Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 24, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press february 1989 Page 7 so to by Jonathan Power special to the free press i he reduction in militarism in the and the shift from policies of direct intervention permit revolutionary movements formerly threatened with siege and and facing to receive More space to act in the political this is the hard marxist Central Ameri can left speaking about the Era of american politics presided Over by the Well known righting Politi Ronald what is More the marxist in question is none other than Joaquin the military commander of Al Salvador the Faramundo Marti National libera Tion alongside the sandinista of the afghan soviet puppet government and Moa mar Qadhafi bore the Brunt of reagans Campaign to As Sert americas will where he Felt its vital interests were at generous stand something has certainly changed among the salvadoran left after nine years of fighting a War against a it can be this Villalobos is the is not As it was at the time of Ronald Reagan did not Rush in to Central America with All americas he refused to countenance the option of using troops directly in which is probably the Only Way the sandinista could have been de in which is 500 Miles nearer reagans worry Point of the administration held Back from any involvement in helping to fight the leftist with the Benefit of Hindsight twelve years of the Vietnam War and nine years of Shadow boxing in Central America we can Tell the for All the Early fears that history might repeat its strange to be lectured on it in such sure terms by one of the underdog one who is still capable of relapsing during his discourse into the shibboleths of old fashioned latin american marxism ideology drives the to invest More resources in the struggle against the hungry than in the Effort to end he writes in the March Issue of foreign a watershed this kind of aside the Arti Cle is a most significant it Marks an important watershed in the Dev Ozment of the inbuilt tensions Between the United states Monroe doctrine and the romantic ant Yanqui leftism Prev Alent All Over latin America for most of the last 100 now the left is asking for but not suing the distinction is critical and after the defeat of the contras should not be understate like Mikhail leftists seek not to Bury capitalism but to find a modes Visendi with to be developed capitalism in the Western world has says the private Sec Tor must be part of the his other main Points Are just As on democracy in Al Salvador the leading forces of so Cial change cannot be limited to models adapted during the bolshevik there is a need for consistent with a Multi party Al Salvador voters go to the polls to pick a successor to Duarte in Hopes Rise for peace in Long War on the press to promote de professional journalism that is both Independent and critical is on religion the most important Universal figure in our archbishop Oscar Arnulfo to who was assassinated in has become the principal Martyr in the cause of the so so in any country that Calls itself civilized this is enough to be allowed to enter the ring and to participate in the nor Mal Competition of political so postponement it is fair for the guerrillas and their friends in the the democratic convergence party to now be ask ing for a postponement for six months of the elections scheduled for March without this the leftist opposition coming to the electoral table for the first time does not have a Chance to get prepared for a reasonable shake in the the real danger to Al Salvador is no longer the left but the right Wing Arena party of Roberto Daub is who has been charged by president Jose Napoleon Duarte i with the murder of archbishop j present indications Are that he will win the such is the Power of the landed oligarchy to turn out a cowed peasant this takes us to the Bullet that Ihas to be first in Al Salva and then in the i Only Way to avoid the total polarization of Al Salvador that will Lead i to another dead is for the beleaguered Christian democrats to realize first and Foremost that a Victory of the right with its attach ment to the death squads and the maintenance of the Power of the old oligarchy would be to spin the country Back into the dark the Only Hope is what the ital ians used to Call an historic com an electoral Alliance be tween the Centre and the it probably cannot be this would be too provocative to the right and emotionally indigent Able to the it would in fact mean the left giving its votes to the i government in Congress without expecting ministerial portfolios in heal wounds it would give the left a real role in salvadoran society what has always been denied it it should also give if the Christian democrats Are a quiet say in the governments Legisla Tive and Over As the wounds it might give the left a Chance to win real Power in a future if these words of Joaquin Villalo bos Are then the left must dare to be even bolder and seek the High Road to a full Al Salvador has suffered for the Sake of its name and to give Hope for the future its time for real issues lost in controversy about Rushdie by Anwar islam special to the free press i strongly resent the Way the Media at Large have handled the controversy surrounding the satanic verses and How they have portrayed the views of the minority in the midst of the medias quest for be nationalization and the religious dictum of the iranian spiritual the real issues got utterly distorted and ultimately no one in his right mind can condone a Call for Salman Rushdie Book has deeply Hurt muslims around the he has a go Given right to express his views on anything including islam encourages and guarantees dialogue and free Dom of the crucial question is was Rushdie simply exercising his Freedom of expression male chauvinist in the satanic verses Rushdie tried to prove that Prophet Abra Ham was a male chauvinist because he left his wife Hagar and Young son Ishmael in the desert and tried to explain this in terms of gods up to this one May disagree with but must not question his right to express his but the author goes a step further and says in this waterless Wil he Abraham abandoned she asked can this be gods will he it and the the question is Why the description Bastard in referring to Prophet Abraham who is revered by christianity and Judaism does it fall under the Bounds of Freedom of expression profanity it is difficult to agree that use of this profanity has increased the artistic Beauty of the authors com at one the author refers to Solomon and Bilal All companions of Prophet Mohammed As this Trinity of scum and those clowns there Are hundreds of other vulgarities throughout the what were the authors objectives in using such profanities in refer ence to the Prophet and his compan ions Rushdie argues that the Koran is not a divinely revealed but a Book written and rewritten by men around Prophet Mohammed and that quite often the so called revelations came not from god but from the one May disagree with but must respect his Freedom of thought and conscious Choice the problem arises when the author makes a conscious Choice of using four letter words to refer to historical figures revered by Over a billion coming out of a Muslim family and Rushdie must have known the