International banking conspiracies

I think to call Italy an “ally” flatters the reality. Italy’s compliance amounts to little more than Berlusconi’s partisan sympathies and his ability to twist arms in parliament. By and large Italians are shockingly anti-American. One only has to read Oriana Fallaci to get a clear sense to what extent the country has morphed into an outpost of greater Eurabia (politically speaking, although the demographics in cities like Milan would indicate culturally also). Where you find virulent anti-Americanism there is always anti-semitism lurking in the wings.

The BBC and other European media play down any nasty business directed at Americans and Jews, for fear of casting the perps – Muslims and other “persecuted minorities” in a bad light. For example, on the night of September 3-4th of this year near Ramallah, Muslim youths attacked the Christian town of Taybeh. This attack followed upon the “honor” killing of one of their own Muslim young women who had become involved with a Christian business owner in Taybeh.

This appalling incident has received virtually zero coverage in the western media, despite the fact that such attacks on Christian Palestinians are becoming a major problem in this region. However if the roles had been reversed and Jews had attacked and ransacked a Muslim town, it would have been screamed from the font pages.

There is a strong anti-semitic undercurrent in Italian society and the disgusting comments of Guido Crosetto bare testament to that. On a more trivial, but no less serious note … the fans of the Rome based football team Lazio, make it a ritual to unfurl large flags bearing the swastika during games. It’s almost become “cool” in certain quarters.

I guess that the BBC didn’t cover this so as to not cast that notorious arab Guido Crosetto in a bad light, too? Since for all of the EU the total population that is not citizens only comes to “several tens of millions”, and this includes people from any non-EU country, I’d guess there’s more than a bit of anti-arab sentiment expressed in your invoking of “greater Eurabia”, Aidan.

I’m not sure why but people who vent against American Imperialism … are rarely questioned about their personal prejudices toward Americans as a people. But if you have reservations about the agenda of fundamentalist Muslim immigrants (even though arab leaders have made no secret about this agenda) – you are a hater of arabs by default. This concept of the “demographic Jihad” has long been in the works. Here is an excerpt from a speech at the U.N. by former Algerian President, Houari Boumedienne …

“One day millions of men will leave the southern hemisphere to go to the northern hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.”

I suppose that Muslim moderates who also have difficulties with the Islamist agenda in Europe are racist also.

I disagree – Jew York comes off as explicitly racist and ugly.

Eurabia derives not from a people, but from a geographic entity and refers to a demographic shift. I’ve seen Muslims using it in a humorous vein, they clearly aren’t offended.

Sensitive room tonight. Holy!

Well, I’m not Italian – but check out this quote from the author Oriana Fallaci who is Italian … oh, and also a left winger and an atheist … not an old world version Coulter :)

“Europe is no longer Europe, it is ‘Eurabia,’ a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invader has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty.”

*Apologies for the digression Henry.

Oriana Fallaci who is Italian … oh, and also a left winger and an atheist …

Yeah, just like Christopher Hitchens.

Good point Peter – I was wondering about the Merrill-Lynch angle also. Makes sense.

Matt, that isn’t my quote, it is Fallaci’s.

In fact, I don’t think Italy is being “taken over” in the grandiose manner in which you describe it, but I also don’t think that legitimate concerns about the subversion of democracy by any type of extremist entity makes a person a xenophobe. If it does, then Tony Blair is rapidly becoming a candidate. Labeling people really isn’t very helpful in a debate.

Peter, as with most prejudices I doubt if Crosetto has the first clue about the ratio of Jews to non-Jews in Merrill-Lynch. I have a bud on-line who says he worked for M.L. in NY back in 2001 and he disputes the Jewish conspiracy thesis.

Neil are you Matt?

Whats your take on the story?

I’m an Australian Neil. I thought Matt went over the top in attacking you – but I also thought the point he was making, which you misunderstood, was clear enough.Quoting Oriana Fallaci to get a sense of the Italian view of Islam, or indeed the reality of the situation, is a little like turning to Cheney for an objective opinion on Bush’s performance. I’m not sure that Fallaci is on the left (anymore; she certainly represents an extreme position. I was mocking you, but (I accept) a little unfairly. I’m sure you agree that the way you put the claim, that your bud disputes the Jewish conspiracy thesis, was unfortunate. It takes the idea that there is a Jewish conspiracy as something to be soberly assessed, rather than just laughed at.

I’m Jewish. If there’s a Jewish conspiracy, I want in.

Hey Neil – I’m quitting at this end. Late here. Appreciate your fair comment. Take care.

1. Azionisti not= employees. Azionisti are stakeholders. What rep. Crosetto, at present Mr. Berlusconi’s frontline man on financial themes and a listened-to counsellor, means, is that greedy jew bankers that own M.-L. and the like, are secretly after (northern)-Italian banks — and catholic conservative bankers (as the mention of freemasons makes clear).

2. Fallaci is a leftist somewhat like the present pope was a progressive theologian in his youth. It was long time ago.

3. To consider Fallaci a source of information on Italy or Europe is sort of taking Ann Coulter as an expert on American liberals.

Best wishes – ep

Although Fallaci is an atheist, she apparently thinks christianity is valuable because it can be used to support her rabid anti-islamism. I think “culturally christian” is the term she uses to describe herself.
I see the same attitudes in Denmark about the state church. It’s disgusting to a real christian – sorry if it sounds arrogant to call myself that.

