At 12:56 11-4-02 -0400, Jon Gabriel wrote: >What I said was that if your explanation of the Norwegian actions were to >be an accurate one, then there should have been a precedent established by >similar actions on their part based on their fear of retaliation from the >terrorists who attacked America. We did not hear of Americans being >removed from the Norwegian Parliament for wearing American flags on their >jackets. >They did nothing to American tourists, but they are doing something to at >least one Israeli tourist. For this action to _not_ be anti-semitism, the >Norwegians would hold everyone who is under attack by terrorists to the >same standard. They do not, and therefore it is appropriate to assume >that there are other motivating factors. It is reasonable to suggest that >a motivating factor for making someone remove a Jewish religious symbol is >racism against Jews. Your explanation that it is not seems inaccurate >since the Norwegians are not acting against anyone else who is in danger >of being attacked by terrorists.
There are a few major differences at play here. First, there was *one* attack against Americans while there were several attacks against Jewish targets. Second, the attack against Americans took place in the United States, while the attacks against Jewish targets took place right here in Europe. Given this, the chance of an attack because of a display of Jewish symbols is far greater than the chance of an attack because of a display of American symbols. Considering the enormous difference in risk, it makes sense right now to ask someone to not display Jewish symbols while still allowing people to display American symbols. As I said in an other post, this has nothing to do with racism or anti-Semitism, but with public safety. Jeroen _________________________________________________________________________ Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com Tom's Photo Gallery: http://tom.vanbaardwijk.com
