Word: haider
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...March 4, Jrg Haider's far-right Freedom Party joined a coalition with the conservative People's Party to form what one columnist called Austria's first "underground government"--referring to the fact that to be sworn in, the new government had to use a secret tunnel joining its offices with the President's residence to avoid facing demonstrators on the square above. The next day, the 14 other member nations of the European Union (EU) downgraded Austria's diplomatic status, the U.S. temporarily called back its ambassador for consultations in Washington and Israel withdrew its entire embassy...
...reason for this frenzy was clear. Haider, who openly praised Hitler's "orderly" employment policies, should not be allowed to see his party govern a country that still has a long way to go in putting its role in World War II into perspective. The goals of this opposition, however, are far less obvious. In the beginning, it might have been to force the Freedom Party out of government. Later on, it was simply to show open discontent with the Austrian voters' decision to support a man who came to a meeting of former members of Hitler's Waffen...
...Toward whatever goal, the means undertaken by the EU have been completely ineffective. Worse, they are actually working to strengthen Haider's position. Haider now has a legitimate reason to point out his respect for democracy and the EU's lack thereof. His party's finance minister can now also justify the threats of using the American tactic of waiting with the payment of dues to international organizations, and Haider even has a basis for calling for a general referendum whether Austria should remain in the EU or not. Ending the long period of denial in the EU, member states...
...This tension creates a win-win situation for the Freedom Party. Keeping the sanctions enables it to gain even more votes by acting as the advocate for the "small Austrian"; gradually lifting them leads to continuing victories for Haider in his crusade for democracy and justice...
...need only look at the murders of innocent men committed by the NYPD to see that racism is hardly just a Southern problem. And where is the protest over Al Sharpton, whose anti-Semitism and xenophobia match Haider's? It seems to me that we're concentrating on the wrong things. Instead of actually trying to fight racism in America, we fall into the same trap that people who whistle "Dixie" do: We become trapped in the past...