Return To My Punk Roots

From Civil Debate To Kamikaze
(Screamer Post)

(A Decade Ago)

For most of my adult life the nature of hate groups has fascinated me. It has been a part of society that I have often found myself unable to peek into. Every time I have tried to approach members of these closed cliques I have found myself either with a door slammed in my face or a fist to my gut. Either way, I wasn't getting straight answers to simple questions. And yet I persisted almost relentlessly.

When I was younger it was easier to use these encounters with "skin-heads" and hate group members as excuses for senseless violence. An exchange of slurs often resulted into our own miniature recreations of the Civil War. It wasn't till after the first time I found myself out numbered that I realized the hostile method of approach wasn't exactly working. So with a little bit of time to lick my wounds I returned to the battlefield with the idea that I would exercise my brains instead of my brawn... I had more of the prior anyhow.

The first time I got to debate a guy that claimed to support the idea of an "Aryan Race" I miserably failed in my attempts to remain civil. Defenses for Nazi ideology proved my weakness. And the conversation exploded as tempers became painfully apparent. It wasn't till the guy, about a foot and a half taller and nearly a hundred pounds heavier, stood me up and prepared to knock me down that I began to think... maybe, just maybe, I had crossed a line somewhere.

Some of those who are reading this might think that it is never "crossing the line" to get in the face of an ignorant racist ideologue. Some of you might find it entertaining even... getting to jab your opponent with mildly clever attacks. But what do we really learn about the mindset of the individual when we resort to methods they regularly use against us? And is it not a tab bit hypocritical of us to stoop down to the level of degrading another human being when that is in fact the very reason we are opposed to their opinions?

But I digress...

The line I had crossed was the point in the debate where I no longer viewed the person I was talking to as an equal on any level. In a matter of moments I had gone from assuming the person was misguided in their beliefs and ethical views to disregarding my own. When I allowed a few remarks to put me on the defense I went from having a civil debate to engaging the "enemy" in kamikaze mode.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” ~JFK

From the moment I allowed myself to degrade the other person I now viewed as my opponent I closed off all routes of peaceful interaction. Where there had been an outlet for fair and honest exchange of ideas I had helped create a battlefield. And though many people who do debate may view their debates as such, most wouldn't feel comfortable viewing it as tolerable to shoot the wounded. Yet that was precisely the level of relentlessness I had engaged in when lowering my standards to meet those of my challenger.

Thus we can fast forward to today.

Hate groups are still a major part of why Alder's Ledge is around today. We are intrigued by both the hate groups themselves and the reasons for which these groups survive and thrive in given areas. That is why the 969 Movement in Burma has been a particularly interesting subject to both our writers and contributors. And yet for all the discussion we have had amongst ourselves, we have had little opportunity to write about the group so far. 

Then came an American (possibly more than one) with a strange obsession with Wirathu and the 969 Movement. This English speaking outlet for the 969 movement was immediately seen by Alder's Ledge as an opportunity to learn why and how the group operates and spreads. It was a chance for Alder's Ledge to peek behind the curtain so to speak.

So after a few messages back and forth, we decided to go for it.

Our twitter handle, run by the main author, engaged the unofficial 969 twitter handle. Following our conversation while keeping an eye on other public conversations the 969 twitter account was having, we attempted to see what information slipped out. This method of passive debate got us nowhere. All the group would give us was the same answer it gave everyone else: "Email your questions to..."

So we did just that. And we waited. And after some time had passed we found ourselves waiting some more. Then a little more time had passed and I found one of my most trusted advisers telling me to wait some more. But given the title of this post... I didn't.

We asked our twitter followers to email the account with the following list of questions. This method was meant to flood the 969 twitter operator with emails till he listened and/or replied. Sure it isn't the most passive and respectful method and may have pushed that line between civil and ruthless... but it worked. And for the most part, we maintained a healthy level of respect in our exchange with the twitter handle for 969 (the American version).

1)      Outside Myanmar it is difficult for the world to understand the reasoning behind the original arrest of Ashin Wirathu. Could you please help clarify why a peaceful monk would have faced 10 years in prison? And why after less than half his original prison sentence was even close to having been served why was Ashin Wirathu released from prison?

