[lbo-talk] Re: Islamophobia

Jerry Monaco monacojerry at gmail.com
Wed Nov 29 17:57:37 PST 2006


On 11/29/06, Yoshie Furuhashi <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Islamophobia is compounded by Doug's acceptance of the empire relative
> to the Islamic republic. He's softer on the US government than the
> Iranian government, though the former is responsible for far more
> death, poverty, and so on in the world than the latter.
>

Yoshie, I don't think this is quite fair.

My judgment is that I am more responsible for what the U.S. does in Iran than I am for what the Iran rulers do in Iran, so in this sense I do not "accept" my rulers, and I neither "accept" or "reject" Iran's rulers. I don't think Doug would put this in such a "moralistic" way, but he has showed no preference or love for the U.S. empire.

If the U.S. invaded, bombed or undermined Iran, I would hope and work for the defeat of the U.S. in that project. I think Doug has said similar things in less blunt ways.

If you are asking if I would rather live in New York or Tehran I think that I have a preference for the debauchery of New York. I also think that most Muslims would find it easier to live in New York than Tehran. Saying this does not make one Islamophobic. Any more than saying that living in the United States in 1975 was better than living in Pinochet's Chile makes one somehow contemptuous of Chileans or ignorant of the way our country was responsible for Pinochet. New York, NY was more "free" than Santiago, Chile. It was simply a recognition of reality, a reality partially created by imperial domination and privilege. New York is more "free" for practically all of us, even many who are not well off, than Tehran. this is a reality which is partially a result of U.S. domination and imperialism. Yet it is still a reality.

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