[Marxism] Additional notes on suicide bombing versus culture wars

["Jurriaan Bendien" <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The BBC reports that Ambassador Zvi Mazel said the artwork I mentioned,
which has a boat floating in a pool of red liquid, was "a call for
genocide". But its Israeli-born creator rejected the charge, saying the work
had a message of openness and conciliation.  Dror Feiler, an expatriate
Israeli artist who collaborated on the installation, said Mr Mazel had tried
to "stop free speech and free artistic expression". Specifically, he said,
"I'm absolutely opposed to suicide bombers." The director of the museum,
Kristian Berg, said the installation would remain in place. "You can have
your own view of what this piece of art is all about, but it is never, never
allowed to use violence and it is never allowed to try to silence the
artist," he said. The full title of the artwork is Snow White And The
Madness Of Truth. The work is accompanied by Bach's cantata BWV 199. This
solo canatata was probably written by Bach in 1713-1714 and is full of
distinctly expressive music, beginning in the depths of despair but
concluding joyfully.

Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut,
My heart is swimming in blood
Weil mich der Sünden Brut
because the brood of my sins
In Gottes heilgen Augen
in God's holy eyes
Zum Ungeheuer macht.
a monster makes of me
Und mein Gewissen fühlet Pein,
And now my conscience feels the pain
Weil mir die Sünden nichts
because my sins can be nothing
Als Höllenhenker sein.
but Hell's own hangmen.
Verhaßte Lasternacht!
Despicable night of vice!
Du, du allein
You, you alone
Hast mich in solche Not gebracht;
have brought me into such distress;
Und du, du böser Adamssamen,
and you, you evil seed of Adam,
Raubst meiner Seele alle Ruh
rob my soul of all inner peace
Und schließest ihr den Himmel zu!
and cuts it off from heaven!
Ach! unerhörter Schmerz!
Ah! such unheard-of pain!
Mein ausgedorrtes Herz
My withered heart
Will ferner mehr kein Trost befeuchten (befruchten),
will in future be moistened/fructified by no comfort
Und ich muß mich vor dem verstecken,
and I must conceal myself from him
Vor dem die Engel selbst ihr Angesicht verdecken.
before whom the angels themselves hide their faces.
Stumme Seufzer, stille Klagen,
Dumb sighs, silent whinging,
Ihr mögt meine Schmerzen sagen,
you may report my pains
Weil der Mund geschlossen ist.
because my mouth is shut.
Und ihr nassen Tränenquellen
And your wet springs of tears
Könnt ein sichres Zeugnis stellen,
can be a true testimony
Wie mein sündlich Herz gebüßt.
of how my sinful heart has paid.
Mein Herz ist itzt ein Tränenbrunn,
My heart is now a well of tears,
Die Augen heiße Quellen.
my eyes are hot springs.
Ach Gott! wer wird dich doch zufriedenstellen?
Ah God! Who then will satisfy you ?
Doch Gott muß mir gnädig sein,
However God must be gracious to me
Weil ich das Haupt mit Asche,
because I wash my head with ashes
Das Angesicht mit Tränen wasche,
and my face with tears,
Mein Herz in Reu und Leid zerschlage
I beat my heart in remorse and sorrow
Und voller Wehmut sage:
and say full of grief and melancholy:
Gott sei mir Sünder gnädig!
God, have mercy on me, a sinner
Ach ja! sein Herze bricht,
Ah yes! his heart breaks
Und meine Seele spricht:
and my soul says:
Tief gebückt und voller Reue
Deeply bent over and full of remorse
Lieg ich, liebster Gott, vor dir.
I lie, dearest God, before you
Ich bekenne meine Schuld,
I acknowledge my guilt,
Aber habe doch Geduld,
but still have patience,
Habe doch Geduld mit mir!
have some patience with me!
Auf diese Schmerzensreu
Amidst these pains of remorse
Fällt mir alsdenn dies Trostwort bei:
this word of consolation comes to me.
Ich, dein betrübtes Kind,
I, your troubled child
Werf alle meine Sünd,
cast all my sins,
So viel ihr in mir stecken
many as they are within me
Und mich so heftig schrecken,
and frighten me so violently,
In deine tiefen Wunden,
into your deep wounds
Da ich stets Heil gefunden.
where I have always found salvation.
Ich lege mich in diese Wunden
I lay myself in these wounds
Als in den rechten Felsenstein;
as upon the true solid rock:
Die sollen meine Ruhstatt sein.
they should be my place of resting.
In diese will ich mich im Glauben schwingen
In these I want to lift myself in faith
Und drauf vergnügt und fröhlich singen:
and be content and happy to sing:
Wie freudig ist mein Herz,
How joyous is my heart
Da Gott versöhnet ist
since God is reconciled
Und mir auf Reu und Leid
and through my remorse and sorrow
Nicht mehr die Seligkeit
no longer shuts me away from eternal salvation
Noch auch sein Herz verschließt.
nor from his heart.

