist" forces, rather
simplistic.
O.K.
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