2)      In previous remarks you have stated that 969 does not support nor perpetrate genocide. When Alder’s Ledge asked about this you told us “we did not know the definition of genocide”. So here is the legal definition of genocide:

 

"Article II:  In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a)     Killing members of the group;

(b)     Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c)     Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d)     Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e)     Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

 

Would the actions that your organization has helped put into motion in Myanmar, in your opinion, constitute any of the actions listed above by the UN’s Genocide Convention?

 

3)      Is the forcible detainment and blockading of internally displaced peoples’ camps by the Burmese military not constitute section C listed above? By keeping people in confinement with little or no food not “deliberately inflict on the group conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction” of the targeted community?

4)      If Ashin Wirathu is as peaceful as your organization insinuates then why do his speeches repeatedly instigate actions that would, as section B states, cause “serious bodily or mental harm to members” of the Rohingya community? Actions that include but are not limited to; rape, mutilation, murder, destruction of property, criminal confinement, and persistent verbal degradation targeting their ethnicity and religious beliefs.

5)      Over the past few decades the government of Myanmar has imposed laws upon the Rohingya community limiting the number of children they can legally have. Your leader, Ashin Wirathu, publicly supported a new law even further limiting the Rohingya peoples’ reproductive rights (covered in international law). For you as an organization is it tolerable to, as section D states, impose “measures intended to prevent the births within the group” targeted by genocidal policy? And if so could you please elaborate upon your views on the reason why Rohingya should be prevented from giving birth?

6)      In countless encounters between members of your organization and Rohingya (unarmed civilians) there have been violent clashes based upon race and religion. In every well-documented occasion of this violence the number of Rohingya killed dramatically dwarfs that of Buddhists killed. Can you explain how a peaceful faith such as yours’ can justify what section A of the Genocide Convention states is the deliberate “killing members of the group” you target with genocidal economic policies?

7)      Going beyond the genocide convention set forth by the UN shortly after the Holocaust in Nazi Europe, is not the implication of economic boycotts against a given ethnic group or religious group detrimental to the harmony of Myanmar’s society? What is the reason for the forced boycott of Rohingya in the Rakhine state? And for what reason do you feel it is necessary to deprive a targeted portion of society for economic starvation?

8)      The Dalai Lama has condemned both the resulting actions of your organization’s boycott and the motive behind it. If you could, what would you say to Tenzin Gyatso about his lack of support for your cause?

9)      In recent statements Ashin Wirathu stated that he would like the 969 Movement to be more like the English Defense League. His exact words in an interview were, “Do you know the English Defense League? We would like to be like the EDL.” However the English Defense League is a well-known hate group in England that targets Muslims for violent crimes and physical assault. Is this what you would like the 969 Movement to be associated with? Is 969 a movement based upon racial or religious ideology that would claim to be superior to the group they target in hate speech?

10)     You claim to be defending your religion and the public. What is it that you are defending the public against? For decades under the Junta in Myanmar there was far less racial and religious violence regarding the Rohingya. So why now are you so worried about a people that have lived alongside Buddhists for centuries?

 

Four hours after the twitter handle for 969 had promised to "answer" our "questions right away", we received a reply. The answers began simple and straight forward without much deviation from the sorts of responses we had expected. Of course this final response was predicated by several responses refusing to answer until we provided countless sources to "support" our questions in the first place. But anyhow, I won't complain about the lack of cooperation... we got what we wanted from this engagement.

Here is what we got. Raw and unedited.

Answering question one: 

"That is not clear to us at this time since our campaign is based in the
United States. However I can note that many monks were imprisoned and
persecuted during the military control of Myanmar and I believe Ven.
Wirathu was one of those. The reasoning I have for this is that he was
given an amnesty for "political prisoners" in 2007."

 

Answering question two:

 

"Some clarifications. 969 is a social movement and not an organization. It
acts as a Buddhist mutual aid campaign and is organizing petition
campaigns to show support for pro-Buddhist laws. Riots that have occurred
in Myanmar did not take place in areas directly influenced by 969 leaders,
e.g., Mandalay."

