Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
Ralf Goergens During his stay in Israel, German Interior Minister Otto Schily defended the Israeli security fence against criticism:
“Those who draw comparisons with the Berlin Wall are wrong, because it does not shut people in and deprive them of their freedom,” Schily told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday. “Its purpose is to protect Israel from terrorists.”
I didn’t have time to blog when Jeff Jarvis posted about this verdict by a Federal German court concerning bans on hijabs (headscarfs) in German schools, so I’m pretty late in responding to his post.
Jarvis thinks that such bans are stupid and answers a French commenter’s defense of such bans thus:
Olivier: You clearly are free NOT to wear a headscarf or kibbeh or cross. But what of those who do? They are not allowed to? That is not freedom of religion. That is the imposition of secularity. We Americans left Europe precisely so we could have the freedom to practice — or not practice — religion without government interference. The mixing of government and religion is always dangerous. Aren’t we learning that lesson all too clearly right now?
Besides Jarvis’ charge that the ban amounts to an ‘imposition of secularity’ there also have been claims (I have forgotten where I read those, it has been some time, so unfortunately I have no links to those) that Europeans are basically picking on schoolgirls because they don’t dare to confront the Islamists directly.
These arguments against the bans are misguided, though. Unlike the cross or the kibbeh (which are not banned in Germany, unlike France), the hijab is not a religious, but a political symbol invented quite recently by the Islamists to indicate the subjugation of women under male dominance. Many Muslim women, especially those having grown up in Western countries, do not wear it voluntarily and only do so under the threat of violence by their families and ostracism by the wider Muslim community. There are girls who think that it is their religious duty to wear it, but that is their own business, and the result of religious and political indoctrination anyway. That doesn’t oblige us to tolerate this totalitarian symbol in our public institutions.
Vladimir Putin is unhappy with the American policy towards Chechnya (even if he likes Bush):
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that mid-level officials in the U.S. government were undermining his country’s war on terrorism by supporting Chechen separatists, whom he compared to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
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In the wide-ranging meeting which lasted almost four hours, Putin said he likes President Bush, calling him a friendly, decent, predictable person.
But Putin said each time Russia complained to the Bush administration about meetings held between U.S. officials and Chechen separatist representatives, the U.S. response has been “we’ll get back to you” or “we reserve the right to talk with anyone we want.”
Putin blamed what he called a “Cold War mentality” on the part of some U.S. officials, but likened their demands that Russia negotiate with the Chechen separatists to the U.S. talking to al Qaeda.
These are not “freedom fighters,” Putin said. “Would you talk with Osama Bin Laden?” he asked.
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Putin’s comments came a few weeks after the U.S. granted asylum to Ilias Akhmadov, the “foreign minister” of the Chechen separatist movement.
Reports about a Russian-American alliance seem to be somewhat premature.
This article is four years old, so there might be no direct connection between the atrocity in Beslan and the Turkish support for the Chechen resistance in Grozny, but Turkish-Russian relations might become pretty tense even so:
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNNItalia) — For many of its main players, the Chechen war starts here, in the streets of Istanbul. It is here, in this Turkish metropolis, that they gather from all over the Islamic world, the Mujahedeen, the holy warriors of Islam. They are the same volunteer fighters that put up a fierce resistance to the Russian forces that have had Grozny under siege.
Turkey is the principal ally of the Chechen independence fighters. Since the days of the Ottoman Empire, almost all the peoples of the Caucasus region — including Chechens — have had close ties with Turkey, which though secular is still part of the Islamic world.
Each week Turkish Muslim groups and the Gray Wolves organize demonstrations against the Russian government. The Gray Wolves are extreme nationalists accused of being behind the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and who have managed to become part of Turkey’s governing coalition [they aren’t part of the current government — RG].
Deutsche Welle has a pretty comprehensive overview of the conflicts in and in context of the Caucasus on their website.