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detlef langer
Ben Jack,
In order to finally discuss the poem on grounds of its content and not of it's author's past, I'm completely with you in stating that the poem is unbalanced and that it doesn't help peace along.
But there is one thing that gets me worried.
On the one hand, there is Iran, clandestinely or not so clandestinely developing the means to build nuclear weapons even if it claims otherwise. I think Iran's having nuclear weapons would make the world a much more dangerous place regardless of Iran's motives for having them in the first place, the more so as Iran repeatedly announced its determination to wipe Israel off the map.
But we have been knowing that Ahmadinejad character to be a loudmouth for a long time now.
On the other hand, we have always been knowing Israel not to be a loudmouth. And against this background, I'm getting more and more uneasy reading (or hearing in the news) that in Israel's government (or its military, or both) the discussion seems to be focusing on the "when" (and maybe the "how") of a preemptive strike against Iran rather than on the "if". And yes, I'm very well aware that Israel doesn't openly threat to strike against Iran and that such a preemptive strike doesn't necessarily mean that it would be a nuclear strike.
But there is so much talking about "something has to be done against Iran's developing nuclear weapons and fast" or about a "window of opportunity rapidly closing" that I'm afraid that there will be such a preemptive strike in the near future and that Israel will subsequently count on her partners stand by her and cleaning up the mess it would make.
So I'd really would have wished for the poem to be balanced at all.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
oginome,
Since you seem to be able to evaluate Israel's motives so well and even gauge it's potential reactions
would you care to explain one thing for me: The fact that Grass was in the SS has been revealed in 2006. It caused considerable outrage in and outside Germany. At least in Germany, Grass has completely lost his moral authority. But oddly enough, this revelation didn't prompt Israel to ban Grass from entry. If I understand correctly, Grass could have traveled to Israel just two or three weeks ago unimpeded.
And now, the same SS past (which hasn't and the evaluation of which hasn't changed since then) is the (only?) reason for Grass's being banned from entry?
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
That could be the case indeed. Thanks for pointing that out, Ben Jack. Maybe I'm being too German-centered on this issue. As far as I can learn by browsing the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, or the Telegraph, the reactions seem to be more relaxed than in Germany or, not surprisingly, in Israel.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
Ben Jack,
Thanks for clearing that. I'm with you in that Grass might be secretly happy with the media attention he gets, even if he accuses the (German) media of "Gleichschaltung" (for this term, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichschaltung).
What caused my response to oginome is the following sentence:
That, I think, is exaggerating. Of course, Grass's having been a member of a Nazi organization has contributed to that kind of media attention. But it hasn't caused it. As I've tried to explain above, I think that any contemporary German author would have caused a media firestorm by publishing this poem. The point is not being ex-Nazi but being German and an Israel-critic.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
Ben Jack,
I get the feeling that you're misunderstanding me intentionally. Of course Mr Grass wanted to get attention for the poem. Every poet or writer wants that. But did it ever occur to you that a writer might want to write and publish a poem because he wants to say something - and not just to be in the news once again?
Make no mistake: I don't agree with Grass. (Funny thing that I should be compelled to stress this as if this were an inner-German discussion.) As I've stated in an earlier post, I think that Grass doesn't understand the situation in the Middle East.
So for the record: I fully agree with you that he does ignore Iran's threats to Israel and its stance in the nuke issue. I agree that it's not Israel that threats to wipe Iran off the map but the other way round. I hope that clears matters up or you as well.
But all that still doesn't make the poem simply a publicity gig as it has been claimed.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
oginome,
I'm afraid you are still, as we in Germany say, "barking up to the wrong tree".
Three aspects. First: Guenther Grass has been controversial before. Back in 1990, he strongly opposed the German re-unification, claiming that the division of Germany in West and East Germany after WWII was some kind of punishment for the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany and therefore, in order to atone for that, Germany should have to stay divided eternally. Back in the day, this was, notabene, an extremely leftwing position. Well, we took it in stride and got us the re-unification despite Grass's verdict.
