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Morocco: Telecoms, The Blogging Grand Prix, and Reactions to Salman Rushdie's Knighthood

Hamza Daoui · 11:53 · Middle East & North Africa , South Asia

lingua → pt

Blogging has indeed become a popular Moroccan pastime, with new blogs cropping up every day. Pointblog.com (fr), a self-described magazine of blogging, reports on the first Grand Prix des Blogs:”

Une centaine de blogueurs marocains a participé au 1 er GrandPrix des Blogs organisé par le portail Bayn. Khadija Housni, une enseignante à la retraite a remporté la compétition. Tandis qu’un blog consacré à l’environnement gagnait le prix des internautes. Ce portail serait la première plateforme marocaine avec 5 000 blogs hébergés.

A hundred Moroccan bloggers took part in the first Grand of Blogs organized by Bayn. Khadija Housni, a retired teacher, won the competition, while a blog devoted to the environment won the prize of the internet surfers. This portal is the first Moroccan platform with 5,000 blogs registered.

Maroc IT Blog reports that broadband usage in Morocco is increasing as well:

The latest research reports indicate broadband subscription worldwide has crossed the 300 Million mark, with the US and China leading the pack. France and South Korea continue to show sustained growth. In Morocco, broadband subscription growth is phenomenal, approaching the half a million mark, that’s doubling the number of subscribers in less than two years. Fiber To The Home (FTTH) penetration is proceeding at a fast clip in Asia and Europe as services including VOIP, IPTV, Gaming, and HDTV continue driving bandwidth demand.

While blogging and broadband use may be on the rise, however, A Moro in America tells us that microfinance in Morocco is in jeopardy:

Microfinance has proven to be a great success in Morocco and the latter became one of the pioneers of this poverty alleviating concept. Microfinance’s popularity has surged when the Nobel prize was awarded to a Bengali economist who helped the extremely poor farmers.Commercial banks hate the poor as a customer because they are not a good candidate for a loan due to the high risk of default. Microfinance has been the baby of non-profit organizations .Commercial banking and Microfinance are two things that have never been able to criss-cross in the past but things seem to be on the verge of a break-up with that tradition.

Moving on to world news, Najlae (fr) is one of few Moroccan bloggers to even mention the news of Salman Rushdie’s knighthood. She says:

L’anoblissement samedi de Salman Rushdie par la reine d’Angleterre a sans surprise été suivi de réactions de par le monde contre ce nouveau “témoignage d’hostilité occidental” à l’Islam. Mais l’info était bien moins intéressante que la décision d’une poignée de Oulémas du Pakistan de donner à Ben Laden le titre de “saif al islam” سيف الإسلام en tant que Khalid Ibn Al Walid des temps modernes. Le plus dangeureux, comme le souligne Taoufik Bouachrine, c’est le fait de conférer une légitimité aux actes du cerveau d’Al Qaïda en le présentant comme un “résistant” devant les “ennemis” de la religion. J’ai beau essayer de comprendre comment ces Oulémas réfléchissent. Mais il est clair qu’ils n’ont vraiment, mais alors là vraiment pas conscience de la portée de leurs décisions.

The knighting on Saturday of Salman Rushdie by the Queen of England was unsurprisingly followed by reactions all over the world against this new “Western testimony of hostility” to Islam. But this information was much less interesting than the decision of a group of Oulemas* of Pakistan to give Bin Laden the title of “sword of Islam” like the Khalid Ibn Al Walid of modern times. The most dangerous, as Taoufik Bouachrine notes, is the fact that conferring a legitimacy on the acts of Al Qaeda’s mastermind by presenting him as a “resistant” before the “enemies” of the religion. I try in vain to understand how those Oulemas think. But it is clear that they are not really conscious of the impact of their decisions.