 

Answering question three:

 

"The displaced people are not citizens of Myanmar and have no right to
travel in the country at will. The military is there to protect them from
further mob violence. The reality is that they are being cared for by
UNHCR aid."

 

Answering question four:

 

"Venerable Wirathu has repeatedly called for calm and non-violence and is
on the record for supporting the government prosecuting convicted
criminals of crimes both Rohingya and Buddhist."

 

Answering question five:

 

"Countries choosing to regulate the birth of citizens or non-resident
aliens is nothing new. China has a one child per family policy to deal
with the problem of overpopulation. As a foreigner to Myanmar, it is not
proper for me to comment further on what is or is not the proper
demographic policy of their country nor do I think it is any one else's
concern."

 

Answering question six:

 

"969 is not an organization, it is a social movement. Rohingya's rape of
Myanmar women, forced marriages, and burning monks alive has inflamed the
wrath of the Myanmar people. This is not a new phenomena. The bad actions
of Rohingya's, armed and unarmed, with words and without words, with
machetes and with guns and bombs, has been going on for decades longer
then 2012.  I will offer this link for documented evidence"

 

(Link omitted due to being broken)

 

Answering question seven:

 

"969 is a movement in support of Buddhists businesses, Buddhist households,
and Buddhist individuals. 969 only developed in response to the Rohingya's
Islamic 786 campaign which is for Muslims in Myanmar to only do business
with Muslims, who were refusing to offer services to monks and Buddhists."

 

Answering question eight:

 

"With all due respect, I would ask the Dalai Lama how many Buddhists must
be burned to death, how many women to be raped and sold into slavery, and
how many temples have to be bombed before he supports the physical and
spiritual self-defense of Buddhism in a Buddhist country?"

 

Answering question nine:

 

"From what I understand of the EDL, EDL members are targeted for hate
crimes, EDL members are targeted for expressing their opinions, EDL
members are fired from their places of employment, and they are made
scapegoats for Muslim crimes in their country.  The Islamification of the
United Kingdom, such as the call to prayer on the BBC, is exactly what 969
is designed to prevent in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar are acting on
their own accord. That they refuse to allow Myanmar to become a formerly
Buddhist country like the long list of  Afghanistan, Sri Lanka,
Bangaladesh, Nepal, Iran, Indonesia, Tibet (by communism), and others who
have been vanquished by the sword of Islam. This triumph of democracy
should be praised."

 

Answering question ten:

 

"This is far from true as the above link describes in detail, in fact it
was merely less known to the Western media. The British brought the
Rohingya to divide and conquer the people of Myanmar. The Myanmar
Buddhists are peace loving people. Only the spark of Buddhist women being
violated and Buddhist monks being murdered set forth the long checked
wrath of an insulted people. You say peace lasted for years but it was
fake. The same fake peace that existed under Tito and his communist regime
disappeared after the fall of Yugoslavia and the ethnic and religious
conflict that followed was terrible. Thankfully the Myanmar military and
police are able to limit the damage from the warring parties from being
worse then it already is. A not dissimilar situation also exists in
Thailand where the southern provinces are under an Islamic insurgency,
people are killed all the time. You would blame the military of Thailand
for violating your human rights for not allowing you to visit these areas
but as a Western foreigner you would likely be attacked, killed, raped, or
held for ransom by terrorists like many before you. 969 means we say "no
more" to the people and causes of violence against Buddhist people. Thank
you."

Question one was a simple and straightforward question that has been answered by media outlets around the world. Yet I had to keep in mind that the operator of the 969 twitter handle had routinely discredited and hinted that media in the West was bias toward Muslim causes. So I avoided arguing the point with the person behind the 969 twitter account and American based webpage. 

