Transatlantic Intelligencer

Rony Brauman on the ICC's Bashir Indictment

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has requested that the court issue an indictment against Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir for the crime of "genocide". What would be the consequences of such a move? According to Rony Brauman, a former president of the French NGO Médicins sans Frontières, further inflation of the concept of "genocide" as applied in international law -- and quite possibly a new round of violence in Darfur.

See my translation of Rony Brauman's "The ICC's Bashir Indictment: Law Against Peace" on World Politics Review here.

Wolfram Weimer on Obama and the Brandenburg Gate

Last week, Wolfram Weimer, the editor in chief of the German political monthly Cicero, published a stinging critique of Barack Obama's proposal to hold a campaign speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. "It shows a lack of respect to want to degrade the historical monuments of friendly countries into electoral campaign scenery," Weimer wrote, "... But [Obama] evidently does not think in terms of the long-term categories of real politics, but rather in terms of the short-term effects of political spectacle."

See my full translation of Wolfram Weimer's "Obama-Gate" on Pajamas Media here.

An Anti-Semitism Without Anti-Semites?

This is what German author Henryk Broder called the dominant form of anti-Semitism in Germany today in a statement before the Bundestag's Domestic Affairs Committee last month. The "modern" German anti-Semite, as described by Broder, "does not have a shaved head. He has good manners and often an academic title as well. He mourns for the Jews who died in the Holocaust. But at the same time he wonders why the survivors and their descendants have learned nothing from history and today treat another people as badly as they were once treated themselves.... [He] pays tribute to Jews who have been dead for 60 years, but he resents it when living Jews take measures to defend themselves."

See my full translation of Henryk Broder's "Anti-Semitism Without Anti-Semites" on Pajamas Media here.

Not-So-Young "Youth": More on the Attack in Paris's 19th Arrondissement

It turns out the "youngsters" involved in last month's brutal attack on a Jewish teenager in Paris's 19th arrondissement are apparently not so young after all. The principal suspect is 25-years-old -- and a corporal in the French air force. See my follow-up report on World Politics Review here.

The Weltwoche Dossier on Swiss Diplomacy and the FARC

The Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche has much more on the subject of "international mediation" in the Colombian hostage crisis and, in particular, the role of Swiss envoy Jean-Pierre Gontard. E-mails found on confiscated FARC computers strongly suggest that the supposedly "neutral" mediator was in fact colluding with the FARC leadership and may even have served as a money courier for the "narco-guerilla" (as author Alex Baur describes the organization).

See my English translations of Alex Baur's series of articles:

Helping the Hostage-Takers: Switzerland and the Reyes Computer Files

Calmy-Reys Willing Helper

The Secret File - Colombia: «Please Let Us Know What We Should Do»

Colombian Hostages: "France Played the Chávez Card"

Former French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal recently unleashed a polemic by noting that the French government played "no role whatsoever" in obtaining the freedom of Ingrid Betancourt and the other 14 hostages recently liberated in Colombia. But what exactly has been the effect of French diplomacy upon the Colombian hostage crisis and, more generally, on the conflict pitting the Colombian government against the rebel FARC? I spoke with Daniel Pécaut, one of France's leading authorities on Colombian politics, about these questions. "I don't think that France has contributed much to finding a political solution," he told me, "After all, the French government and Nicolas Sarkozy played the Chávez card." See the full interview on World Politics Review here.

"Gang Wars" Or Anti-Semitism?: The Attack in Paris's 19th Arrondissement

For the Paris District Attorney's office and certain Parisian editorial boards, it would seem that when anti-Semitic incidents occur in a series, this is supposed somehow to vitiate their anti-Semitic character. See my new article on World Politics Review here.

An "Independent" Al-Dura Commission?

Frances leading Jewish organization, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), is calling for the establishment of an independent investigative commission on the al-Dura affair. But how "independent" would a commission be that, according to the CRIF proposal, should be co-sponsored by none other than France 2, one of the principal actors in the affair? See my new article on Pajamas Media here.

New EU Deportation Directive Follows German Recipe

Conditions in American detention centers for illegal immigrants have been the subject of extensive media attention of late and even of a critical report by the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Conditions in European detention centers for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers, by contrast, have received less attention. But as Matthias Lehnert has shown in a recent article in the Berlin weekly Jungle World, the new EU "return" directive will practically guarantee that the most draconian conditions existing in the EU -- notably those obtaing in Germany -- will not only persist, but likely spread. See my translation of the Lehnert article on Pajamas Media here.

Sarko, A Friend of Israel?

In his speech to the Knesset on Monday, Nicolas Sarkozy pronounced himself to be a "friend of Israel" no less than fours times and described France as "Israel's Friend" another three times. But his remarks at a news conference the next day in Bethlehem hardly seemed friendly. See my new article on World Politics Review here.

Albanian Nationalist Politics in Macedonia

The German journalist Dirk Auer recently visited Tetovo, the "unofficial capital" of the Albanian-dominated northwestern part of Macedonia. His report in the Berlin weekly Jungle World sheds light on what one might call the "monomania" of ethnic national politics, despite any apparent ideological differences between rival nationalist parties. See my translation on World Politics Review here.

Al-Dura Affair: Reporters Without Borders Against Freedom of Speech

It might seem odd to find the head of an NGO ostensibly devoted to defending freedom of speech signing a petition whose only point could be to suppress it. But when one knows more about Reporters Without Borders, it turns out not to be so odd after all. See my new article on Pajamas Media here.

"A Thin Line Separates Islamism and Nazism": An Interview with Boualem Sansal

A former official in the Algerian civil service and the author of four previous novels, the Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal has recently published a new book titled Le village de l'Allemand: "The German's Village." Via the reflections of two brothers of Algerian origin living in the Parisian banlieues, it tells the story of the brothers' father: Hans Schiller, a hero of the Algerian war of independence as a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN) -- and, as so happens, before that an officer in the dreaded Nazi paramilitary force, the SS. For Boualem Sansal, "the line separating Islamism from Nazism is a thin one." Grégoire Leménager spoke with him for the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur. See my abridged translation of the interview on World Politics Review here.

Friends No More: German Soccer Fans and Euro 2008

The motto of the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany was The world is our guest, youre staying with friends [Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden]. Two years later, however, the prospects of a good showing by the German national team in the European soccer championships appear to have inspired anything but friendly sentiments among some German soccer fans. See my new article on Pajamas Media here.

Who is Abu Omar? Extracts from the Italian Police Surveillance Tapes

Osama Mostafa Hassan Nasr, better known as "Abu Omar", is the Egyptian cleric who was allegedly kidnapped in Milan in 2003 as part of the CIA "extraordinary renditions" program. Starting in 2002, Abu Omar was under intensive surveillance by the Italian police. Examination of the transcripts of his recorded conversations provides a clearer idea of just what he was up to before he went missing and why Italian authorities have issued a warrant for his arrest. The charge: involvement in international terrorism. See my new report with extensive translated excerpts from the Italian surveillance tapes on World Politics Review here.