Another blogger with a stronger opinion on Salman Rushdie’s knighthood is Actual digital (es):

!Es el humor británico! No es nada más que otra expresión al estilo que caracteriza a ese pueblo y me refiero a la decisión de la Reina Isabel II junto a su Gobierno: otorgar el Honor Británico a un escritor que constantemente está protegido por Scotlandiard, y que probablemente con la obtención de esta nueva y prestigiosa destinción, va a necesitar más protección después del galardón. ¿Qué consideración tiene el Gobierno británico hacia el mundo musulmán? Me parece, cero o ninguna. La decisión es un insulto gratuito y inútil, sin decir más.Honorar al escritor de “Los versos satánicos”, Salman Rushdie en estos turbulentos tiempos en los que vivimos abre una interrogación difícil, a la cual no se pueden encontrar respuestas.

It’s pure British humor! It’s just another expression of the behavior that characterizes Brits. I’m talking about the decision of Queen Elizabeth II, along with her government, to grant the British honor of knighthood to a writer who is constantly protected by Scotland Yard, and who probably, by the obtaining this new and prestigious distinction, is going to need more protection than ever. What discretion does the British Government show toward the Muslim world? It seems to me, none at all. The decision is a gratuitous and useless insult, without saying more. To honor the writer of “Satanic Verses”, Salman Rushdie, in these turbulent times in which we live opens a difficult series of questions, to which answers cannot be found.

Creative Commons Licensed photo by mtkr

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Korea: 6.25

Hyejin Kim · 11:37 · East Asia

lingua → pt · jp · bn · zht · zhs

It was 6.25, the 27th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The day was quiet. Very few special events compared to the past. How do Korean bloggers consider the Korean War? They expressed what this date means to them in the past and at the present.

Dolstone2002:

어렸을때 매년 이맘때면 반공표어 만들고 반공 포스터 만들고 이런 것들 하면서 ‘아아 잊으랴, 어찌 우리 이날을-조국의 원수들이 짓밟아 오던날을-‘이런 노래를 불렀던 기억이 나는군요.
지금에야 그 때 그렇게 북괴를 욕하도록 교육받은게 자신의 권력을 유지하기 위한 독재자들의 수단이자 정책의 일환이었다는 것을 알게 되었고, 단순히 우리편 vs 나쁜편의 싸움이 아닌 세계열강의 틈바구니 속에서 힘없는 우리 민족이 어떻게 괴로움과 아픔을 겪을 수밖에 없었는지도 알게 되었습니다. 하지만 분명한 건 오늘 우리가 이렇게 풍요로운 삶을 영위할 수 있는 것은 그때 이 땅에 찬란한 생명을 흩뿌렸던 분들의 피와 땀이 있었기 때문일 것입니다. 우리 후손들을 위하여 형제들에게 총부리를 겨누어야 했던 그분들의 눈물을 절대 잊지 않겠습니다.

About this time every year when I was a kid, I remember that I made anticommunist slogans and posters, and sang a song, ‘ah, ah, how can we forget this time-the day when the enemies of our country trampled on us.
Now, I know the reason why we were educated to blame the northern part so much was a means and policy that dictators made in order to keep their own authority. Now I know the war was not just about fights between our side vs bad side, but how much we suffered and went through pain between the world powers.
But one thing for sure is that we can have affluent lives today due to people who distributed their own blood and sweat across this land at that time. We will not forget their tears through which they had to aim their guns at their own brothers and sister.

Musecine:

세월이 갈 수록 잊혀지는게 당연한듯 오늘의 달력을 보고서야 오늘이 6.25인줄 알았다.
국민학교를 다닐때 80년대 중후반이었으니 그 때는 아마 방공의 시절이었던것 같다.
학교에서 단체관람으로 반,방공영화를 보여주고 단지 영화라는 신기한 매체를 본다는 생각으로 재밌고 멋지다라는 생각뿐이 없었던 기억이지만….
초,중,교 교가보다 어릴적 익혀들은 동요보다 내 귓가에 또렷하게 남아있는 노래가 바로 이 6.25 노래이다.

It would be natural to forget when the time goes by. On checking the calendar, I knew today is 6.25. My primary school was in the middle and late 1980s. It was the anticommunist period. We watched anticommunist movies at school. I remember at that time I was just excited to watch the fascinating medium, movies at that time. Rather than primary and secondary school songs, and any other children’s songs, this 6.25 song is still more strongly hovering around the rims of my ears.