However question two had nothing to do with 969 or the "movement". We had simply taken the opportunity to readdress the lack of knowledge on behalf of our counterpart regarding the legal definition of genocide. As the question is predicated it remarks that we had already asked one question and were now wanting clarification on the previous response. In doing so we had stated word for word the UN's definition of genocide. And yet we did not get a response that clearly and honestly stated that 969 (either here or in Myanmar) rejected the implementation of genocide as a method to completing current 969 economic policies.

Then came question three...

We blatantly stated the fact that the Burmese military is confining Rohingya to camps and villages while keeping food, water, and basic living necessities out of reach. This was not the question, it is the fact of the matter. And yet we did not receive an answer that would clarify the beliefs of this 969 supporter or the group at large when dealing with section C of section A of the Genocide Convention. Instead we got a short response about how the Rohingya are "not citizens" and therefore have no right to life apparently. The last part of the response showed a drastic lack of information or the intent to mislead us when talking about humanitarian aid the Rohingya have not readily received in their blockaded villages and camps that Myanmar claims are illegal yet the government established. 

Question four pushed the envelope on what our opponent could tolerate. By asking about Wirathu we made the response shorter than we had wished. But we did get enough out of the 969 unofficial account to realize that they have a blind devotion to the criminal monk Wirathu. Despite blatant calls for violent annihilation of the Rohingya people coming directly from Wirathu himself this 969 account refuses to admit the truth. There is clearly no room for debate upon the issue of their cult like leader. 

Our next question brought up the long history Myanmar has with regulating the birth rate of the Rohingya people. We have noted that it decreases the population and "prevents births" in a targeted community. Thus these laws violate the Genocide Convention and most human rights laws currently enforced by the UN. Yet the response we got showed a direct condoning of the genocidal law. The other side went as far as to hint that such issues were none of our concern. Bold. 

We didn't hide our intent after question five. In question six we went for the meat of the matter by opening up the question of section A in the legal definition of genocide. Yet the other side only had blame to offer for the Rohingya. One might even believe that this response could be used as justification for the outright slaughter of Rohingya in Myanmar. But that would be insinuating I suppose. So I'll have to wait to ask another 969 member... someday. 

Question seven targeted the economic boycott imposed by the 969 members in Myanmar. We wanted to understand the logic behind this economic attack. And yet the response we got once again blamed the Rohingya for the actions of the 969 members themselves. Instead of accepting some guilt in the conflict, this member gave justification by accusing the other side of instigating it. This sort of excuse does little in the way of answering our original question. But it does show us a little of the mindset one has to have to believe the reasoning behind such hate filled ideas. 

Eight was like putting a toe on the line. It was the point where I realized I was getting close to bringing the questioning to a close. To get this I had to dial back and offer a chance for my opposition to show their human side. Sadly I didn't get a very good look at that. 

Instead of asking the Dalai Lama about their own guilt and what could be done to end the conflict if their current actions would not... we got more hate. The persistent desire to paint the victims of their actions as the guilty party is a hallmark of hate groups around the world. The Nazis painted the Jews as the evil villains that were attempting to take over the world only so that the Nazis could do just that. 969 tells the world that the Rohingya are a rabid army of invaders ready to rape and pillage Myanmar yet we watch 969 do both those things with impunity as the government watches. 

Now question nine was a rather odd question really. We had given this 969 account seven links to show we weren't just making up this connection between Wirathu and the English Defense League. And yet we had to prove this connection a few more ways before getting this response. Then what we got was just appalling.

 

Instead of denouncing the EDL, this 969 account defended the neo-Nazi hate group. However we didn't ask him/her to back up their claims that EDL members were discriminated against by a mythical Muslim upper class. We didn't ask him/her to clarify just how they knew that 969 members were being fired because Muslims had somehow gained control over these EDL members' employment. We just went on to our next question. After all, doesn't that response raise an eyebrow on it's own? I really didn't think I needed to address it. 

 

So we finished with the question that gave our paste-bin it's name... the kamikaze.

 

The response we got shows the level of hatred that a follower of this 969 Movement can obtain without even once stepping foot in Myanmar (he/she told me, I'm not just guessing). It is a level of intolerance that is absolutely alien to me. No matter how hard I try I can't bring myself to hate somebody or a group of people I have never met. And I'll be honest, brutally honest, I have dealt with resentment for Croatia and Germany due to my own family history. Yet even for all the crimes committed against my ancestors, I couldn't bring myself to loath the people of those two countries. It just wasn't something I had been taught. 

