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In the Observer Sunday, Cohen replies to his
critics (excerpted in part):
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(Poet W.H.) Auden noticed a retreat
from universal principles in the 1930s - communism was fine in 'semi-barbaric'
Russia but would have been a screaming outrage in a civilised country. He should
have been alive today. With no socialism to provide international solidarity,
good motives of tolerance and respect for other cultures have had the unintended
consequence of leading a large part of post-modern liberal opinion into the
position of 19th-century imperialists. It is presumptuous and oppressive to
suggest that other cultures want the liberties we take for granted, their
argument runs. So it may
be, but believe that and the upshot is that democracy, feminism and human rights
become good for whites but not for browns and brown-skinned people who
contradict you are the tools of the
neo-conservatives.
(emphasis
mine)
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On the other hand when confronted
with a movement of contemporary imperialism - Islamism wants an empire from the
Philippines to Gibraltar - and which is tyrannical, homophobic, misogynist,
racist and homicidal to boot, they feel it is valid because it is against
Western culture. It expresses its feelings in a regrettably brutal manner
perhaps, but that can't hide its authenticity...
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This isn't simply about
international relations. Who is going to help the victims of religious
intolerance in Britain's immigrant communities? Not the Liberal Democrats, who
have never once offered support to liberal and democrats in Iraq. Nor an
anti-war left which prefers to embrace a Muslim Association of Britain and Yusuf
al-Qaradawi who believe that Muslims who freely decide to change their religion
or renounce religion should be executed. If the Archbishop of Canterbury were to
suggest the same treatment for renegade Christians all hell would break loose.
But as the bigotry comes from 'the other' there is silence.
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Perhaps it will break soon... the
London bombs have added a practical reason for breaking with the consensus: now
they're trying to kill us. Even if people think that the Iraq war has made
Britain a bigger target, they are still confronted with a fascistic cult of
murder and self-murder which allows no compromise.
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The thing to watch for with fellow
travellers is what shocks them into pulling the emergency cord and jumping off
the train. I know some will stay on to the terminus, and when the man with the
rucksack explodes his bomb their dying words will be: 'It's not your fault. I
blame Tony Blair.'
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