Second: You're still exaggerating the "ex-Nazi" aspect. I'm not sure you fully grasp the impact ANY criticism of Israel has in Germany. Being German, you DON'T criticize Israel. You simply DON'T. At least not in public, and definitely not if you want to be taken seriously further on. Criticizing Israel puts you either in the extreme leftwing or in the extreme rightwing political corner, albeit with opposite motives. It's as simple as that. Even if there is absolutely nothing "Nazi" or "ex-Nazi" in your personal history to be found, you'll still be labeled "anti-Semitic" forever, which is, for all that matters, more or less the same as "Nazi".
So, the fact that he has been a member of a Nazi organization in his youth may have been abetting the reaction in the public but not, as you seem to think, causing it in the first place.
Third: I think you're wrong in claiming that he is just seeking attention or, as nip&tuck first put it, "for a thrill". No - he means what he says. In saying what he means and "what must be said" (in his opinion), he didn't care for the "firestorm of media attention" he would create by saying it. Claiming, at least implicitly, that he published the poem in order to get attention grossly misreads the man.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
This coming from a native speaker of English... - thank you very much and my salutes for your taking up the battle against the intricacies of German ;-)
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
Well, you know the proverb: Be realistic. Ask for the impossible.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
@ oginome @ SuperLib I'm afraid it's not that easy. On the one hand, there is (at least here in Germany) a pro Israel lobby trying to pin kind of a "once SS always SS" stance on Grass. While it is indeed, and rightfully so, regarded as a scandal that he took six decades of self-righteous furor against all that (or whom) he considered to be "Nazi" or "rightwing"or "racist" in any way before revealing that he himself had been a member of the Waffen-SS, it is (here in Germany) also an easy way of tabooing anything you don't want to hear or read by calling it anti-Semitic or "Nazi". That way, those who criticize Grass have an easy way of avoiding to discuss the poem on grounds of its content.
On the other hand, what would make me worry is not the poem itself but the kind of support Grass is receiving. For example: Willi van Ooyen, who is cited as "a spokesman for a group that organizes the traditional peace marches held each year on Easter weekend in Germany" is not only a member of the party "Die Linke" ("The Left") - a political party which shares the subliminal anti-Semitism of the left (even if that is not in the old-fashioned Nazi way but in the pro-Palestinian way) - but has a history of membership in pro-communist organizations as well.
Besides, I think that the outrage is indeed exaggerated. For once, there is nothing in the poem that hasn't been said before. Furthermore, I think that Grass simply doesn't (want to) understand the situation in the middle east. So everyone just breathe.
Posted in: German peace activists back Grass in Israel dispute
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detlef langer
@mctavish
In German, "Wurzel" means "root", as in the part of a plant below ground. Together with "cosmetics", it's a slightly funny combination in German. It could be a German last name as well, though.
Posted in: What are some of the weirdest examples of English used in ads or on T-shirts, bags, etc, that you have seen in Japan?
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detlef langer
Absolutely!
Posted in: Transsexual Thai air hostesses: gimmick or equality?
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detlef langer
...the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.
If you're talking to the FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS, then you're talking to "the world".
That's exactly what I mean. If you're talking to foreign correspondents, you know that you're talking to "the world". You don't have to emphasize it in that "Oh-I'm-such-a-good-and-caring-person" way.
Posted in: Cyndi Lauper calls on world not to forget Japan
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detlef langer
I'm sorry but I've seen part of the appearance on NHK world and I think it's just PR lingo to remind the world of Ms Lauper once again. "I just want to say to the world, please don't forget about Japan, it's very traumatic" oh my...
"I just want to say to the world" - if you want (and have) to say something, why don't you just say it and be done with it? And it has to be "the world" - no less. "it's very traumatic" - what, exactly, is that phrase supposed to mean?
"And I'm thinking 'Oh my God'" - now we know exactly what she was thinking at that moment, viz. "Oh my God". That's, I'm sorry to say that, nothing but american overexitedness at it's worst.
