Forum Post: Official Denouncement Needed
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 15, 2011, 1:32 p.m. EST by ConcernedEconomist
(67)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Whoever it is that manages this website or puts out the official OWS:NY statements. I urge you to publicly denounce the violent protests occurring in Rome as well as the anarchists that sparked them. Nothing will serve to alienate the 99% more than images of rioting, arson, and looting juxtaposed with associations to the OWS movement by the media.
I fully realize that the aim of the movement is to be leaderless, not only to appeal to the entirety of those disaffected by the current status quo but also to embody the ideals that democracy represents. However, if OWS continues to turn a blind eye to the anarchists, terrorists, and anti-Semitic racists in its ranks then it is destined to devolve into nothing more than a deplorable mob which deserves every ounce of media mockery and criticism it is sure to be the target of.
Ultimately, ask yourselves:
Do we support, nay, insist on peaceful protests or will we tolerate violence and destruction in the name of our cause?
Do we believe in true democracy by a just and transparent government or prefer the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short 'state of nature'?
Do we aspire to a truly free and just society absent bigotry and racism or will we allow it on the pragmatic and morally deprived grounds that it grows OWS's numbers?
We are not turning a blind eye, we just don't know what to do. It is a calculated, concerted effort to smear us that has no basis in reality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEPgAp5Mkyc
I ask the following question in all sincerity and out of earnest curiosity and am not, in any way, trying to deny or refute the accusation of anti-Semitic comments on this site. Could you please refer me to examples of this behavior here? I am asking earnestly and would like to see what is being said that is racist, because I share your belief that racism is repugnant. My assumption, and I am willing to be wrong, is that there are two kinds of comments that might engender outrage over Anti-Semitism.
The first kind of comment is obviously something that overtly or covertly espouses hatred or distain for Jewish people, and it is those comments that concern me the most. I believe that all people have fundamental dignity and worth and should be judged based on their individual merits rather than some misguided and inappropriate ethnic group affiliation. I''m sure that warms the hearts of all who read it.
The second kind of comment is more problematic. Sometimes, I have seen what I believe to be earnest criticisms and concerns regarding the behavior of a nation-state (i.e., Israel) branded as racist in nature. There is obviously a fine line here. That said, I believe in a two state solution to the "Middle East Peace Crisis." I think it is appropriate to criticize Israeli policy and the atrocities committed by that regime. I am an outspoken critic of the public beheading (and execution in general) that takes place in Saudi Arabia. That doesn't mean that I hate Arabs. China is known to sell the organs of its prisoners on the world black market, which I think is deplorable and disgusting, but I don't hate Chinese people. The United States is one of the most outrageous and egregious offenders in the area of human rights and responsible for deposing lawful (and democratic) governments, "Destabilizing" regions of the world to suit its own ends and responsible for an extraordinary amount of suffering and death including systematic torture and murder. So, I certainly believe that the government of the US (sadly my own government) is morally repugnant in many ways, but I don't hate American people, although I do understand that the citizens of the United States are not a race or ethnicity.
I haven't noticed, perhaps because I am new here, comments of either type. That said, I am unwilling to support a group that engages in racist hate speech and am concerned about what you are reporting, ConcernedEconomist. Thank you for brining it to my attention and for your patience in reading through my post. If you have a chance please send me a link or two to point out the kind of post you are concerned about. As I begin to explore this site more throughly I will keep my eye out for this kind of language.
The amount of Anti-Semitic dialogue on this forum alone is sickening (trolls or not). OWS needs to take a stand and let it's proponents know what's on the table and what isn't, otherwise this entire movement will act as nothing more than a beacon attracting all sorts of individuals on the 'moral fringe', to put it lightly.