Thu 3 Feb 2005
First tentative complicities of collaboration
Posted by k under Civil Liberties , Katherine's Writing1 Comment
Posted during the jury deliberations:
I am just about to leave for the court and I wanted to leave people some questions to ponder. Mr. West, for the prosecution, at the end of the rebuttal assured the jury emphatically that there was no discrimination in this case because of the defendant’s race or religion. I am wondering how fair a statement we can consider this given the fact that Dr. Dhafir, a highly regarded person in his community, has spent the last two years in prison without bail. Has Dr. Dhafir really had the right of being held innocent until proven guilty extended to him?
Last year, in France, novels from a Jewish writer who was killed in Auschwitz were posthumously published to wide acclaim. The writer’s daughter had recently transcribed her mother’s hand written notes and found two complete novels. Both novels speak to the circumstances of the time, occupied France. One sentence from the article that I read about the books has stayed with me. The author of the article, talking about the second book says: “The second, Dolce, is a more studied and literary portrait of a small village, Bussy, at the very beginning of the occupation, and of the first tentative complicities of collaboration.”
I have thought about this sentence a lot since I read it. In particular, I’ve thought a great deal about these words. “…the first tentative complicities of collaboration”. And I ask others to consider when the first tentative complicities of collaboration began?
Was it when the Jews lost their jobs and no one spoke out? Or when they had to register and wear a Star of David, and no one spoke out? Or was it when their assets were confiscated, their properties taken from them and they were put into ghettos and no one spoke out? Or was it when they were put on the trains and transported to the camps? When?
February 6th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Katherine,
As I read your message, I could not help being moved and touched by what you have written and are doing. Yes, when did the tentative complicities of collaboration begin? This is a question we need to ask ourselves personally, all the time.
With the historic collaboration between the mainstream media and power in the United States, voices of sanity and clarity (like Chomsky) have consistently been blocked out, and, as Gore Vidal remarks, President Truman was able to begin the Cold War which was then, according to the media, won by Reagan (!!!!!!), and now, according to a New York Times headline, Bush has come out with a “bold” address about domestic and foreign policy. The sycophancy and servility, and ultimately, complicity of the media beggars imagination. The complicity of collaboration by the media abets the same by the general public, and there seems to be no end to the capacity to co-opt and the willingness to be co-opted.
I attended a seminar of sorts at Maxwell (for international students of International Relations and Public Administration) where 2003 graduates who have landed jobs answered questions on finding employment, attending interviews, visa, etc. After the talk was over, most of the audience made a beeline to the guy who had landed a job with the World Bank!!! I should not have been surprised, but I was.
I hope Democracy Now will cover the trial, and carry your webpage as a link. There is no doubt in my mind that it is going to be a valuable resource, not to mention, a testament to your commitment to upholding and protecting civil rights and liberties.
Peace, Hari