아아 잊으랴 어찌 우리 이 날을
조국의 원수들이 짓밟아 오던 날을
맨 주먹 붉은 피로 원수를 막아 내어
발을 굴러 땅을 치며 울분에 떤 날을
이제야 갚으리 그 날의 원수를
쫓기는 적의 무리 쫓고 또 쫓아
원수의 하나까지 쳐서 무찔러
이제야 빛내리 이 나라 이겨레

Ah, ah, how can we forget this time

The day when the enemies of our country trampled on us

With bare fist and red blood, we blocked our enemies.

The days we stamped our feet on the earth and shook our bodies with anger.

Now we’ll pay back to the enemies at that time.

Chasing after our enemies on and on

Smashing up every one of our enemies

Now we will bring glory to this nation and our brethren.

이 노래를 처음 배울때의 광경이 아직도 눈앞에 선 하다.
국민학교 2학년때 담임선생님께서 칠판의 오른쪽 하단에 며칠동안 적어 놓으셨던 그 노래.
당시엔 북한이라면 다 나쁜놈들이고 똘이장군에서 나왔던것 처럼 붉은 색의 살결에 돼지같은 얼굴인줄만 알았던 시절에 상태 안 좋은 영화관에서 보는 영상에서의 우리 국군들의 죽음과 우리나라 주민들의 눈물이 눈에 겹치면서 장엄한 선율에 맘을 뺏겨버린 그 노래. 어린나이에도 노래를 읖조리며 눈물을 흘리게 했던 그 노래가 바로 6.25노래이다.
저 노래가 언제, 누구에 의해서 만들어졌는지는 몰라도 노래가사는 멸공의 시대에 만들어 진듯하다.

다시는 부르고 싶지 않은 노래와 우리 후손들에게 들려주고 싶지 않은 노래 일 순위가 저 노래가 아닐지…

I still remember the time when I learned this song the first time. In the second grade, a teacher wrote down these lyrics on the right side of the blackboard and kept them for several days. At that time, North Koreans were all bastards. Like Ddol-i Chang-gun (editor: one of the most popular animations in the 1980s. A boy beats all bad North Koreans and Kim Il-sung and releases nice people from the monsters), North Koreans had all red faces with the shape of pigs. In the theater, the poor-quality screen showed the death of our soldiers and tears of our people, and the background song was always this song. Even in that age, I cried following the lyrics. It was the 6.25 song that made me cry.
I don’t know when and by whom the song was made. Maybe it was made in the period of ‘Defeat Communism.’

It would be the first song which I don’t want to sing any more and don’t want to let our descendants sing this.

bklove:

까마득히 몰랐는데, 인어님의 닉네임을 보고 알게되었습니다. 오늘은 한국전쟁 발발 57년이 지난 하루였군요. ‘반공 교육'을 강조하던 때에는 무척이나 많은 이야기가 오고간 하루였던거 같은데… 평화모드라서일까요? 생각외로 조용하게 지나가는 하루군요.

I was not aware of what today was until I saw a blogger’s post. It was the 57th anniversary of the Korea War. I remember the time when anticommunist education was emphasized. There were so many events…Maybe it is a ‘peace mode’ now? Compared to the past, it has been a quiet day.

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China: Boycotting Beijing Olympics? They have ill intentions.

Jacky · 06:10 · East Asia

lingua → fr · zht · zhs · es

From Mia Farrow to François Bayrou to US Congressmen, every news or report about boycotting Beijing Olympics has provoked rounds of anger from China's netizens.

In a widely cross-posted blog post Boycotting Olympic: A farce doomed to failure, Wang Chong, a political commentor, grouped the boycotting Beijing Olympics advocators into three categories.

第一，借奥运说事达到个人目的

First, those who use Olympics to get their ends.

Wang Chong believed François Bayrou had his hidden agenda when he advocated boycotting Beijing Olympics. François Bayrou wanted to take advantage from this topic to campaign for votes.

第二，来自反华的右翼分子。

Second, those right-wingers who are anti-China, such as Shintaro Ishihara from Japan.