So to end this I'm going to offer a simple response to the person or persons behind this 969 twitter handle. 

I was never taught to hate a group of people for any reason. I will never understand that part of the argument I got in response to my questions. But I do have one question left for you. If the tables were turned and the situation was reversed, you are now in the position of the Rohingya people, would you still be comfortable hearing the answers you gave us? Is there not a way that you would wish this could end without more deaths, without continued starvation, without this hatred between your faiths... your people... your communities?

Whites Only

Institutionalized Segregation In Europe 
(Roma In Europe series)

"So long as there is one single person anywhere in the world who is denied his or her freedom, then none of us are free.  As long as there is exploitation which is taking place on our doorstep, in our own backyards, then we must all share the responsibility to get justice and freedom for the people concerned."

~John F. Kennedy 

After the Civil War in the United States the south responded to the freedoms granted to African Americans by introducing "Jim Crow" laws. These laws were meant to keep the African American community in perpetual subservience to the white population that had once ruled the American South. Though the freed slaves could no longer be put in chains and shipped off to be sold as human cargo, they could no sooner gain access to the free world America had created for itself. For American society this came to known as "separate but equal". It was assumed that the African Americans should be grateful for what they had been given by Lincoln and simply accept that they were somehow inferior to the whites that had once owned them.

As the generation of freed slaves grew old and their children grew up in a segregated America the divide between their limited freedoms and white America's total freedom became increasingly apparent. Jim Crow laws increased as African Americans became more apt to finding ways to overcome the barriers that had been set before them. Perseverance by the minority pushed the majority's discomfort to the point of breaking. With every step African Americans took toward equality the hate that fueled groups like the Ku Klux Klan grew. Over the course of the next few generations it would become even more obvious to American society that separate is never equal. Segregation would have to end if American society was to continue to mature in its understanding of true liberty.

In America freedom comes like a raging fire. It is a violent and bitter course of action that puts our notions of what a free society is through a refining fire. Yet for all the hatred that comes boiling to the surface we somehow have managed to united in the end. By pushing the extreme elements of our society to the fringe we find at our core what it means to have our liberties as a country. For all the scars and wounds we have suffered along the way, America has brought forth an example of what elements of a culture cannot be tolerated in a society if it is to truly be free.

Segregation is one of those elements.



Europe has claimed to lead the world in tolerance and understanding. It boasts about its multicultural heritage and how it has managed to absorb others along the way. Immigrants that once flocked to America now set their eyes upon Europe as it's multiple economies spring new growth. Africans, Arabs, Eastern Europeans, and Asians all trickle into the EU with every passing year. Yet for all the new religions and cultures that Europe accommodates with reasonable success there remains one minority that Europe has a long history of failure with. The Romani people.

Eastern Europe has centuries of negative history when it comes to even tolerating the Roma let alone accepting and integrating the Romani culture. Under Stalin the Roma were forced into slave labor and used by the Soviets in a subhuman manner. The Poles seemed over zealous in handing over Roma over to Hitler's SS during World War Two. And the Balkan states have all had a long history of forcibly keeping Roma people segregated from the rest of society.

While Western Europe showed it's complete disregard of the Roma people in just the last few years as France, Germany, and Italy all led the way in deporting Roma people and forcing evictions of entire Roma communities. This was almost a mirror image of how Hitler had dealt with the Roma when his forces occupied Europe just over 70 years ago. And yet the EU could only manage to offer up rather moderate condemnation for France when it refused to stop deportations. It is notable that the EU however did not condemn Italy or Germany for their actions or even England for its use of forced evictions. This lack of outrage shows a disturbing level of tolerance for state sponsored intolerance of one of Europe's largest minorities.

