[Speech by Kevin McDonnell at anti-terror meeting in Bergen. Back to blog entry. -bs]

Good evening,

I have come here in what, fairly tragically I think, has to be considered a difficult role. I am here to speak to you as an American, at a time when that fact alone means that there are barriers between us. Though I may truly hope to convey things to you that I believe are as important to you as they are to me, yet I am at a disadvantage simply by being an American. You see that has come to “mean” something today… and the image of it makes it easy, even instinctive, to discount whatever I might have to say. Though it seems obvious to me that this image is based on caricature and pretense...yet it creates obstacles between us which are very real indeed.

So I have decided not to play pretend games today, and speak as though these obstructions did not exist beneath whatever I try to say. Instead I will address the fact of them head on, and consider why they really exist. And its my hope that in doing this, some of the other issues that we should consider openly here today may appear connected. As it should be, it will be up to you to decide if there is any merit to my effort.

We should begin then on something we can all probably agree on, even if we ascribe very different reasons for it. Simply this: The world today, is in very profound state of strife. Many use the term War against Terror to describe that strife… but I have always been reluctant to adopt it. Not because I reject the idea that the term is accurate in itself… for unlike so many loud and persistent voices who argue that the expression is just an invention to mask “economic exploitation”, or a “neo-imperialist” agenda, or whatever else is Academically fashionable on any given day … I know that there certainly is a war going on. And I know too that a central part of it is against a web of ruthless people and twisted ideologies which is the source of a great deal of what we can indeed, reasonably describe today … as Terror. I have known that since a late summer morning almost three years ago.

No, I do not use the term simply because I think that this strife, which we can all agree on…goes quite a bit deeper than the rhetoric that swirls around the public face of that War, and that it has been forming for quite a bit longer than three years.

It’s become virtually a matter of faith that Americans have a simplistic view of the world. We are said to lack nuance… which is apparently a very important principle… though I have yet to see a definition of it that holds for more than a fleeting and usually convenient moment. I am often struck by the irony that those who make these statements as though they are truisms, are also almost always those who loudly profess to be advocates of diversity, and tolerance. It seems odd does it not that such blatant stereotypes… the kind that make it so easy to disregard those so labeled, would be employed by those who speak so glowingly of words like diversity and tolerance.

Its also true that not ALL Americans are placed in this mold. We have for example Michael Moore… who is apparently not the architect of vulgar and laughably cartoon like distortions, but a serious advocate … of truth! And the greatest Ambassador it seems of that flavor of America which is acceptable to the tolerant minded punditry of Europe’s intellectual crème de la crème. I have to admit that I find this fact almost more than any others among the things that concern me these days, to be singularly frightening. I can only hope that at least some here share that sentiment. Surely it cannot be the case that twisted caricatures that flirt openly with hatred are all that is left of high discourse!

Why… I used to ask myself in the time I have lived here, is it so clearly the case that any issues that have to do with America or Israel, inspire a knee-jerk set of canned responses that could be lifted from virtually any newspaper. Until it occurred to me quite suddenly, that these were responses that could be lifted… from virtually EVERY newspaper. I tell you this and hope you will suspend your disbelief for just a moment, that over the last two and a half years I have made it virtually my vocation to scour the spectrum of mass media in search of a theme and its threads. Whatever else I may have derived from this traumatic quest, it is distressingly clear that the Western media as an institution is shockingly myopic… especially considering it is the product of free societies. I don’t care whether anyone wants to attach left versus right to it, or any other this versus that to it because frankly, I think such categories are now usually just part of the fog that serves to obscure any meaningful ideas from being discussed. I will say however, that there are ideological tenets that absolutely frame the public discussion to the exclusion of anything not in accord with it. Cultural relativism is one of the most insidious though there are others…all equally mind numbing and conveniently flexible to the point of meaningless. The resulting … dare I say Orthodoxy, is disturbingly true across Europe. But in Norway it is nothing short of frightening. What makes it all the more so is the conformity of those who regurgitate one sided and often blatantly distorted “facts”… and do so under the idea that they are freethinking. Its my personal observation that if I am speaking of the state of the world with anyone who describes themselves as a free thinker, I am likely about to engage in a discussion with the most narrowly focused and glazed eyed dogma that one can find anywhere. It seems that the “feeling” one derives from being inarguably superior has become far more important than the actuality … of seeking to see things as they are and deciding for oneself.

I don’t claim that these observations I share with you now hold clear answers, but I do say that they mean something very important to any who claim to be interested in posterity and a Just future, and that we would be fools to pretend that they mean nothing.

This insidious equivalence has the effect on us all of voiding the meaning of every cause worth standing for. Like freedom, as opposed to a Internationally Sanctioned “democratic processes”… or Justice as opposed to “social justice”. This is I believe, the most significant factor in the rising sense of meaninglessness among so many people today… especially the young…and the creeping nihilism that always follows quietly behind it. Because if belief in even the idea that there is some objective nature to events in the world, something that we share in common, is abolished, then there is nothing meaningful at all to differentiate us from the ruthless animals among us. It is these who never lack “clarity”, and who would commit ANY act… to impose their will upon us all.