第三，一些非政府组织和右翼小报。

Third, some NGO and Right-wing tabloid. For example, RFA and the Washington Times

任何抵制北京奥运的言行都将注定没有市场，注定失败。

Any words and deeds of boycotting the Beijing Olympics will have no market and will be doomed to failure.

In response to US Congress raps China over Darfur, blogger Yingzi wrote Darfur problem exposes the selfish American hegemony.

这是怎么回事？简直离谱至极啊。这关你们美国人屁事啊。

What is this all about? It's going too far. It's none of your American business.

…尽管言论荒唐，却能反映出他们内心的秘密。

…Despite the absurd remarks, it can reflect their inner secret.

正是因为中国经济迅速发展，中国的崛起让他们感到害怕了。

It is because of China's rapid economic development. China's rise frightens them.

在这次事件中，达尔富尔地区爆发了内战，迫使西方石油公司纷纷撤退，而中国公司却趁机进入获取石油资源的进口。这就让美国人感到不爽和恐惧了。一些美国人心中不满，就要找个机会来发泄咯。

In this case, a civil war broke out in the Darfur region, it has made the Western oil companies withdraw, while Chinese companies have seized the opportunity to enter and import the oil. This makes the Americans feel bad and they are alarmed. Some Americans are resentful, so they must find an opportunity to vent their anger.

…

其实根本原因就是，美国人自己的利益受到损害，而中国却能从中得到发展，美国人眼红了，更重要是美国人害怕我们中国的强大，怕他们的老大地位不保啊。

…

In fact, the main reason is that American's own interests are damaged, but China is able to benefit. The Americans are jealous. More importantly, Americans are afraid of a strong China. They worry that they will lose their leading position (in the world).

ShiShao believed that the US is playing a political game.

近年，中国在非洲的影响力在不断增大。在之前，存在于非洲的势力主要是以法国为首的欧洲和美国。选现在，西方认为中国在非洲的存在已经影响到这些国家的利益在非洲的存在。他们于是对中国”另眼相待”了。

In recent years, China's influence in Africa has kept increasing. Previously, French-led Europe and the US are the main powers in Africa. But, now, the West consider China's presence in Africa has affected the interests of their countries. So they view China ”in a new light.”

…
美国和欧洲固守着”零和”的游戏规则，认为当有一方的利益增大之时，另一方必然会减少。他们认为中国在非洲影响增大会损害到他们的利益，于是极力排挤中国在非洲的存在。其实，这中思想可以休矣。

The United States and Europe think it is a zero-sum game. They believe if one party's interests are increasing, the other party's interests are bound to decrease. They think that China's increasing influence in Africa would be damaging to their interests, so they are crowding out the Chinese presence in Africa. In fact, it is time to stop thinking in this way.

…西方国家的利益依然可以在非洲这个正在增大发展的空间的保持并不断扩大。这需要中国、美国及世界上所有国家的努力一起来消除非洲的贫穷、落后，让非洲发展起来，让大家达到”共赢”局面，这才是正确的选择。

…Western countries' interests in Africa can still maintain and grow in this continually developing space. It needs China, the US and all the countries of the world to work together to eradicate poverty in Africa and to develop Africa, so that we can have a “win-win” situation. This is the correct choice.

John Zhou had a similar opinion. He wrote

我的感觉是西方一些势力会利用一切机会，遏制正在崛起的中国。

My feeling is that some Western powers will use every opportunity to contain a rising China.

But there is a rare voice in this post's comment. An anonym commented,

lz已经被中共洗脑了,只要外国和中国过不去,lz就认为是西方在遏制中国崛起,但是lz知道因为达富尔问题已经有几十万的难民和成千上万的死亡吗?看来lz真该到难民营去住几天.
中国因为自己的石油利益想苏丹政府提供军火,直接导致了问题的严重化,这是应该谴责的

The author has been brainwashed by the Chinese Communists Party. Once foreign countries are making troubles to China, the author consider that they are trying to contain the rise of China. But does the author know that the Darfur crisis has made tens of thousands of refugees and tens of thousands of deaths? Looks like the author needs stay in the refugee camp for a few days.
China provide the Sudanese government weaphons for its interests of oil. This has worsened the problem. This should be condemned.