Obviously one would imagine that Europe would have grown in it's capacity to tolerate and integrate Romani culture into it's vast array of cultures already assimilated. You would imagine that at the very least the Roma would only suffer segregation in as much a way as the Chinese immigrants do by formation of areas nicknamed "China Town". This manageable degree of segregation would be considered somewhat normal since people tend to surround themselves with people of a similar cultural background. It can be seen in areas where Kosher markets and delis are almost adjacent to synagogues. And for the most part this form of segregation is accepted by even the most liberal societies. But for the Roma this form of segregation would be a giant step up from their current level of oppression within European society.

In most of Eastern Europe Roma are supposedly legally allowed to live in areas where their "white" neighbors congregate. However in most cases if Roma would move into a white neighborhood the local branch of Europe's KKK would show up that same night. Just as African Americans were told to stay on their side of the tracks, Roma in Eastern Europe are forced into ghettos reminiscent of those established by the SS. Then when the local white population decides that they no longer want Romani families in one ghetto they have the Romas' homes destroyed and force evictions. Roma who loose their homes are then forced to even worse ghettos. Despite laws that appear to make "white only" neighborhoods illegal, Jim Crow like laws nullify any sense of equality.

In places like Slovakia Romani people find that Jim Crow doesn't just apply to where they are allowed to live but also dictates where they are able to work. According to The New York Times, "Only 20 percent of Roma men of working age in Slovakia have jobs — compared with 65 percent in the general population — and they die 15 years earlier than the national average." This level of employment disparity affects how the Roma will provide for their families and manage to put food on the table. When they are only able to manage a 20 percent employment rate the Roma are forced to rely upon governmental assistance and thus become subject to public ridicule. Adding to the stigmatization that Roma already face due to the socially accepted level of bigotry that exist within European culture.

Then comes the problem of widespread discrimination against Romani children when it comes to education within European school systems. From Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, down to Slovakia and Romania; the institutionalized level of segregation practiced on a purely ethnic basis is astounding. It directly mirrors the segregation that took place in America's South. Many schools within Greece are literally "white only". In Slovakia Roma children are not allowed to eat within the school cafeteria but are instead forced outside to eat bagged lunches while their Slavic (white) counterparts are fed hot lunches. While in the Czech Republic it is a common practice for schools to place Roma children in classes designed for the mentally handicapped simply because the children were born Romani and not Czech.

It is in the schools that Europe implants the seeds of discrimination into the hearts and minds of the next generation. Roma children who grow up with parents that are unable to find jobs due to discrimination are immediately reminded by the state that they too are just as unwanted as their parents. Where the government should be encouraging it's future to learn how to better their future the state instead shows Roma children that there are limits to their future. By allowing segregation in the schools, Europe digs the trenches in which to bury the aspirations of the next generation.

If change is to come to Europe it may not need to come in the way America had to bear it. But it must come one way or another. Europe can no longer grow in its freedoms as long as a portion of the population is denied the right to grow with it. Europe must decide whether it is to amputate the Roma from European society (as the Nazi's attempted to do) or whether it will fully accept the Romani as part of Europe's rich heritage. After all, nobody wants to simply be tolerated.

Segregation must be ended. It cannot be tolerated. It is a distinct barrier to progress.

In Hungary the resistance to change has already become violent. Jobbik has rallied in the same way that the KKK sprang forth to challenge the Civil Rights Movement in America. Violence, intimidation, and re-enforcing of Europe's Jim Crow laws have all been the hallmarks of radicalized organizations like Jobbik in Eastern Europe.

In Western Europe groups like the EDL (English Defense League) make up the backbone for the radical right-wing of Europe's pro Jim Crow crowd. These organizations back political parties that practice policies such as keeping the Roma on the road (or constantly driving Roma out). These groups mainly use intimidation but are not above using force (example here).

These groups present the same possibility for violent change as Europe realizes that segregation has no place in the 21st century. They are the KKK of Europe. These groups inhibit growth and stand in the way of progress. And yet they are only a portion of the reason that change is slow in coming to European society as a whole.

