Saturday, June 4, 2005
Edgar Morin has been sentenced for racial defamation
Sooner or later, it was bound to happen, and now, we must all be careful that it is not the setting of a precedent. Edgar Morin, the world famous sociologist of Sephardic Jewish origin has been sentenced to a symbolic fine of one Euro, together with the French newspaper Le Monde, for racial defamation. According to the appeals court of Versailles, an article by the sociologist on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict contains anti-semitic affirmations.
"It is a crazy sentence, I will make a recourse in the Supreme Court, " Morin said. He said that it was not possible to interpret the text as an ethnic or racial condemnation, even moreso because it was stated by a person of Jewish origin like himself.
The article, published three years ago, attacks the policies of the Sharon government. But the association France-Israel had contested two passages: "It is hard to imagine a nation of fugitives, originated by a people that has been persecuted longer than any other in the history of humanity, that had suffered the worst humiliations and scorn, to be able of transforming itself in the space of two generations into a people that is a dominator and self-assured, and with the exception of an admirable minority, into a people that is arrogant and derives satisfaction in humilitating."
The other phrase that was condemned was, "The Jews, who were victim of a merciless order impose their merciless order upon the Palestinians."
According to Morin these sentences were extrapolated and interpreteted out of context.
Meanwhile, Oriana Fallaci is defended against the accusations of "Offence against Religion", which is a punishable crime of opinion. The Italian parliament is trying to change that old law (adopted during Fascism). It will be just in time for the 12 June 2006 trial that Fallaci will face in Bergamo for 18 sentences contained in her disgusting book,"The Force of Reason". She already faced a trial to have her previous book of Arab hatred withdrawn in France, but she emerged victorious. I should soon extrapolate some of her phrases, not interpret them, but just reprint them, and let the public decide whether Morin is evil or Fallaci, or whether both have some logical and reasoned argument to make.
At any rate, during the first trial of Morin, there was a petition of 100 intellectuals defending him,, but so far this morning, I haven't found a renewed petition.
"It is a crazy sentence, I will make a recourse in the Supreme Court, " Morin said. He said that it was not possible to interpret the text as an ethnic or racial condemnation, even moreso because it was stated by a person of Jewish origin like himself.
The article, published three years ago, attacks the policies of the Sharon government. But the association France-Israel had contested two passages: "It is hard to imagine a nation of fugitives, originated by a people that has been persecuted longer than any other in the history of humanity, that had suffered the worst humiliations and scorn, to be able of transforming itself in the space of two generations into a people that is a dominator and self-assured, and with the exception of an admirable minority, into a people that is arrogant and derives satisfaction in humilitating."
The other phrase that was condemned was, "The Jews, who were victim of a merciless order impose their merciless order upon the Palestinians."
According to Morin these sentences were extrapolated and interpreteted out of context.
Meanwhile, Oriana Fallaci is defended against the accusations of "Offence against Religion", which is a punishable crime of opinion. The Italian parliament is trying to change that old law (adopted during Fascism). It will be just in time for the 12 June 2006 trial that Fallaci will face in Bergamo for 18 sentences contained in her disgusting book,"The Force of Reason". She already faced a trial to have her previous book of Arab hatred withdrawn in France, but she emerged victorious. I should soon extrapolate some of her phrases, not interpret them, but just reprint them, and let the public decide whether Morin is evil or Fallaci, or whether both have some logical and reasoned argument to make.
At any rate, during the first trial of Morin, there was a petition of 100 intellectuals defending him,, but so far this morning, I haven't found a renewed petition.
