Boycotting Yves Saint Laurent

They might have some of the best make-up, shoes, and handbags around, but I’m boycotting any Yves Saint Laurent products. I have nothing against the man himself, but rather against what his daughter is about to do. She is trying to auction off national treasures looted from China by the French armies which had invaded in the 1800’s, and will not return them to their rightful owners unless China does something about the ‘human rights’ in Tibet. Media exaggeration about the Tibetan situation aside, did the French consider ‘human rights’ when they invaded China and looted the capital city? I think not.

As a country, China cannot sue, but as a people, we can boycott this woman’s company. We might not get our treasures back for a while yet, but we have to show them that we do care; that we have national pride and that anyone who offends us will not get off scott-free. The politicians might not be able to do much to her, but the consumers can.

Out of Proportion

Can anyone else see the parallels between Jesus of Nazareth and Barack Obama? Like Jesus, the world expects Obama to be its saviour. In the short span of eight years (at the very most), we want him to fix the economic crisis, bring world peace, and stop global warming. His election has been seen by everyone as a ray of hope, just as Jesus’ birth was a ray of hope to those oppressed by the Roman Empire. However, it’s all been blown out of proportion. Obama is one man, and no matter how good a man he is, it’ll take more than just him to fix all the problems in the world. Then there’s the fact that most of these problems have culminated for years, and sometimes even centuries (in the case of the complete lack of peace).  Heaping all hopes on one man’s shoulders is unfair on him, and such high expectations can only lead to disappointment. Barack Obama is the first African American US president, not the Messiah.

In the eyes of the Jews, Jesus failed them because he did not free Israel from the reins of Roman rule, and so, they crucified Him. Let’s hope we’re smarter and more understsanding than we were two thousand years ago when this man, on whom we have placed all our hopes, fails to do the impossible.

I am Palestine –a poem

I am Palestine.

I duck as rocks fly at me,

thrown by those who scorn me.

Some say I should not exist

just because I follow the crescent

instead of the cross.

 

I am Palestine.

I hold my child to my bosom.

Blood pours from his wounds.

I cry out for help, but no one heeds me

for I follow the crescent

instead of the cross

 

I am Palestine.

My hands are bound behind my back.

The coarse rope cuts into my wrists.

They jeer at me and spit at me

because I follow the crescent

instead of the cross.

 

I am Palestine.

Where are my mother and father?

I am lost and frightened.

I just want to be safe. 

I call out for them, but my cries

are lost in the din of war.

 

I am Palestine.

I live in exile in the desert.

Walls of tanks prevent my return.

No one takes me in,

or even gives me water.

My pleas for help go unheeded.

 

I am Palestine.

My patience has reached its end.

I will not cower like a beaten dog

when they throw sticks and stones at me.

I can fight back too;

I have my own sticks and stones.

Let them know they cannot tread all over me

For my father was Ismail, the son of Abraham, a father of kings.  

I have been here since the beginning,

And I will remain until the end.

For Palestine

First of all, Ego, with regards to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran: I respect the man very much. I might not agree with some of his ideas, but I respect the man for his courage and patriotism. The strength of his spirit is admirable. And I have to say he is very charismatic.

Osama Bin Laden is not the type of passive martyr Stephen was, but he is a martyr all the same. He is giving up a life of luxury to fight for what he believes is right. He is not fighting to get women in heaven; he is fighting for a future in which Islam will once more be respected, and once again, there will be a united Islamic umma. His strength is also admirable, although I disagree with his ideas vehemently. These people are like the French resistance fighting against the occupation of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. America has never experienced the desperation of being a country overrun with foreign occupiers who treat the native people like dirt. The Palestinian ‘terrorists’ are not so different from the French Freedom Fighters who fought against the Nazis and Chinese guerrillas who fought against their Japanese occupiers during WWII.

 

This brings us to the Palestinian problem. I will outline my views.

Palestine is a nation in exile. Millions of people have been driven from their homes by Israeli forces which are backed by the United States of America. This has caused the Palestinian people to associate oppression and occupation with the main religions of their occupiers; Judaism and Christianity. What they are really fighting for is a nation.

Difference of Values: An Ongoing Debate

I finally managed to get up nice and early in morning today, before anyone else in the family. It’s freezing. My fingers are stiff with cold, and I want nothing more than to go back to bed after I’ve finished my morning routine of chatting and writing. There is no one online at the moment, no one to talk to. I am feeling a bit bored. Somehow, I have once again embroiled myself in a debate about the topic of Tibet; to be independent or not to be? I’m taking the latter.

The thing is, I feel rather indignant about a lot of things which concern my country. To me, it feels as if China has been demonized by Western media. Someone in the Times said that the Chinese are all like robots, accepting every piece of propaganda from the state. Um, excuse me; robots? Can I say, racial discrimination? In fact, the Chinese are no more responsive to propaganda than any other race. We just happen to have a different world view from Westerners. The East does not work like the West. End of story. We’ve developed differently, we have different values. It is unfair to impose one set of values upon people who have already accepted another set of values. There are no right or wrong values in the world. Who can judge which set of values are better? No one in this world. To judge is to claim superiority, and didn’t the Declaration of Independence and a heck of a lot of other declarations by heroic revolutionaries/freedom fighters say that all men (I’ll assume this means the species of Homo sapiens) were created equal?

All we can do is to form our own opinions, but as human beings, we do not have the right to condemn another group of human beings just because we feel that they believe in the wrong thing. There is a reason why I admire President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran so much. He is a man who stands up for his beliefs, no matter what adversity he faces. As a man, he might not be very friendly or tolerant, but he sure has courage. You have to commend him for that.   

I am also sick of the fact that every government which does not conform to American ideals is labelled a dictatorship. Just because these nations (e.g. Russia, China) are powerful, and slightly more autocratic than the ‘democracy’ in the United States does not mean that they are dictatorships. Sure, their people seem unusually united, but that only means that the people believe in unity and their government. After France suggested boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, ordinary Chinese banded together and boycotted France. That was done without the government saying anything. That the government has that much support from ordinary people shows that it is not a dictatorship. Dictatorships thrive on fear. This was not driven by fear, but by patriotism and loyalty. We Chinese are proud to be Chinese, and we know that our strength lies in our unity. Now, I have nothing against France. In fact, I love French culture, history, language etc. I write about France almost as often as I write about the Holy Land. However, I cannot say that I’m unhappy that my compatriots boycotted the Gallic nation. I myself would never do it. I like French products a bit too much.

Most often than not, I have to explain to people that while the ruling party in China is called the Communist Party, it is in no way communist. In fact, I believe that the Chinese are some of the most capitalist people I have ever met. There are a lot of international students who originate from China, and they spend most of their time overseas buying flash cars and generally wasting money and time. If China was communist, then people would not be able to do that. All that money would’ve belonged to the state, but as it is, there is a lot of cash in private hands. The Chinese government of 1970 is not the Chinese government of 2008. At the moment, China is implementing state-funded education (and I believe, it’s even better than New Zealand, a western country, because in China, state-funded education means providing stationery for the students).

The steps to democracy and freedom are slow and tedious. We should let developing modern states do just that; develop. It is most unhelpful to have criticism coming from every direction during the entire course of the journey, and instead of being ‘helpful’ (wherever did you get that idea?) this criticism only makes the people of that developing nation more resentful of those criticizing them. Demonization and undeserved attacks do one thing, however, and I think it’s a very good thing; with China, as with Iran, these attacks have only served to make the people more aware of their national identity, and their strength in their unity. They know they have to unite, or else they will be smashed, the way a wall of crumbling rock is smashed by the catapults of invading enemies.