"They could have radiation issues..." - oh, how sad. It reminds me of the 80s when they called a psychotic mass murderer a "person with difficult to meet needs" just in order to be politically correct and not to hurt this person's feelings... Well, as of sunday, there are 15,854 persons with life terminating issues related to the tsunami issue.
"...but I don't think you can catch radiation by shaking somebody's hands and giving them a hug" - just like Lady Diana of England hugging AIDS victims in a hospital back in the day?
Oh, please! Give me a break!
Posted in: Cyndi Lauper calls on world not to forget Japan
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detlef langer
Excuse me if I'm being rude but I think you're confusing "be forgotten" (or "be completely suppressed") with "no longer be true".
So they came begging, "Oh, please help us level up our culture which so so deficient"? I don't think so.
But you're right in one respect, unfortunately so: History is always written by the victors, as Winston Churchill said.
Posted in: Multiculturalism is a reality in the U.S.; it is accepted neither in theory nor in practice in Japan.
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detlef langer
I'm not an expert on Japanese culture but I think the Ryukyuans might beg to differ as they won't consider themselves having been "helped" to integrate into Japanese culture.
I second this absolutely. I'd rather sharpen the argument: Multiculturalism works only
because otherwise why should anyone feel compelled to appreciate and respect the host culture?
That's exactly the point: Why else move to a new country in the first place and with the intention of staying there? (OK, there is always the possibility of someone move to a country seeking asylum. But even then...)
Posted in: Multiculturalism is a reality in the U.S.; it is accepted neither in theory nor in practice in Japan.
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detlef langer
I would like to add that most European nations - and by that I mean nations like France, the UK and, to a lesser extent, Spain, have not always been "immigrant" nations. Until WW II, they have, on the contrary, mostly been "emigrant" nations or, to be more precise, have kind of "exported" parts of their population to their colonies. As a result of the process of de-colonization in the 60s of the last century, there has started a wave of "immigration" from these (former) colonies to the motherland(s) which is very plainly observable in France and the UK.
One thing with this kind of immigration is that most of the immigrants have been in touch with the culture of the country they're immigrating to before. Immigrants from African countries come to mind for France as well as the UK; immigrants from Pakistan and India for the UK and so on.
Germany, however, where I'm living, is a quite different case altogether. Germany hasn't had a significant colonial empire for any significant time; its colonies have been taken over by France and Britain (and Japan) after WW I. Immigration into Germany is mostly a secondary effect of labor shortage after WW II which the government tried to counter by recruiting foreign labor, first from Spain, Italy, Greece and so on, then from Turkey. At first, these workers were supposed to work a few years in Germany then go back to their countries. However, it didn't turn out that way. Most of them stayed, even brought their families to Germany - and their cultures. This immigration wasn't in any way controlled or steered with the effect that at some point the German society (and the government) was downright forced to accept the fact that it had become a multicultural society. This fact doesn't sit well with parts of the "native" population to this day.
Moreover, adopting German culture (or nationality, for that matter) doesn't happen out of the immigrants' wish to be part of the country, the cultural setting etc. like it is the case in the U.S. or Canada but mostly as a matter of convenience: Acquiring citizenship makes it easier to pass Customs and Immigration, to set up a business and so on. Besides that, Germany is supposed to leave them to their cultural beliefs, traditions, and structures.
I agree with that. But it doesn't constitute an obligation to keep them wide open, either.
That's what's going on in Germany as well. It's one of the causes of the recent flare-up of Neo-Nazism - albeit absolutely no excuse for that!
Posted in: Multiculturalism is a reality in the U.S.; it is accepted neither in theory nor in practice in Japan.
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detlef langer
I'd really love to watch the NHK special series but unfortunately, I've no means to record it. Above all, in Hamburg, Germany where I'm living we're 8 hrs behind which means 9 p.m. JST is 1 p.m. CET and that's when I'm right at work. Will there be a DVD edition or something like that?
Posted in: NHK to broadcast documentary series for 9 days to mark 1st anniversary of March 11 disaster