Saturday, November 13, 2004
Kristallnacht - III
Øyvind Strømmen at Bjørn Staerk's weblog has commented on the media reports about the Kristallnacht commemoration in Oslo, Norway, last Tuesday. Some of what he writes puts the events into context and makes them more comprehensible. It's still not clear, though, why Israeli flags were banned from the demonstration. That still seems unacceptable, in spite of what Øyvind Strømmen says.
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4 comments:
I can't possibly understand what's so unacceptable about it. The arrangers wanted the commemoration to be about something else than Middle Eastern politics. Therefore they did not want any Israeli flags.
Another interesting little fact: The Norwegian Jewish Association Det Mosaiske Trossamfund has sent out a press release where they, amongst other things, say that they agreed with the choice not to include flags.
Øyvind
This is a circular argument - the Kristallnacht thread at Bjørn Staerk’s weblog now has 400+ comments, and I can't see that the issue has yet been resolved there in any meaningful way. Personally, I agree with the poster who recently wrote:
What other national flags but that of Israel would be relevant at a commemoration of the Kristallnacht? German flags, or perhaps the flag used by the Palestinian Authority?
Øyvind seems to seek comfort in the belief that the banning of national flags was related to all flags and not the Israeli in particular, just because this was formulated in general terms. Yet methinks Øyvind also may suspect that the Israeli flag was what they had in mind. If to put good faith in the organisers, the ban may also relate to a concern of possible intimidation caused by display of Palestinian Authority flags, but to ban the Israeli flag also for such reason would be an act of misunderstood political correctness.
Moreover, were people discouraged from displaying the Star of David at the Kristallnacht commemoration?
I have yet to see anyone that can tell me why it is so unacceptable. You claim it is, too. Why?
Perhaps in the wake of the long debate there's been it's time to go away and reflect further on this issue, Øyvind. Your question, and the way you've phrased it, suggests that to me.
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