Obama in Berlin Victor Grossman, Berlin Portside: July 25, 2008
I attended the big rally with Obama in Berlin Thursday evening, not as a press representative but as one of the crowd. And what a giant crowd it was! The news reports counted "over 200,000" but to someone sandwiched in so tight I could hardly lift my hand to scratch my itching nose, much less applaud, it seemed like a million! The predictions had been for "anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000" and the official start was at 7, so I stupidly arrived at 6.30, too late to find anything but a tiny spot to stand on (when the pushing ceased), so far back from the monument where Obama spoke that I couldn't even see the big screen. I saw only the heads and backs of those in front of me. The crowd, overwhelmingly friendly, was amazingly international; partly, no doubt, because the speech was only in English with no translation. I saw countless African-Americans, African-Germans as well as Africans carrying or wearing flags and banners from Kenya, Angola and other countries. Among those sandwiched in next to me were a very tall French-speaking African fellow (just in front of me), a father and son from Dublin, Ireland, three young women from Italy (one little student too short to see even the heads in front of her), also a Frenchman, two Californians and a young man of possibly Arab background. All the same, I guess the majority were of German background. . I would guess that 90 to 95 percent of the crowd could be classified as "youth" under thirty. The event resembled a giant pilgrimage. Most came to cheer and applaud, and cheer they did - and applaud when, unlike me, they could move both hands. Barack Obama is immensely popular in Germany, about 80 percent detest the present president and this is even more intensely true of the young people and the international community so well represented at the rally Obama spoke freely, without notes or prompter, and as eloquently as ever. He was constantly interrupted by the cheering, but it gradually became apparent that the cheering varied with his message and with the varied views of the listeners. In the first large section of his speech Obama - like so many political orators in Berlin - dealt at length with the Berlin Wall and the western air lift to West Berlin and Berlin's great victory over tyranny and communism. Probably because so many in his audience were neither originally West Berliners nor even alive during the air lift of 1948-1949 and either unborn or very young when the Berlin Wall came down, their enthusiasm for such sentiments was nothing like what it had been for a Kennedy or Reagan when they spoke in West Berlin years ago. Only a few old-timers like myself will have noted that when Obama spoke of "the bullet-holes in the buildings" still visible not all too far way he ignored their meaning, the struggle to free Berlin from the Nazis waged by the Soviets at an incredibly heavy cost; in fact, he carefully - or tactfully - avoided any mention of Germany's Nazi past, while his words and sentiments about (West) Berlin's fight for freedom had been repeated so often they may have become cliche's to many. There was even less enthusiasm when Obama said: "My country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan and for our shared security the Afghan people need our troops and your troops. We have too much at stake to turn back now." Despite the positions of all major German parties except the LEFT, close to 80 percent of the German people oppose sending German troops to that country, and very few clapped at these remarks. All posters and banners had been banned from the rally at the request of the Obama campaign committee, but near me a young woman handed up a banner she had been hiding to three young men who had climbed to the top of a street lantern. When they unfurled it we could read its message, "No troops for Afghanistan", and on a smaller poster, "End the death penalty". Not many in the giant crowd saw this, Obama certainly couldn't, but one TV channel did show it the next day. And there were more doubtful nods than loud applause when he stated: "In Europe the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world rather than a force to help make it right has become all too common." A leading member of the right-wing governing Christian Democratic Union summarized the speech by saying: "Except for personal nuances it could have been made or almost made by John McCain." This certainly applied to many of Obama's words about the past but also those regarding Iran and free trade. But it did not apply to some statements, and these were the ones which received the loudest applause and cheers. We must "stop the spread of nuclear weapons", he said, "This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of the world without nuclear weapons." He got cheers for "We must support.the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a sure and lasting peace " and loud approval when he stated: "Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere." It was hard to judge, but the cheers seemed loudest to me when he demanded that "we reject torture and stand for the rule of law", that