Editor’s Note: Last week, Jay Nordlinger attended the Oslo Freedom Forum, the annual human-rights conference in the Norwegian capital. For Part I of his journal, go here. For Part II, here.
I see Standing Man, standing around. Remember him? He’s the Turkish dancer and street artist, Erdem Gunduz, who came to prominence in June 2013 when he registered a protest against the Erdogan government.
In the middle of Taksim Square, in Istanbul, he simply stood and stared (at the Ataturk Cultural Center). He did this for hour after hour. He attracted worldwide attention for doing so.
And he is here now in Oslo. I tell him I thought of him the other week, because I visited Istanbul and went to Taksim Square. (Not much to look at without him standing there.) He said that standing and staring has become a vehicle of protest in Turkey.
An interesting phenomenon.
‐There is a visitor from Guinea-Bissau with a long and pretty name: Sairo-Airam Mendonça Sambú. Guinea-Bissau is on the West African coast. The young lady is a “youth activist” and radio host. She is sweet and demure, but obviously has nerve. She stands against forced marriage. And for education (particularly of girls).
“When girls hear me,” she says, “they feel they’re not alone.”
‐Igor Eidman is on the stage, paying tribute to his cousin. His cousin was Boris Nemtsov, once the deputy prime minister of Russia. He was an activist for democracy in Russia. Earlier this year, he was murdered — shot in the back — outside the Kremlin.
Eidman says, “We were not just cousins but friends. I knew him from boyhood. He was not only a talented politician, he was a talented physicist.” Of course! I think. How very Russian! Aren’t they all talented physicists or mathematicians? “He would have become a famous researcher,” continues Eidman, “but his love of freedom and liberalism brought him into politics.”
I wish I had known more about this man — anything at all — before he was murdered.
I ask Bill Browder, just for fun, “Who killed Nemtsov?” Bill says, matter-of-factly, “Putin.” “Why?” I ask. “To send a message to everybody else? ‘You’d better not oppose the government’?” “Yes,” says Bill, “precisely.”
‐I know a young Norwegian woman who goes to college in the U.S. — an Ivy League school. She says that she’s appalled by the conformity and political correctness there. You can’t say anything. You can’t open your mouth — unless you toe the line (whatever it is that day).
If you say something that others might disagree with, you have “triggered” them, and they must run to a “safe space.”
My friend is bewildered that this is going on in America, “the land of the free, the home of the brave.”
Yes. We now seem to be a nation of mental and emotional invalids — of people unfit for democracy.
Of course, one shouldn’t generalize from the campuses. As someone once put it, they are “islands of oppression in a sea of liberty.”
‐Kambiz Hosseini “is an Iranian satirist and actor” (says his bio). “He is currently the host of ‘POLETIK!,’ a comedy television program broadcast on Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.”
Good. That is an excellent use of American tax money, I think.
Hosseini comes out onstage and says, “The title of my talk is ‘Can Iran Take a Joke?’ No. Thank you. Bye-bye.” He feigns leaving, but he comes back to give his talk.
Because of his comedy, his family was forced to flee Iran (if I have heard correctly). Dissidents often affect their family this way. It’s one of the hazards of the business. And, of course, dictatorships use families to hush or control dissidents.
‐Kenan Malik “is an Indian-born English writer, lecturer, and broadcaster.” His particular subject is free speech. And that is what he addresses here at the Oslo Freedom Forum.
He talks about the word “but.” People say, “I’m for free speech, but . . .” — and that word “but” is very tricky.
There have been times in my life when I’ve tried not to be a free-speech absolutist. But I find it hard, if not impossible. Every time I draw a line, it seems somewhat arbitrary (though I would draw it at incitement to violence). Who decides what speech is acceptable and what is not? That is a very tough question.
Malik is a terribly bright fellow, but I’m going to pick on him. He talks about this business of “speaking responsibly.” That’s what people say: “I’m for free speech, but it has to be responsible speech.” What does “speaking responsibly” mean?
“In Russia,” says Malik, “it means, ‘Don’t knock Putin.’ In America, it means, ‘Don’t reveal NSA secrets.’”
For a recent issue of National Review, I wrote an essay called “The Even-Steven Temptation: Adventures in moral equivalence.” If you’re interested in reading it, go here. Kenan Malik has supplied a flagrant example of even-steven (as I term the phenomenon).
