Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The two types of freedoms

are imperiled in Iran's blogosphere.

Selma is yearning for both kinds of freedom:

-the freedom to write in her blog whatever she wants to write about

-the freedom from government intimidation and interference:

Iranian authorities have blocked access to several websites and blogs of women's rights advocates and journalists critical of the government, a press report said on Tuesday.

The move follows a new directive sent out by a committee tasked with identifying illegal websites to
Internet service providers, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper said without giving a source.

"There seems to be a tougher approach this time as some sites and weblogs belonging to women's rights and human rights campaigners, writers critical of the government and well-known journalists" have been singled out, it said.

Internet providers in Iran have in recent years been told to block access to hundreds of political, human rights and women's sites and weblogs for expressing dissent or deemed to be pornographic and anti-Islamic.

2 Comments:

At 7:23 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is probably the wrong place...but I thought you would have considered opinion on this matter.

It occurred to me the other day, while watching the "Holocaust" episode of the great BBC World at War series, circa 1974.....that the commonly heard phrase, say what you will about Hitler, at least he made the trains run on time....or some paraphrasing of that sentiment could be a sly "approval" of his treatment of Jews.

What say you?

Thanks

 
At 8:12 PM EDT, Blogger The Contentious Centrist said...

I think it is more like "gallows" humour. I wouldn't read too much into it. The Brits are not really coy about their dislike of Jews (aka "Zionists" these days).

As can be glimpsed in George Orwell's essay on antisemitism in Britain:

"Intelligent woman, on being offered a book dealing with antisemitism and German atrocities: "Don't show it me, PLEASE don't show it to me. It'll only make me hate the Jews more than ever."

http://www.george-orwell.org/AntiSemitism_In_Britian/0.html

 

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