Politicians in Europe who exploit entrenched prejudices to further their political carriers help to keep Romani families on the fringe of European society. Through their own bigotry and callousness they help to block Roma integration. Others demand that Romani people assimilate to traditional European ways of life (assuming on their part that Roma don't want to in the first place) while refusing to demand the same of new immigrants. All of these politicians are allowed to practice such discrimination however in part to the established bigotry toward Roma in Europe in the first place.

A member of European society does not need to support the EDL or Jobbik to help prevent equality for their Romani neighbors. They simply have to accept the discrimination that Roma suffer in Europe on a daily basis. By refusing to speak up for their fellow Europeans (the Roma) these citizens allow their apathy to further the suffering of the Romani.

Yet this apathy is not limited to white Europeans alone. All Europeans; regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or cultural heritage should feel a deep sense of disdain for any level of discrimination found within their society. The willful tolerance of these prejudices should spark a fire within you that cannot be contained. Witnessing this repression of a fellow human being should pull at your heart and soul in a way that provokes action... demands condemnation... and makes you scream.

Change will come to Europe. It must.

It is only due to a lack of support for it that Europe still suffers from the limitations that held back America's embrace of civil liberties. And yet this barrier to true freedom and liberty can be overcome. This obstacle that has one fatal flaw. It is that it must be accepted by society if it is to remain in place. Europe as a whole must find the segregation and oppression of the Roma intolerable for it to finally end.

"It has to start somewhere, 

It has to start sometime.

What better place than here, 

What better time than now."

~ Rage Against The Machine

Source Documents
(note: not all sources listed)

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/world/europe/in-slovakia-integration-of-roma-mirrors-early-struggles-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Huffington Post UK
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/artur-conka/roma-families-in-europe_b_3253404.html

The Slovak Spectator
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/50157/2/discrimination_still_a_problem.html

Southeast European Times
http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/06/07/feature-02

Less Than Admirable, Ashin Wirathu

The Joseph Goebbels of Myanmar
(The Darkness Visible series)

(Note He Opted To Be Photographed Looking Down Upon His Audience)

Joseph Goebbels portrayed my ancestors as rats in his infamous propagandist films. His news reels showed Jews as animals or portrayed us as a plague. This allowed Goebbels to make the quick leap from a disease to the supposed cure. That was why we were the rats, so that he could show Europe it was acceptable to exterminate us. Such is the power of repetitive and persistent propaganda. Through a position of power and influence the insanity of a few can become the reality of many.

The "venerable", or maniacal, Wirathu has become to the 969 movement in Myanmar what Goebbels was to the Nazis. Much like the Nazis in Europe, 969 under the guidance of Wirathu has forced boycotts of Muslim shops and merchants along with an unofficial (yet forced) ban upon intermarriage between Buddhists and Muslims. Wirathu has followed in Goebbels footsteps by portraying the Rohingya Muslims as an ethnic group that is growing out of control and supposedly overpopulating the Arakan region of Burma. At times Wirathu has made the same parallels as Goebbels did when talking about the Rohingya.

"As far as Muslims go, a snake is a snake. Snakes are dangerous, so we shouldn't let them be," Wirathu- As Reported in The Australian

The desire to dehumanize the Muslim population of Myanmar falls in line with the perceived need to rid the country of them. It allows members of 969 and its supporters to accept the neglect and ill-treatment of their Rohingya neighbors without a second thought about it. Through this filter the Rohingya can be seen as an enemy regardless of the shared history the Rakhine and Rohingya have had for generations. It also permits and suggest that Rohingya should be killed if they cannot be dominated by other social and political means. This is why Wirathu calls them snakes when talking to the Western media. 

Goebbels knew that the first step toward the Nazi "final solution" was dehumanization. The Hutu militias knew that the constant use of words such as "cockroaches" would wear at the moderates' collective conscience. It is a part of genocide. It is a requirement if the attacking force wants to engage and the rest of society and justify their crimes. 

In Myanmar Wirathu has long passed this stage. In 2003 Wirathu directly instigated riots that led to the reported deaths of 10 innocent Muslims. It was due to this tendency to incite violence that the old junta had Wirathu thrown in prison in the first place. Yet under the supposed democratic reformist Thein Sein the nationalist hero Wirathu was suddenly released. 