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Taiwan: Fifth Day Festival

I-fan Lin · 05:04 · Taiwan (ROC)

lingua → es · pt · zht · zhs

(photo courtesy of judie)

Fifth Day Festival is another name for the Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival because it is May fifth in the lunar calendar (June 19th this year).

There are different ways to interpret the festival's cultural events we hold. The ‘traditional' interpretation is to commemorate a Chinese poet Qu Yuan. The other interpretation from some older traditions is to prevent diseases and drowning in summer.

Either way, people are more interested in seeing dragon boat competitions and eating zongzi.

There are several dragon boat competitions in Taiwan, but the oldest one is in Yi-Lan (for more than 170 years). In this competition, there are only two teams. No judge, no time constraints–people can keep racing until one team admits their failure. Another characteristic of their dragon boat competition is standing on the boat and rowing.

Although there are many dragon boat competitions (some people are from other countries), there is only one place where the craftsmen make dragon boats by hand. Most boats people use now are made of fiberglass.

In addition to rowing or watching people rowing the dragon boats, how about trying an egg-standing game? And then, zongzi are ready!

Although Taiwan is not big, we have different kinds of zongzi in different areas. In northern Taiwan, people fry the rice with meat first and then steam it. In southern Taiwan, people put rice and other food together and boil it. In the Hakka community, people have another kind of zongzi. They grind the rice first and make rice loaf. After adding other food, they steam it. All of them are salty. There is another dessert-like zongzi with sweet bean paste inside. While other kinds of zongzi are eaten when they are hot, this kind of zongzi is eaten when cold and with honey or sugar. Smart-apple has described different kinds of zongzi. Arkun also demonstrated how her aunt made a zongzi in 48 seconds and made dozens of them!

zongzi by PipperL

(photo courtesy of PipperL)

While enjoying the food, people also like to argue about which kind of zongzi is more delicious. In Yogurt's family:

大家伙各吃著喜愛的粽子，配著茶喝著可樂又是一番抬槓。媽媽說：「水煮粽子，肉和米的味道都跑到水裡，整顆粽子都失甜了。」嫂嫂說：「喔！才不會！把糯米炒的油膩膩，多不健康啊」這時候素來疼老婆的大哥忽然說：「不要比了！怎麼說人家她們南部粽才是正統！」大家狐疑的看著吃著滿口北粽，心滿意足在享受美味的大哥，不明白超有堅持的他怎麼會為美色放棄美食？沒想到他慢條斯理的說：「具歷史記載，屈原吃的就是南部粽。」「啊~~為什麼？」「道理很簡單啊！屈原吃的不就是拋入水裡粽子嗎？所以怎麼說人家南部粽放進水煮是歷史傳下來的，當然是正統囉！」他吞下他愛吃的粽子後說：「我們北部粽是放在岸上祭拜，還沒丟到水裡的粽子，屈原吃的才是端午節的王道。所以，王道歸她們，但是我跟屈原不一樣，不喜歡在水裡吃粽子，我還是喜歡吃這種還沒下水拜屈原的這種。」大家恍然大悟的哄堂大笑，又是一個有趣的端午節！

We ate our favorite zongzi (different kinds) with tea and coke and chatted. Mom said, ‘boiled zongzi has less flavor because the flavor of meat and rice all goes to water.' My sister in law said, ‘ oh, it is not like what you said. Fried rice is so fatty and not healthy.' My brother, who loves his wife so much, said, ‘we do not need to argue about this! I say their southern zongzi (boiled) is more orthodox!' We looked at my brother suspiciously because he was eating the northern zongzi with satisfaction. Why did he give up delicious food because of a pretty woman? He reasoned, ‘based on the history,what Qu Yuan ate is southern zongzi.' ‘Why?' ‘It's simple! The zongzi Qu Yuan ate is in the water, so I said boiled zongzi is orthodox. Although their zongzi is orthodox, I am not Qu Yuan, and I do not like zongzi in the water. I like this kind of zongzi which has not been thrown into the water.' All of us understood what he meant and we laughed happily. This was another interesting Duanwu Festival.