This relativistic equivalence does not permit the media or even Academia, to openly attempt to define what the naked nihilism loose across the Arab world means for the world as a whole, or even for the people in these countries themselves. Yet we see world conferences gather to label Israel, an admirably idealistic nation in light of the pressures it has existed under, as a pariah. Therein lies an important and frightening truth about what we consider to be the "Opinion and Voice of the World" that we are so often referred to… and thus become part of. This is not something new in history, especially in the history of the last century. It is a thing in fact that has little to do with nations or cultures, though these are cited repeatedly. It is the domain of power and it is home in our modern world to those with the power to project an image of the world, that need not be in accord with the world itself. It is in this easily corrupted power to reframe the reality of our world that it represents danger, and it is what meaningful freedom must defend against.

Now much of what I have said here, is based on the observation, as many in this meeting have argued far better than I can, that there is indeed a skewed and distorted view in what we see of the world through virtually every aspect of media and academia. Is this concept valid for discussion? It would be easy to disregard it and say it is a radical thought or conspiracy minded and that such a thing is not possible in this day and age. But surely if it is an accurate observation… if there is a myopia that keeps a virtual stranglehold on the public discussion, we must find out why! Because such a thing will surely erode our freedom, and rob us of our ability and our human right to see and decide for our selves!

I haven’t the time here today and nor is it the proper venue for a discussion on how we arrived at this place. A place where a media-academia…”cabal” … is almost universally elitist to the point of aristocratic, and deeply affiliated with a set of tenets that because of the state of the world here and elsewhere, acts to enable and even encourage ruthlessness and tyranny. I will say though, that at the very least, its worth considering that that which we call mass media, represents an institution that due to the technology and world encompassing infrastructure (which is ironically the legacy of free societies) has never had more power to impact freedom at a metaphysical level. Is it a coincidence that the Academic fields most intimately associated with this institution (which is virtually our collective eyes and ears), are the social sciences and behavioral sciences and the soft humanities, the study of which, is most associated with the effective use of the power of the few… over the many?

Perhaps it is a coincidence (I certainly don’t want to appear alarmist!) Still, it should be noted that history has not reflected well on those who in times of great crisis, cling to meaningless concepts most effective merely at ensuring one ‘feels good’. How angry we get at such times when someone raises the alarm… and interrupts our self absorption! It is with some reluctance that I admit that I am beginning to see merit in those who argue that there are intellectual and philosophical parallels between today and the 1930s. For the arrogant and would be elitists among us, it has always been easier to remake the world in our collective minds, than to examine ourselves… and the duty we have to our place in the real one.

I would like if it were possible, to do some on the spot research even in this room, to determine who gets their information primarily from that which we call the mainstream press. Then, among those who do, I would like to determine the extent of your awareness of major events in the world. I would like to see if there were any among you who would feel a sense of indignation… perhaps even distress, if you discovered that perhaps there is indeed, a curious selectiveness to that which you see.

I wonder how many in this room for example know about the depth and breadth of what is accurately described as the UN Oil for Food Scandal. Few I imagine, of those who would have answered yes to my question as to whether they get their… news… from the major media. It has received, as far as I know, ONE small article which was in Aftenposten, and which is most noteworthy for its desire that the story would go away since it puts the UN in a bad light at the wrong time. Odd that writers so averse to making value judgements can so readily decide themselves that LIGHT in this case… is bad…. And that the timing is wrong because of appearances… one assumes that that means the way it would all appear to you… the public.

Yet we all remember that the war was about Oil do we not? But… it strangely doesn’t seem to have been about that after all… so we’ve moved on. A quick review of what is already known about the scandal I just mentioned however, demands one to consider the chilling fact that many of the loudest voices for “peace”… were indeed about Oil.

I wonder how many here are aware of the so-called Massacre at Jenin? Many I would guess. But I would further wonder how many are aware that there was none… in spite of weeks of frothing condemnations from across the media spectrum. In fact, if there is a history to be written that is true to a meaningful idea of impartiality, it will write of the sacrifices made by Israel in the blood of its own soldiers in order to avoid any massacre. They conducted a ground operation that cost almost twenty dead, rather than shell or bomb… because they wished to minimize the deaths of innocents. Thus what Jenin showed in an impartial view, is the many ways that Israel, even now after so much despair, has yet not given over to the hateful nihilism that so often comes from endless conflict. The kind that would produce rationalizations of the kind wherethose who conducted that operation could say for example… “What innocents?… there are no innocent Palestinians, Bomb them!”. This did not happen. Other nations have reached such a hateful and murderous place with far less reason. Israel has not reached that place, and yet lives with its public image… for some reason.

What stands in TRUTH… as a story of sacrifice in defense of civilization and decency… was instead cast by the whole of Media as proof positive of Zionist aggression. And when it was clear that it was so very much not the case… how much quieter were the retractions… where indeed there were any at all. In the world we now “see”, Terje Rød Larson, despite being at the center of that public feeding frenzy, has for example not only paid no price for his folly, but is an oft cited expert on the Israeli problem with even more moral authority than before. It has made me question both the moral and the authority in that fact.

