Below is a selection of recent letters to the WSWS .
Excellent article on the British media’s role in whipping up racist violence (18 August, Steve James). As a Glasgow resident, I’ve read some of the disgusting “journalism” on the asylum-seekers in our city. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement in your article that major newspapers are articulating the scapegoating policies of national and local government in Britain. The Labour leader of Glasgow city council has recently branded liberal commentators as “middle class whingers” for questioning the treatment of refugees under Labour. There was no such condemnation of the racist diatribes of middle class journalists in the pro-Labour tabloid, the Daily Record.
The rhetoric of mainstream politicians and the mass media—sounding ever more like the rantings of the fascist British National Party—has given confidence to a minority of street thugs to openly vent their hatred against oppressed people exercising a democratic right to asylum. In such an environment it is vital that the WSWS provides its accurate coverage of events.
Thank you,
NC
18 August 2001
Dear Marianne Arens,
I have read your article about the xenophobic referendum in Switzerland [5 October 2000]. Let me tell you that is a very good article, and I have sent it to a few friends of mine, who do not believe me when I tell them how things are in reality for foreigners living in Switzerland.
I am a Colombian woman married to a man from the Netherlands. We were threatened with murder in Colombia and had to escape in five days. At that precise moment, a Swiss company offered a job to my husband and we came to Switzerland.
Living in Colombia, I thought that there could not be anything worse than what I faced in my country. What a surprise it was when I came to Switzerland and was forced to suffer things I never had to experience in Colombia.
In my country I worked for a big multinational as an engineer and had a good standard of living. When we came here we had to live in a dirty camp filled with mice, rats, filth and many other things that I cannot even explain or understand. We were subjected to abuses that you could not believe.
My husband worked a whole year without a single day off. We were not able to go back to Colombia and were forced to stay here in Switzerland. I attended a German school to learn the language, which my husband paid for. Even so, one day, my teacher told me that we foreigners were stealing the jobs of the Swiss people. She said we should not have the same rights as the Swiss and were responsible for crime and drugs. I have never worked in Switzerland and I am not taking advantage of the social security system here. She made me feel like human trash.
It is up to you, people of the press, to make your voice and the voice of the foreign people living in Switzerland heard. With this kind of information you can make the whole world know the situation here, and maybe push for a change in attitude in the future.
With regards,
AL
19 August 2001
To the Editor,
In case you missed it, I’d like to point out a revolting essay that was published this week by the syndicated US right-wing columnist, George F. Will. He essentially calls for Israel to declare all-out war against the Palestinians and, among other things, to “destroy ... physical infrastructure useful to the Palestinian Authority, including all newspaper and broadcasting facilities.”
Earlier today, I expressed my disgust with Will’s remarks to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which presumably would tally the body count if Israel were to heed Will’s call for violence. Perhaps you can bring this matter to the attention of your readers.
Sincerely,
DB
United States
18 August 2001
Dear publisher,
I must say that this is one of the most truthful news web sites that I have ever come across on the net. I would like to thank you for your efforts in providing and sustaining such a news web site, in particular knowing how biased the news providers have come to be.
18 August 2001