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Those angry at Rushdie's stabbing have been missing in action over a far bigger threat to our freedom
Cook, Jonathan
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2022-08-18/rushdie-stabbing-freedom-assange/Date Written: 2022-08-16 Publisher: Mint Press Year Published: 2022 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX24699 The Satanic Verses novelist is championed by western liberals not because he has bravely articulated difficult truths but because of who his enemies are. Abstract: - Excerpt: Those elites have evaded scrutiny precisely because they are so successful at vilifying and eliminating anyone who seeks to hold them to account. Like Julian Assange. If you think Assange brought trouble upon himself, unlike Rushdie, who is simply a hapless victim caught in the crossfire of a menacing 'clash of civilizations' it is because you have been trained - through your consumption of establishment media - into making that entirely unfounded distinction. And those training you through their dominant narratives are not a disinterested party, but the very actors who have most to lose should you arrive at a different conclusion. In Assange’s case, there has been an endless stream of lies and misdirections that I and many others have been trying to highlight on our marginal platforms before we are algorithmed into oblivion by Google and Facebook, the richest corporations on the planet. ... As Melzer pointed out at length in his recent book, the Swedish authorities knew from the outset that Assange had no case to answer on sex allegations they had no intention of ever investigating. But they made a pretence of pursuing him anyway (and left the threat of onward extradition to the US hanging over his head) to make sure he lost public sympathy and looked like a fugitive from justice. Anyone who writes about Assange knows only too well the army of social media users adamant that Assange was charged with rape, or that he refused to be interviewed by Swedish prosecutors, or that he skipped bail, or that he colluded with Trump, or that he recklessly published classified documents unedited, or that he endangered the lives of informers and agents. None of that is true - nor, more significantly, is it relevant to the case the US, aided by the UK government, is advancing against Assange through the British courts to lock him up for the rest of his life. For Assange, the West’s much vaunted principle of free speech is nothing more than a hollow joke. Subject Headings |