The installation was commissioned ahead of a conference on genocide to be
held later in January. "It is impossible to justify the incitement and
cultivation of hatred as shown in this exhibit in the name of freedom of
expression," said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman David Saranger. "The
Swedish Government cannot remain indifferent and should take steps to remove
it." Mr Saranger defended the ambassador's physical attack on the
installation, saying no Israeli could "remain indifferent". I

*****

Iraq is historically one of the cradles of civilization, home to the famed
Garden of Eden mentioned in the Bible, to Babylon, to the Tigris and
Euphrates, to the Fertile Crescent. It houses the birthplace of Abraham, the
mosque of Imam Ali and the most widely accepted evidence of the Great
Flood - seashells atop a 4,000-year-old Ziggurat in the middle of the
desert. But all this history of civilisation did not stop an Iraqi suicide
bomber in Baghdad, who has just committed suicide and homicide, detonating
1,000 pounds of explosives using a pickup truck, outside the heavily guarded
US headquarters compound in the "Green Zone"  (Saddam Hussein's former
Republican Palace complex), near the "Assassin's Gate". The gate is used by
hundreds of Iraqis employed by the Coalition Provisional Authority, as well
as U.S. military vehicles.

Sarah el Deeb of  Associated Press reports the blast killed 18 bystanders,
including two US Defense Department workers, according to American
officials. Sunday is a working day in Iraq, and the bomb went off just after
8 am, when many people would have been on their way to the office. The U.S.
military press office initially said the deaths included 16 Iraqi civilians
and two American civilians. The wounded included 22 Iraqi civilians, four
civilians working for the Defense Department and two US soldiers. "I saw a
car, I really don't know what happened," said Raqad Iyas Ibrahim, a
hospitalised casualty said, sitting on a bed in the hospital with her head
bandaged and her face caked with blood. A military spokesman said it was
unclear whether the Defense Department casualties involved staff or contract
workers. At least 28 people, including six Americans, were wounded by the
blast.

 Paul Bremer, who is now in the USA for talks with Kofi Annan, called the
bombing "another clear indication of the murderous and cynical intent of
terrorists to undermine freedom, democracy and progress in Iraq. They will
not succeed." "Once again, it is innocent Iraqis who have been murdered by
these terrorists in a senseless act of violence," Bremer said in a
statement. "Our determination to work for a stable and democratic future for
this country is undiminished."

A Land Cruiser try to cut to the head of the line. U.S. troops guarding the
gate took cover, when they saw the vehicle try to move to the front of the
line. Soldiers usually stand about 20 yards from the road behind coils of
barbed wire and concrete barriers. The vehicle exploded about two cars back
from the gate. The explosives were packed inside a white Toyota pickup
truck. Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commander of the 1st Armored
Division, said the blast occurred "literally at the last point a vehicle
could get to without being stopped. The barriers absorbed most of the
blast."

One witness, Hamid Hawwam, said two cars exploded at the gate, and one of
them flew into the air. Another, Haidar Hanoun, said he was lining up for a
job, when a Land Cruiser and another vehicle exploded. Karar Abbas, an Iraqi
civil defense trooper, said the blast engulfed seven cars parked along the
street. Mohammed Jabbar, who works at the Ministry of Planning, said he was
waiting to pass through the security checkpoint when the blast occurred. "It
lifted us into the air," he said. "People fell on top of one another." Nabil
Abdul Zahar said a friend standing with him in line for security checks was
killed. "My friend was standing behind me in the line when the explosion
happened," a shaken Zahar said. "There were lots of injured. I called for
help, and no one came to help me. He died right there on the ground."

Iraqi police announced on loudspeakers that coalition forces will give
$2,500 to anyone providing information on the perpetrators. According to the
universal currency converter, this equals 777.25 new Iraq dinars at legal
exchange rates, where 1 US$ = 0.3109 Iraq dinars and  1 Iraq dinar = 3.21647
US$. Yahoo suggests an exchange rate ratio of 1 US$ = 0.311 dinars, implying
an equivalent of 777.5 dinars. The 12 years of UN sanctions reduced the
buying power of the Iraqi dinar to the point where a typical salary for a
civil servant was about $5 a month.

(After the war officially ended in May, US authorities made sure that US
dollars followed the armed forces, for which the Pentagon had authorised
plans in advance. With the government of Iraq destroyed, it was believed
that the dinar would disappear with it, to be replaced by dollars, and
initially it looked like this would be the case. Because the Iraq central
bank was bombed, the supply of dinars became restricted, even as dollars
flooded into Iraq. So the dinar grew in value against the dollar. When US
forces entered Baghdad on April 9, the dinar was trading at about 4,000 to a
dollar, and whenever US personnel paid for anything in Iraq, it was in
dollars, not dinars. However, just two weeks later, the dinar appreciated to
1,800 per dollar, and continued to appreciate against the dollar. So
actually the dollar depreciated against one of the weakest-valued currencies
in the world. For all the US government's military might, it seemed there
was one thing that the US could not do: abolish the supply and demand
actually asserted by people exchanging goods, services and money. Somehow,
economic theories fail to grasp something about the social relations of
exchange here. The introduction of a new dinar was supposed to help reduce
guerrilla insurgency by neutralising one of its recruiting assets, i.e.
money, but that strategy hasn't really worked, in a deregulated economy.
Regulation or deregulation through legislation and blocked access to
resources somehow still cannot wipe out social relations between people and
cannot completely atomise them into isolated private consumers and producers
only capable of participating in cash economy).

To view the design of dinar banknotes, surf to
http://www.exchangerate.com/currency_photos.html?country=iraq&cid=113

Jurriaan








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