anguish that his rampant Liberty will cause muslims around the what was his motive Why would he give whores in his fiction names of Prophet to hammers wives is it simply to exercise his Freedom of expression or was he deliberately and to incite muslims by touching a very raw Cord in their hearts Why did he again fully to mock and ridicule islamic characters by using such vulgar four letter by mocking and ridiculing the Prophet and his companions and by profoundly distorting the history of the author in my misused his Freedom of sex deep feelings he has deliberately Hurt our deep feelings he has incited muslims in unleashed a Chain of reactions hurting All of anguish and frustration bring Forth the worst of human the author did just Khomeini Call has added to that no one should condone a Call for we strongly abhor but at the same time resent the fact that in the midst of All this utterly deplorable the real issues Are secularism and the concept of Freedom of expression Are at the heart of Western no neat divisions but in this Era of High technology and eve faster civilizations can no longer be neatly divided into Western and Eastern or secular or people of All faiths Are every Are in North America and christians Are in Asia and the Middle there Are Bahai of atheists and Agnos tics All Over the this diversity and interfaith min gling were not there when secularism took its ethnocentrism that Marks the history of the West since the 16th Century has also be come an anachronism of the in Light of modern geopolitical Reali All these ideas of the East and the West need to be Leexa Mutual respect i Long for a Day through dialogue and greater humanity at Large will find respect for each others ideals and philosophies of and will consciously strive to balance Freedom of expression with respect for others innermost feelings however minuscule in number or insignificant in Power they i Appeal to everyone particularly the news Media to show utmost care in interpreting and reporting statements made by Lead ers in Canada and Canada has a record of peaceful coexistence of diverse cultures and we must not tarnish that Multi Faith tolerant image of our Anwar islam is president of the Manitoba islamic social notice brings readers complaint of racism social notices wedding Annivera graduations and Public thank you notes Are a Staple of every people pay for the privilege of using verse or ban Mots to let acquaint ances and any number of readers in on a special More often than not these individual advertisers also pay to have a picture published with their social the pictures generally Are informal in some Are candid childhood others Are posed pictures taken from a wedding a family photo session or at a graduation every newspaper prints and profits from social before they appear in certain rules of Good taste apply no no no sexism or complaints about them Are rare by their very personal social notices have a limited i received my first formal complaint about a social notice late last a Reader took umbrage with a picture and verse published 11 on one of the pages devoted each saturday to social the More my husband and i looked at the picture and read the verse the More we were shocked at what we find was a racist slant to that the who identify said the printed under a social events was a put Down of the native woman in the picture something we find deplorable since your newspaper did such a Fine Job of reporting on native problems Only last the in was a contrary to what the verse indicated As punch with his lady on his knee what appears to be a native woman sitting on a White mans knee is really another explained Cheryl free press advertising it was a prank a fun picture to get ombudsman Barry Mullin Back at a prankster in an office somewhere i can assure you it was completely innocent and that nothing malicious was intended at Hunt said the photo was not a if it was doctored in any Way we have accepted i think it was his the White mans birthday and it was All done just in she said she knew about the picture before it appeared on the social pages and no racial slur was absolutely Noth ing was intended to Hurt it was intended to be unusual photos on the social pages Are not Hunt because people often want to Surprise a family member by having an old photo printed in the daily they want to Surprise someone and Honor them while at the same time having some she said the free press classified department takes great care with anything that could be misconstrued As grossly inde cent or offensive to its not our intention to upset our she what May have been evident to the Classi fied department As a joke obviously went beyond that for one innocent pranks May provide a big laugh for the people the danger is that people not in on the joke May find it nothing to laugh d d d at Long a Good example of magnifying a newspapers a caricature of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini appeared on mondays front that the Ayatollah has been in the news Ever since he placed a Bounty on author Salman muslims believe Rushdie the satanic Blas themes the sketch showed a Ster looking Ayatollah holding a bloody scimitar in one hand and a tiny Book in the letters were barely visible on the Book and Only after some close scrutiny were some reporters and an artist Able to read the the Tower How Small was the Type newspaper Type is measure in Points and six Point Type is used for scoring summaries on the sports the Type on the Book in the ayatollahs hand must have been less than three two didst have any trouble making it out even though they Are considered they both use magnifying instruments to read the free press and had no trouble picking up the title of the Book the Ayatollah i must say i did a double said Ethol can you Tell me what in the world is the Ayatollah doing Reading the Tower report its president George Bush defence Secretary designate who has run into problems with Senate confirmation to that had been head of a appointed by former president to investigate the Ira Contra the com missions findings became known As the Tower in the original the Ayatollah held a Small Oil the drawing was quite right to use with a Story about Rushdie Book and the ayatollahs reaction to what better than to have the Ayatollah holding a astute night editors the solution a caricature of Tower hold ing the Tower the Book Tower held was reduced to a size that it could replace the Oil barrel the Ayatollah had the editors never dreamed readers would magnify the ingenious d d d Robert City commissioner of pro Parks and has Good reason to feel offended by an unnecessary slight to him in a 26 Story about Richard Frost being chosen Winnipeg new chief commis Lunney had applied for the the Story about frosts selection quoted City councillor As saying Lunney haunt been selected because of his limited academic the Story wrongly said Lunney was a High school using unnamed sources is bad allowing them to spread wrong facts is our own Library files show Lunney was a student at the University of Manitoba and then went on to become a superintendent in the ramp and Edmonton police chief before becoming one of Winnipeg senior Bureau doonesbury by Garry Trudeau what it say about Bush that pick a that he picks an ethic5 chief who toffs of Ana ;