Quoth the CT automat: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Goodness gracious, if my comment had been any more moderate, it would have been beige.

Henry himself is imagining a conspiracy: by the “western press” to do Bush’s will or look after the government’s interests.

Ah, so the “minor cottage industry” that Henry referred to was the western press? I thought he meant the likes of Instahack and Powertools.

The lack of media interest in this comment is a bit difficult to explain.

When that German SPD leader suggested that US investment banks pressing German industry for restructuring and job cuts were “locusts”, there was a barrage of suggestions that this was anti-semitic, even though he didn’t say anything with that implication at all. But then an Italian MP explicitly gives out the old Jews-and-Freemasons-run-global-finance line, and I had not heard of it until here on CT.

Btw, in the land of Propaganda 2 and the Banco Ambrosiano (both of which have been associated with Berlusconi’s cohorts), is it really surprising that there’s a rival international banking conspiracy being peddled, involving Jews and masons?

Ah yes, Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, that well-known Jewish banking house.

This reminds me of a former colleague, a Jew from Montreal, who was constantly complaining about the ethnic oppression he felt at our (historically rather WASPy) firm. So he moved on… to Davis Polk & Wardwell. Well, maybe it was Davidowicz Pollak & Warshovsky before they changed it… (My friend has since moved on again, though to a firm of similarly goyishe nomenclature. I should point out, perhaps, that he was joking about the oppression. In more serious moments, a number of observant Jews have told me they get less religion-related guff — e.g., for knocking off early on Fridays — at gentile shops than at traditionally Jewish firms.)

Anyway, of course ML’s shareholders are specifically Jews. They’re also specifically gentiles. Specifically, there are vast numbers of ML shareholders, presumably covering most if not all possible ethnic and religious bases, and none of them has control. It’s a big free float, and there are only two shareholderts big enough to get their names in the 2005 proxy statement. And those are State Street Bank, holding (surprise, surprise) as trustee for scads of other people, and Fidelity.

Still, it’s heartwarming to see that the old Jews & Freemasons meme has some life in it yet. Makes me feel all nostalgic. Malkin has written in defence of the internment of US citizens of Japanese ancestry during WWII; can a book from some star of the rightwing firmament explaining why Dreyfus really was guilty be far behind?

BTW, if any of you find yourselves in Castel Gandolfo, there is a goldsmith’s shop in the main street, on the right-hand side as you are facing Ratzinger’s summer pad. A few months back the goldsmith was displaying a beautiful signet ring set with the compass-and-square, which I thought rather cheeky — clearly he isn’t hoping on much trade from the Big House. Maybe the ring is still there. Have a look if you’re in the vicinity; certainly it’d be a more interesting souvenir than the plastic Pietàs and 3D pictures of Padre Pio infesting most of the other local shops.

“systematically ignore the far more blatant anti-Semitism of some of America’s purported allies in Europe”

Not to mention the anti-Semitism of the Right’s political base at home.

(“azionisti” is shareholders)

And I ask you, is it really a mere coincidence that the word “azionisti” contains “Zionist” right in the middle?

I don’t quite understand why anti-semitism card can only seem to be matched by another anti-semitism card, as if anti-semitism were some special, unique sin, worse that other forms of bigotry. As if the lesson of the holocaust were ‘must protect the Jews now’.

Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that there are no anti-semites among right-wingers whatsoever. So, then, what should we make of the recent comment by a Republican US congressman about responding to a hypothetical terrorist act on the US soil by dropping nuclear bomb on Mecca? How does it compare with the ‘hordes of Jewish and American freemasons’ crap by an (non-nuclear) Italian politician and the alleged (non-nuclear) left-wing anti-semitism?

I have always thought that some conservatives don’t realise Israel is full of Jews. Recall the Nixon-McGovern contest of 1972 the birth of neo-conservatism when Sidney Hook et. al. rushed to embrace Nixon a vicious personal anti-Semite. In Australia some of the current culture warriors of the right were a few years ago staunch defenders of a controversial novel that linked Jews to the Ukrainian famine and came close to excusing the Holocaust on this basis. Commentary (!) recently ran an article downplaying the anti-Semitism of the crusades.

What, you don’t see double-standard here, Ted? What about that recent controversy regarding the ‘Red Chinese’ taking over Unocal, similar controversy often expressed in similarly paranoid terms?

Given the extremely low (and extremely untypical) level of intellect shown by most of the commentators on this post, it backs up what was said in a previous post about not letting some posts have comments. It does seem that anything that touches, even tangentially, on ‘the Jews’ or Israel will always attract the attention of the mentally subnormal.

May I suggest that when anyone mentions the neologism ‘Eurabia’ this should be a sign to whoever runs the blog that things have gone far enough?

“May I suggest that when anyone mentions the neologism ‘Eurabia’ this should be a sign to whoever runs the blog that things have gone far enough?” – Brendan

And people on another post on this site are screaming bloody murder at the prospect of Blair limiting freedom of speech in the U.K.!! Apparently the wish to gag and label is alive and well on the left also. Just as well the likes of Coulter doesn’t comment in here … you’d all be calling the PC police!