we "welcome immigrants from different lands and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people." I heard varying impressions from those who walked off to find their bicycles or find their way through the wooded Tiergarten, Berlin's Central Park, to the nearest stations of the el, the subway, bus or tram. I heard no one speak against him; a tiny group of US Republicans had waited uselessly in back of his hotel, but represented almost no one but themselves and a few right wing politicians in leadership positions, possibly including Angela Merkel. Some of those I heard in the el seemed thoughtful, however, and occasionally disappointed at the many cliche's, while others justified their use as required by the campaign for president and his guest status in Berlin. I heard one woman, the American wife of a Berliner, saying that even if Obama wins a lot of pressure will be necessary, not only in policies toward Afghanistan. She would certainly vote for him, she said, explaining to those nearby, "In the USA they used to talk about 'a Great White Hope'. After eight years with Bush and the danger of more years with McCain, we think of Obama as our 'Great Black Hope'". I think that summed up the feelings of most of the quarter of a million people of Berlin, more or less, who jammed into the park that hot evening to hear the man they hoped would visit in coming years as US president. Submit via email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: www.portside.org/subscribe Search the archives: www.portside.org/archive *** http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080804/drakulic No Ordinary Criminal By Slavenka Drakulic The Nation: July 22, 2008 Let's admit it, Radovan Karadzic, arrested for war crimes, after twelve years on the run, is different. For one, he looks different from all the other criminals--the stocky, greasy Balkan politicians; the pudgy unshaven generals; the foxy-eyed thugs, the taxi drivers turned secret policemen. Karadzic is a tall, well-built man with a strong chin and large eyes. His wild, graying mane makes him look more like a rock star than a politician. One could easily imagine him onstage, microphone in hand. In fact, he often appeared that way--although not in the capacity of a rock star. He had a personal flair, a certain charisma. Now, looking at the latest, rather ridiculous photos of the bearded old man who was taken into custody, it is hard to believe all that. His life story is surely material for a movie--a guy born in a tiny Montenegrin village who made it to the city of Sarajevo, to a university, to fame as a poet and, finally, to President of the Republika Srpska--and fame as one of the world's most wanted war criminals. Combining the traditional characters of hajduk (robber) and guslar (poet), Karadzic was known to recite epic verses while accompanying himself on a stringed instrument. But all his intellectual achievements were insufficient: what he wanted was power. Karadzic became a war criminal out of sheer vanity. Vanity itself is not a crime, unless it pushes you in the position where you can--and indeed, you do--order the extermination of almost 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica in 1995, to mention only one of his offenses against humanity. Whenever I think of Radovan Karadzic, one picture remains my mind. It is from a documentary shot during the siege of Sarajevo, in which he arrives at Pale, on a hill above Sarajevo, from which the military of Republika Srpska was shelling the city. Karadzic arrives with a guest, the Russian poet Eduard Limonov. Besieged Sarajevo lies in the valley below, and they can clearly see every building, every street, every tree: an ideal position for shooting. Dressed in a black coat, with a shawl around his neck to ward off the winter chill, Karadzic gallantly offers his guest and a fellow poet a "special treat" befitting an arbiter of life and death. He asks Limonov to try a shot from a machine gun pointed at the city. Just like that; just for fun. Just like in the movies, when a king offers a gun to his guest to shoot the wild beasts. Only down in that besieged city are not beasts, but people. Limonov takes the challenge, kneels behind a machine gun and shoots. Everyone is delighted: this man is one of them! Despite the fact that he is a poet, he is not a sissy. Like their own poet, Limonov proved he was a real man--as if to be a poet in the Balkans--or to be a psychiatrist or intellectual, for that matter--doesn't really count. Then the two of them drink sljivovica with the soldiers and dine on roasted pig, apparently unconcerned about whether Limonov shot someone or not. How is it that an intellectual, poet and psychiatrist like Karadzic could do such a thing? It took me time to understand that this is the wrong question. It is wrong because it takes for granted that people like this--the educated ones, the sophisticated ones, the artists, for God's sake--should know better. Don't they have higher moral standards that ordinary people? The answer is no. I've seen it myself while working on my 2005 book, They Would Not Hurt a Fly, about war criminals on trial in The Hague. War criminals come from all