Write On letters to the editor
Refugees
Jim Faggotter (Write On GLW #491) says that if Australia's detention centres were closed we would get millions of refugees.Undoubtedly, if refugees were treated more humanely the number coming to Australia would increase. By how much is hard to say. But if indeed it was millions, would this be a bad thing?
Faggotter does not say why he thinks it is undesirable. Australia has by far the lowest population density of any continent except Antarctica. While a rapid increase in population may cause some problems, most would not be insuperable.
The most common reason given for Australia's alleged inability to cope with more people is lack of water. The excessive consumption of water from our rivers does indeed cause problems such as salinity. But this has little to do with Australia's population.
The main problem is the growth of irrigation for crops such as cotton and rice in dry areas. This is not limited by Australia's population, since the crops are exported. The solutions are to improve the efficiency of water use and/or reduce the area under irrigation.
A rapid growth in population will increase the urgency of a range of measures to protect the environment. But this is not a sufficient reason to continue the present policy of locking up people in concentration camps.
Chris Slee
Melbourne
Fresh election
Why are there still Australians who support the Coalition government's refugee policy, that is the border protection legislation, the Pacific solution and mandatory detention?Amazingly, many still appear not to know the facts. These policies are unnecessary, inhumane, costly, short-sighted and internationally damaging. Unbelievably, current budget proposals even suggest that the sick, the disabled and the environment are expected to foot the bill for this unintelligent behaviour.
The recent decision to declare more islands to be non-Australian territory, so as to circumvent internationally agreed refugee obligations, is hypocritical.
The UN inspection team's preliminary report on the detention camps is plainly devastating. For the Howard government to arrogantly reject that criticism on account of the UN's mixed record to solve major problems elsewhere, is quite wrong.
Australia should be a country that defends the humanitarian values of the UN, not undermines them. With 23 million refugees in the world Australia has a moral responsibility to take in a much larger number than it does.
The mendacity of the election campaign has been exposed. No apologies from anyone. No change in policy either. Opposition senators, isn't it time for a fresh election?
Klaas Woldring
Pearl Beach NSW
Zionism
Your correspondents Kommalapati and Savoulian (GLW #496) in criticising my views on the Middle East seem to misunderstand the difference between political theorising and political action.I agree that Theodore Herzl and Vladimir Jabotinsky are significant figures in Zionist history. But Herzl died in 1903 and Jabotinsky in 1940, and neither had any direct impact on the creation of Israel in 1948.
Their views are no more or less important than say the key Palestinian leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, or the Secretary General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha, who called for a war of extermination similar to that of the Mongols and the Crusades in 1948.
But there is little point to comparing quotes of long-dead theorists. In reality, the complexity of 1948 and the varied causes of the Palestinian Naqba have been carefully described by respected historians such as Benny Morris. What neither of your correspondents seem to understand or explore is the direct link between Jewish political culture and experiences in the 20th century, and the creation of the state of Israel.
Instead of using reductionist rhetoric, I would urge them to investigate the famous battles between universalist and nationalist solutions to the Jewish question, and the objective reasons why Zionist rather than alternate Bundist or communist solutions won out. Perhaps then they might understand why long-standing Jewish leftists such as myself support states for both Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, rather than the latter at the expense of the former.
Philip Mendes
Melbourne
Buddhism
The reason to Equate Buddhism with other religions (Dexter Fletcher, Write On GLW #498) is simply a matter of historical analysis. Both Greek philosophy and Oriental mysticism met at Alexandria and formed together; propping up slavery and later allowing the ideological birth of feudalism.Religion, as ideology, is used to explain the material world and to duly placate the masses by explaining why this reality must be so. Buddhism teaches that life is suffering, that suffering is due to attachment and that in order to overcome this (to reach the state of nirvana) it is necessary to follow the dharma. Dharma is the path to follow in order to perfect one's individual consciousness. It is because of this that I would maintain that this peace of mind is nothing but an acceptance of oppression.
I would disagree with Fletcher that the Buddhist monks [who] burnt themselves alive as part of the struggle against the Vietnam War negate my argument. The individuals who did this were obviously demonstrating a rejection of oppression. However, I maintain that these actions were not in line with the Buddhist doctrine, nor were they a realistic means to obtain a just society.
It was during the eighth century that Padma Sambhava founded Tibetan Buddhism and the Ancient School (Nyingma) from which the present Dalai Lama has come from. It is interesting to note that at this time in the West, Christianity was in full swing. In 800 CE, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the West and by 866 CE the synthesis of Neoplatonism and Christianity was complete.
Feudalism had been baptised from the ashes of slave society and in the East, Buddhism became similarly a popular answer to Hinduism. It is for this reason that the article criticises the Dalai Lama for his lack of 'hard answers'. Instead of attributing this to the layout of the forum, however I would question the relevance of a feudalist ideology charading as a progressive force in today's capitalist world.
Jess Melvin
Melbourne
From Green Left Weekly, July 3, 2002.
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