“Don’t knock Putin” and “Don’t reveal NSA secrets” indeed. Frankly, I am (almost) speechless . . .
‐We have a comedy routine or two. I’d like to tell you a story. I promise it’s relevant.
Years ago, I was covering a concert at Carnegie Hall. There was a new piece on the program — a world premiere. After it was over, I turned to the critic next to me and said, “I’m so sick of that piece.” He threw back his head and laughed. He knew exactly what I meant.
We had never heard this particular piece before — but we knew its genre, its type, all too well.
For years, I’ve heard the same material from Arab and Arab-American comics: “America is so discriminatory. We’re ‘randomly checked’ at the airport. We’re the only ones. Fox News is so dumb. They brainwash stupid Americans into thinking that all Arabs and all Muslims are terrorists.” Blah blah blah.
You know, for a country that is so biased against Arabs, America is host to many, many Arabs. And more continue to come. People vote with their feet. Maybe they know better than the comedians?
Mention “Fox News” to a crowd like this, and you’re sure to get snorts and guffaws. I wonder whether anyone here has ever watched Fox News — or whether they simply hear what Jon Stewart and the Huffington Post say about it.
I think of an old and useful phrase: “a herd of independent minds.”
(Pop quiz: On what network is there more diversity of thought? Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC . . .?)
‐While I’m in high dudgeon: The whole of my life, I’ve heard that America is unwelcoming of immigrants. Bigoted, inhospitable, racist. And the whole of my life, I’ve seen immigrants come to America. Some people die trying.
Are they stupid? Or do they know what they’re doing? To say it again, people vote with their feet.
And among the most pro-American people anywhere — including the U.S. Marines — are immigrants to America.
‐One more thing, before I shut up on this: I don’t look forward to the eclipse of American power and influence around the world. For one thing, I think it will be very, very bad for the world.
But it might be nice not to hear people gripe about America, 24/7. (I gripe about America 10/7, roughly speaking. It’s virtually my job.) They can take their complaints to . . . whom? The Chinese? Putin? ISIS?
I’m a big internationalist — a big global engager — but I understand those Americans who are tired of the burden and the blame.
‐Bobby Ghosh is an Indian-born journalist. He tells us that he was proud of something growing up: India was the largest democracy in the world. And he saw many other countries become democratic: in Asia, Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. Recently, however, trends seem to be going the other way.
And “I’ve watched with growing alarm as people in free and fair elections give their votes to politicians with openly autocratic tendencies.” He cites Putin and Erdogan. He also cites Abe, Orbán, and Modi. We could have an argument about this.
The important question, it seems to me, is whether these countries have free, fair, and regular elections. Can they turn the scoundrels out, if the leaders indeed prove to be scoundrels? Will the electorate have another crack at it? And another crack after that?
And are the rights of minorities protected? Sometimes the candidate you prefer doesn’t win. (Don’t I know it!)
Anyway, you get my drift . . .
‐You remember who Viktor Yushchenko is: the president of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010. In the 2004 presidential campaign, he was the victim of poisoning, which disfigured his face.
I first encountered him shortly after that poisoning. Let me quote from a 2005 journal:
Probably the most moving and inspiring person at Davos is Victor Yushchenko, the new president of Ukraine. First, there is the look of him: He wears the opposition to him — the evidence of evil — on his face. He is a figure of immense dignity.
In another entry, on another day, I wrote,
To be in the amazingly noble and dignified presence of Victor Yushchenko is probably the highlight of the Annual Meeting. Not to take anything away from Bill Clinton, of course . . .
At that time, Yushchenko’s face was badly disfigured, and it seemed to me that this condition made him all the more handsome. More noble. His face today is much more normal. And he has that same basic look: a noble handsomeness.
To the Freedom Forum, he talks about Ukraine, of course, giving its history, and limning its current predicament. He warns of another iron curtain. And he quotes a remark attributed to Churchill: that between war and shame, you chose shame, and will get war, too.
Well, that’s an ominous note to end on, isn’t it? But end I will, for today. I’ll wrap up this journal tomorrow (and have a couple of related pieces later).
The Oslo Freedom Forum is a great and good thing under the sun. It’s my favorite event of the year. No offense to Christmas and the Fourth of July. And Thanksgiving.
See you.