Roger L. Simon

March 11th, 2006 10:33 am

Not your father’s “Stamboul Train”

I received in email the following photographs of one of the Danish cartoon demonstrations last month. Where did it take place? Tehran? Riyadh?… No, Instanbul – the great romantic city of Graham Greene and flagship of secular Islam via Ataturk. How representative are these pictures of even a small portion of Turkish opinion? I certainly don’t know, but they are not reassuring.
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11 Comments

1. Albertgator:

You know, the pictures of the shrouded women reduced to just black ciphers are scary. Copies should be sent to every member of NOW because if they don’t wake up, this is what awaits them.

Mar 11, 2006 - 3:38 pm 2. promoguy:

Turkey, trying to get into the EU, kills their chances with these type of photos. I hope.

Mar 11, 2006 - 4:41 pm 3. Luther McLeod:

Not really new, these pictures, except for the fact that they originate from Turkey.

Until and unless, we get serious, that may be our future. How do we connect (if possible, and I doubt) with those that see these images as a desired state. Talk about black and white.

Mar 11, 2006 - 7:09 pm 4. lindenen:

Am I the only one who’s forgotten reading how Mein Kampf was on the best seller list in Turkey recently?

Mar 11, 2006 - 9:43 pm 5. dsmtoday:

The images show people protesting peacefully, not burning embassies. That’s a positive step – learning how to protest peacefully. If these pictures are truly representative, the people in them provide a good role model.

What actually scares me more are some of the nutjobs that show up to A.N.S.W.E.R. protests in San Francisco.

Mar 11, 2006 - 10:22 pm 6. Mike G in Corvallis:

Y’know, those huge crowds of Islamists are going to be very interesting in the near future, when avian flu is ramping up to epidemic levels …

Mar 12, 2006 - 12:10 am 7. Carl Spackler:

The Koran and Mien Kampf. Both about crazy men. One is submit the other struggle. Both hate and blame Jews and others for their problems. One guy had many wives, attracted to young girls, the other his niece who killed herself. Both required expansionist policies for success. Both advocated any means for success. Both books a babble fest and barely readable and rarely read by followers.

Mar 12, 2006 - 5:42 am 8. Rhod:

At the moment, these people are standing on the frontier between Europe and the Middle East. Within thirty years time it will just be the midpoint between northern and southeastern Eurabia.

Mar 12, 2006 - 5:59 am 9. pst314:

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion can be easily found at Turkish bookstores.

I have read that the publication of Mein Kampf is subsidized.

Anti-Semitic hate-mongering is a stable of Turkish journalism.

Mar 13, 2006 - 6:34 am 10. david72:

I don’t understand the reference to STAMBOUL TRAIN (ORIENT EXPRESS in the American edition). Greene’s book, as I recall wasn’t exactly philoSemetic. I always assumed he must have taken a great deal of heat for it, too. His fiction from there on–and this was early in his career–was judenrein. No Jewish characters whatsoever.

Greene’s only published references to Jews after STAMBOUL TRAIN were in letters to British papers bitching about Zion and Zionists.

His equally talented friend, Brian Moore, followed the same judenrein policy in his novels. Even in THE STATEMENT which dealt with a Nazi butcher on the run, Moore managed to avoid Jewish characters.

For all their considerable talents, both Greene and moore were ugly Papist antiSemites.

If it is relevant, Turkey under the Grand Turk was, of course, a better place for Jews than Christian Europe.

Mar 16, 2006 - 3:11 pm 11. tolga:

well i am a person from Turkey. i dont think these pict re from Turkey because it is not a general appearance of Turkish women. They wear somethink like westenrn type. There re women like that wearing such black clothes but it is too rare, uncommon here.

But the second photo can be from Turkey. it is something of festive seromony by small religious minority i dont know the name of their culture.

I was surprised to hear that Kuran promote hatret against Jews. I dont understand it. I havent found something like that in my religion. May be some of you confuse politic and religious issues. May be historical Turkish and Jewish relationship can be good example to you.

i love jews :) partly because of my religion partly because of my hearht..

Jul 8, 2007 - 1:00 pm

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