Would anyone here, be willing to stand up and argue with me that the recent case of three Palestinian …militants… driving into a Jewish neighborhood in Israel, and shooting dead five people, was justified? Settlers was the way the victims were described in one mainstream press release I saw, which then quickly moved on to a detailed description the Israeli defense forces response to hunt down those who did it. In case that term makes you consider that it could be argued, you should note that the five people however… were very special. They were four young children aged two to eleven, and their mother… all murdered at point blank, one after another. There was a hidden casualty in the story, as the woman was seven months pregnant, and with a last shot to the abdomen, they made certain there would be no Jews to survive their handiwork. This story is meant to do far more than disturb you. It is meant to force you to consider the kind of nihilism and barbarity that can produce perpetrators of such an act… in seemingly endless numbers.

Is there something comparable in the acts of the Israeli Defense Force? When it attempts to combat this… REALLY? For that is the way we are presented the world, and we should consider this freely in the light of day. State Terrorism is the artful expression of our time. One mans terrorist is another mans… whatever. We “know” that Palestinians are represented by their democratically elected government, which is trying to reach a peaceful soplution. Nothing else need be considered. On and on the equivocation goes, and I submit to you that such distortions and equivocations that selectively report and screen out what is “unacceptable” is far more dangerous that mere lies. It is and always has been this kind of distortion, which creates imbalances in societies that threaten directly, the sanctity of freedom, and it is and always has been this conviction destroying rhetoric, that serves the ruthless… who surely do not want to be confronted with their own internal contradictions. If we were truly shown the nature of these things in our world, and granted our right to decide on our own, I will not speculate on what the outcome would be, except to say that it would not serve those who operate best in shadow. There are very good tactical reasons for example, why the spokesman of the PA and any number of terrorist groups mix in the rhetoric of multiculturalism and relativism in their communications with the West… though I have no doubt they surely laugh derisively at it in private.

So I have this to say to Norwegians who feel self-righteous “indignation” at every action by the Israeli Defense Force. It is your money that finances the Palestinian Authority, and your acquiescence to what it does with that money that permits Palestinian society to be indoctrinated in the kind of naked hatred and death cultism that always produces the kind of people who will die just to kill. On the rare moments when we hear in the media of such things, we fall back with a sigh on the comforting fact that were it not for Israeli “aggression”, these disturbing things would go away. I submit to you, that it is this shallow view of what is occurring, that is actually the “simplistic” view. And it is in perfect harmony with the views of an arrogant and self-indulgent media that despises America and Israel far more than it is offended by nihilism and tyranny. We thought such things would pass on when the Cold War ended, but the truth is, that the End of the Cold War… unleashed far more than it ended. We have yet to face this towering challenge, though it looms over our entire civilization… and our future world.

I would like to end, by doing just a little more than merely raising examples of a myopic media as a disturbing thing… I would like to end on one specific point and issue a challenge. You heard Ester speak earlier and you must know at least, that she has worked diligently to address what she believes is a clear anti Israel bias in the media. Over the past few months she has appeared on NRK several times to attempt to argue that point, and in fact she was quite effective. Too much so perhaps, as a little over a month ago, it became clear to me that if one engages the idea of "bias" in the discourse effectively, one becomes subject to character destruction and fear mongering. The report that NRK did on this idea and how they characterized Ester specifically, chilled me to the core, and it was the impetus for me to engage in this meeting. Here we have something that if what I have said has merit, was the natural progression in deceitful image projection that is the handiwork of the intellectually elitist mindset. Whether you saw it or not, I can say that there was nothing to be gained from it, because even as a sideshow, it was never about a discussion over issues or ideas. It was instead a cleverly edited TV drama complete with music and creative picture angles… masquerading as a documentary. What I saw smacks of the artful imagery and arrogant propaganda… of a tinpot dictatorship. In this accusation, I don’t need to argue about whether it is really a reflection of that creeping phenomenon. What I do know is that it WAS a distortion and that it was deliberate and required the efforts of many, and the approval of all who were aware of it. And THIS…is what fills me with dread and yes… I accuse NRK of this act simply because it occurred… and it cannot be spun away. I challenge NRK to release the unedited footage of this event, on their website to public scrutiny, along with the version that showed on TV, because THAT was the one… intended to “enlighten” you.

One wonders why such a thing could occur. Is it because people, whose task it is to relay what is, relayed instead, and continue to relay… distorted imagery that they must feel is justified in deference to the cause of some greater good.

What is this cause?

Can it be brought into the public discussion so that we can consider it as free people? Are we qualified to consider your rationale for selectively reporting what we see. Can we vote on whether your reasons are good… in a democratic process?

Perhaps it is time in history, that we drop the façade of journalistic “objectivity” and ask… what is it you are trying to say; what if anything is it that you believe in; what are you for; What is your cause? Does it embrace some universal goodness that justifies treating the population of this country as though they are simple-minded and need to see everything… in a right way? Why is that way…Right?

For my part… right or wrong in a free society is for us all to decide upon together and is not the domain of the few.

Unless of course…. We are not as free here as we think… or perhaps a better way to express it would be… we are not as free as we are being led to believe.

Takk alle samman!