(Desperate to save his shop, owner scribbled 969 on shop door during Lashio attacks.)

Where Goebbels saw himself as the match that would ignite the inferno, Wirathu sees himself as the fire itself. In attacks such as that in Meiktila, Wirathu's 969 stormtroopers were at the front lines of the fight his words sparked. Leading his troops into battle through word alone, Wirathu is able to throw the weight of the Buddhists monks well organized battalions out onto the battlefield. Instead of leading his fellow radicals to the conclusion through imagery, Wirathu instructs them on how and where to attack. 

This difference has led Wirathu to shift his "economic nationalist" movement from boycotts to bombs. Laying waste to Muslim villages and shops, the 969 savages show no mercy to their victims. This is the intended product of Wirathu's teachings. Through a relentless indoctrination of radical nationalism in place of traditional Buddhist teachings, Wirathu is able to set fire to the pillars of Burmese society.

(Mosque Burnt By 969 Fascist In Lashio, Burma)

So how does Wirathu see himself? 

"Do you know the English Defense League? We would like to be like the EDL. Not carrying out violence, but protecting the public," Wirathu -  As Reported in The Daily Mail

The English Defense League is a radical right-wing group that claims to protest the spread of Islam and "Sharia Law" in the United Kingdom. Though they claim to be a peaceful organization that only uses their civil liberties to express concerns over the imagined imposition of Islam upon the West their actions prove otherwise (example as shown here). The group itself leans toward fascism and openly promotes the desire for an "ethnically pure" UK. Yet despite the racial aspect of the EDL this is who the radical nationalist in Burma model themselves after.

Perhaps it is just the "common enemy" that draws Wirathu to the EDL. Maybe he doesn't realize with any real level of certainty that the all white crowd which the EDL is comprised of wouldn't accept Buddhism any more than they do Islam. No matter how pale skinned Wirathu may consider himself, the English Defense League is just as bitter as he is. 

But that is beside the point I'm trying to make here... 

When it comes to his view of what 969 is all about and why they exist in Burma, Wirathu sees his cause as being just as far removed from peace as that which drives the EDL. When it comes to the peaceful teachings of Buddhism this monk has drawn a blind eye. No matter how Buddha might have seen the Rohingya, Wirathu sees them as less than human... less than even the insects or snakes themselves. It is a blind hatred for a perceived enemy that links the EDL to the 969 movement. And it is due to this blind hatred that no compromise can be reached. 

How can you bridge the gap between love and hate? Is it in that space between that we call tolerance? 

If Burma is to take the next step toward democracy, true democracy, the government will have to find a path forward that does not include hate groups such 969. Radicals like Wirathu must be isolated and cut off from the mainstream. Their propaganda must be thrown out and their "economic nationalism" rejected at face value. For if Burma is to accept even a portion of what Wirathu preaches then there is no hope for a true democratic movement within Myanmar's government let alone it's society at large. 

When the seeds of hatred are allowed room to grow the society that tolerated the weed as a seedling cannot be spared it's fruit when it matures. There will be consequences for the crimes that have taken place in Burma. If not through Myanmar's own actions then the world community at large must accept responsibility. Sanctions upon the regime must be a looming threat and the UN's court system must be prepared to prosecute the perpetrators. If we fail here... if the crime is forgiven... then the cycle of this crime will continue. Either way, there will be consequences... we just have to ask ourselves how bad we want them to be.

Source Documents
(not all sources listed)

The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/man-of-peace-venerable-wirathu-approves-violence-to-rohingyas/story-fnb64oi6-1226654775865

Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/31/deep-seated-prejudice-radical-buddhist-monks-fuel-violence-against-myanmar/

Daily Mail UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2333858/Right-wing-Buddhist-leading-campaign-force-Muslims-Burma-says-wants-group-like-English-Defence-League.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259409/Police-attack-right-wing-group-anti-fascists-clash-violent-street-protests.html

Aljazeera
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia-pacific/2013/05/2013531193133115210.html