social strata, from all kind of backgrounds. They are academics, writers or mechanics; waiters, bank clerks, peasants. One is tempted to call war criminals like Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic or Slobodan Milosevic "monsters," because this is the easiest way out of the terrible thought that we, too, might be capable of committing or ordering atrocities. But there are no monsters. Ordinary people--poets, presidents and mailmen--have the capacity to do both good and evil. We have a choice. Radovan Karadzic chose power, and to possess power in a time of war comes with a high price, which he is now about to pay. Looking at BBC video clips accompanying Karadzic's arrest, I again saw faces of Franjo Tudjman, Alija Izetbegovic, Slobodan Milosevic, Zeljko Raznatovic (a k a Arkan.) They are all dead now, yet it seems only yesterday that they were deciding our destiny. The younger generation in Serbia, kids born in, say, 1990, might not even know who these warlords were. With Karadzic's arrest, they have a chance to learn that part of their history. One of the most problematic facts about the thirteen years after the Dayton Agreement is that Serbia--along with Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo--was the least capable of confronting its role in the wars in the Balkans. And Serbs continue to live in denial. They claim that they, themselves, were victims. Indeed, they were victims of Milosevic's politics of nationalism and war, victims of US bombardment in 1999. However, this does not absolve them from voting three times for Milosevic, from cheering Serbian tanks, for supporting Vojislav Seselj's fascist party, for turning their backs to Europe and the world. The fact that Karadzic has finally been captured in Serbia is a chance for them to turn the new--though not altogether blank--page. There will be euphoria abroad and Serbia's new government will be hailed as brave. But it is up to Serbian citizens (and, nota bene, the citizen of Republika Srpska, whose president he was and whose citizen he still is) to see this as a chance for themselves, too. The must look into their own lives and their own contributions to the poisonous politics of the last twenty years. Perhaps the most important effect of this belated arrest is another one: Karadzic's trial will contribute to the truth about war. Regardless of political controversies about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in every trial a piece of truth becomes evident. What people in Belgrade and in Zagreb and in Sarajevo as well as in Pristina need most is truth. Without truth, there is no justice; and in the case of these wars, without justice, there is no truth. About Slavenka Drakulic: Slavenka Drakulic, a Nation contributing editor, is an author from Croatia. Her latest book published in the United States is They Would Never Hurt a Fly: War Criminals on Trial in The Hague (Penguin). more... *** Imagine, KPFK Pacifica Radio will reach its 50th year of continuous community service in 2009. To kick-off our 50th anniversary year celebrations, KPFK presents Culture Clash, the hilarious and potent satirical trio (www.cultureclash.com) , on July 27 in a benefit performance for KPFK at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, also featuring KPFK's own Pocho Hour of Power led by Lalo Alcaraz, creator of the daily comic strip "La Cucaracha" and the music of Mezklah. A Rollicking EVENING under the stars with CULTURE CLASH, featuring rare and satirical works from their historical anthology .Plus performances by Lalo Alcaraz and his Pocho Hour of Power-- hilarious comic artists and musicians who are generously donating their creative time and extraordinary talent to support KPFK Listener-Sponsored Community Radio! Tickets are $35 and $25. For ticket information, please visit kpfk.org, call the Ford at (323) 461-3673 or visit www.fordtheatres.org. To make reservations for the pre-Celebrity Reception, please contact: Sue A. Welsh KPFK Development Director Tel: (818) 985-2711 ext. 214 FACT SHEET: WHO: CULTURE CLASH KPFK's LALO ALCARAZ AND THE POCHO HOUR OF POWER and music guest MEZKLAH WHAT: Kicking off KPFK's 50th Golden Anniversary 1959-2009 BENEFIT PERFORMANCE FOR KPFK RADIO WHEN: THIS SUNDAY, JULY 27, 2008 at 8:00pm WHERE: JOHN ANSON FORD AMPHITHEATRE, HOLLYWOOD TICKETS: ~ $35/$25 For tickets, visit www.kpfk.org or www.fordtheatres.org or call the Ford at 323-461-3673. PRE-SHOW CELEBRITY RECEPTION: For reservations, please call, SUe Welsh at (818) 985-2711 ext. 214 *** Michelle Shocked @ Santa Monica Pier Thursday, July 31st @ 8pm Hi! I just wanted to let you know about a special performance coming up at the end of the month here in LA. It is part of the Twilight Dance Series at the Santa Monica Pier and I will be performing there on July 31st at 8PM with my band. We will be showcasing old favorites as well as new material that's fresh from the as-yet-unreleased new album, Soul of My Soul. It's a free, fun, family-oriented event and I would be delighted to see you there. Michelle Shocked Mighty Sound / Strawberry Jam Tours ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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