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| Afghan Refugees |
A call to talk
Editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett
With completely polarized communities and complete non
integration and complete segregation, “it is terrifying to think of what’s next,
what the next twenty to thirty years may hold for the next generation of youth
in our country.… I want to work out a way that we can solve this” [founder and
former leader of the English Defense League (EDL) Tommy Robinson]
 |
| USA/UK |
E
|
xtremist to me is one who cannot see or sense the sense or a
grain of truth in another’s argument, opinion or ideas on a question.
Such a
rabid position is by nature seriously flawed because extreme right or left or
any other steel mindedness always leaves out something that is vital, important,
essential to the issue and to understanding and the journey of making change to
solve the problem for the public good.
 |
| Refugees, Asylum SeekersFleeing war Risking life Crossing Mediterranean |
There is also a view of the violent extremist, which
Robinson points to. The interviewer asked about an Anders Breivik parallel
with the EDL and Robinson’s thoughts were that “What bred Anders Breivik was
a silence on [tackling] the issue” of immigration and societal conflict.
We “create monsters in this country as well
as in Europe, monsters like Breivik," he said, "who, when they see no way out, see no one
talking about these issues, no light at the end of the tunnel in solving these
problems; and everyone [is] being criticized and called a racist and being
beaten down with this big racist stick for even talking about them -- then that way of thinking is driven underground and it becomes more resentment, more anger, … a
worrying trend that in the near future will become genuine threats from the far right.”
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| Syrian Refugees |
Wikipedia note: Anders Behring Breivik was
born in Oslo, Norway, February 13, 1979, the son of Wenche Behring, a nurse,
and Jens David Breivik, a civil economist who worked as a diplomat for the
Norwegian Embassy in London and later Paris. On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik bombed
government buildings in Oslo that resulted in the deaths of eight people. Breivik
then killed 69 more people, mostly teenagers, in a mass shooting at a Workers’
Youth League (AUF) camp on the island of Utøya. On the day of the attacks,
Breivik electronically distributed a compendium of texts entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence
in which he describes his far-right militant ideology.” In August 2012 Breivik was
convicted of “mass murder, causing a fatal explosion, and terrorism” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik]
 |
| Kenyan Refugees |
There is something essential in the former EDL member’s
discussion with SophieCo.
Government separate
and apart
“The government is not living in towns and cities” of the
working classes, Tommy Robinson said; “they are miles apart and out of touch with what it’s like.”
Those in government do not have “their finger on the pulse of the amount of
resentment and anger.” Though parents “should have a duty to hand down a safe
and prosperous [country] to the next generation, we are failing miserably in
that duty.”
What is happening to our country “hurts” yet “people are too scared
to even speak about these issues.”
 |
| Yemeni Refugees |
Conflict resolution
through Dialogue
The current path inevitably leads to conflict and “we don’t
want conflict…; we want to avoid that but to avoid it we need to really get to the deep root cause of the problems and at least be able to discuss them and work
out solutions to them and not just bury them under the carpet and hope
they will go away, as they won’t.…
“We are hoping create a platform to give an opportunity for
people from working-class communities to bring these problems to the forefront
with the government, from members of all different parties, and have dialogue
with all of them.”
Cry for
help
 |
| Syrian Refugees |
Their activism on the streets over the past four years, Robinson
said, was indicative of “a cry for help” trying to capture people’s attention to
the way they are living.
“We believe democracy can solve the problem,” he said,
“and we … welcome people from Africa and different continents … to open up a
healthy platform.”
L
|
istening to Robinson’s interview with RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze
(SophieCo), we can agree or disagree, to any degree; but a core element in my opinion is indisputable. There are critical
underlying issues tearing (domestic and global) society apart – he doesn’t even
mention the underlying colossal cause rising from U.S./UK/Western wars in Asia
and Africa, their outpouring of refugees -- which are being ignored by governments, by leaders and people in
power, and by the populace.
 |
| Libyan refugees |
His argument, observations and solutions for resolving
conflict have definite merit. We exist in a society in crisis – deliberately so.
Governments are divisive, corrupt and inattentive. Mass media divide and deepen
conflict as for entertainment. And people are deliberately oblivious, playing with
their iPhones and Tweeting nonsense. Such a state of affairs is unsustainable and indeed troubling for countries, societies, and future generations.
We need neither extremism nor violence but we definitely
need a wake-up call and cross-differences conversation.
Sources and notes
“EDL dissident voice from right a grain of sense Tommy
Robinson” Guest Tommy Robinson, founder and former leader of the English Defense
League (EDL) “notoriously known for its anti-Islam stance,” RT’s SophieCo
program, August 9, 2014, http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/134711-immigrationissue-eu-fascism/
Sophie Shevardnadze’s lead in:
Arab spring refugee tide has made the
immigration issue yet more stretching for the European governments. In some
towns the indigenous population is already in the minority.
Can migrants overflow breed new
fascism?
Will Islam win politically?
What has to happen to ensure
peacefulness of the seemingly inevitable Europe ethnic makeover?
Interview program SophieCo host Sophie Shevardnadze, Monday
and Friday on RT
Anders Behring Breivik bio brief, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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