This post is brought to you by the Global Voices Chinese (traditional and simplified) team of GV Lingua. Lingua seeks to amplify global voices in languages other than English through the help of volunteer translators. If you would like to contribute as a volunteer and join the GV in Chinese team, please visit our site:

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Russia: “Completely Different Other Russias”

Veronica Khokhlova · 01:03 · Eastern & Central Europe

Riot police just off Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow during the June 11 Dissenters' March - photo by LJ user msmetana

On Dec. 6, 2006, Maria Gaidar, leader of the Da! (”Yes!”) youth movement and daughter of former acting premier Yegor Gaidar, and Ilya Yashin, leader of the youth wing of Grigory Yavlinsky's Yabloko party, featured in a Global Voices translation that dealt with their intrepid attempt to protest a bill that abolished minimum voter turnout (20 percent) for all elections in Russia: they had spent an hour and a half suspended on ropes from a Moscow bridge facing the Kremlin, flying a 10-meter banner that said: “GIVE THE ELECTION BACK TO THE PEOPLE, BASTARDS!”

Earlier this month, following the June 11 Dissenters' March in Moscow, both Gaidar and Yashin briefly found themselves in the Russian blogosphere's spotlight again - and here's why.

There was no police “overreaction” during the opposition's latest Dissenters' March in Russia's capital - possibly, because the organizers decided not to follow up the rally on Pushkinskaya Square with the actual marching. Everyone made their speeches - or so it seemed, until the blogosphere offered a not-so-pleasant revelation: Maria Gaidar was prevented from addressing the crowd by, allegedly, Eduard Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) and Garry Kasparov's close ally in the Other Russia anti-government coalition.

Ilya Yashin (LJ user yashin) happened to be among the first whistleblowers when he wrote this (RUS) on his blog on June 12:

Attended the Dissenters' March yesterday.

To be honest, I'm not very happy. Too many hammers and sickles, too many [Russian Imperial flags], too many fervent “Long live Russia” chants… Some guy was saying from the stage that “democracy ended in 1991″ - and was booed by part of the crowd. And when the [National Bolsheviks] started yelling “Russia is all, the rest is nothing,” my mood was ruined completely.

But I do not regret having attended. And I'll come next time, too. First, because it's stifling in the country, and the Dissenters' March has the spirit of freedom. Second, after the April beatings it was impossible not to come.

I'd like to say a few words about the following.

[Maria Gaidar] was supposed to speak at yesterday's rally. Half an hour before the beginning, both she and I were offered to say something by the organizers. But Eduard Limonov learned about it and issued an ultimatum: if they let Mashka speak, he's leaving. The organizers apologized to Gaidar and she ended up without an opportunity to make an address.

So here goes. Eduard Veniaminovich, you… how to say this politely?.. you are taking too much upon yourself.

Have you forgotten what you were yesterday? Have you forgotten about Stalin-Beriya-Gulag? About how you were calling Yeltsin to initiate bloodshed in Chechnya? About how you demanded the dispersal of anti-war rallies of the 1990s?

We are going against our principles after this, when we stand next to you on stage and tolerate your emblems, which imitate Hitler's banners.

And you should appreciate it that many people believe that you really do not subscribe to your past cannibalistic convictions anymore.

Respect the people, Eduard Veniaminovich.

Maria Gaidar (LJ user m_gaidar) offered her perspective (RUS) on the incident on June 13:

I feel obliged to comment on the situation, since a scandal has broken out because of my failure to speak at the Dissenters' March.

Before the rally, Aleksandr Osovtsev came up to me and suggested that I speak. I agreed. About five minutes before the rally began, he apologized and said that Limonov is categorically against my address, that he had threatened to leave.

I am not part of the Other Russia, nor was I one of the organizers of this rally, and I think that the organizers have the right to decide who will speak and who won't. I didn't want to [make this incident public] because I knew that everyone would immediately attack the Other Russia and the Dissenters' Marches. That's why I only told several people about it, those I came there with, those who knew that I was to speak at the rally. And I asked not to spread this information…

It's a pity that this ugly episode has become public.

I, like many of you, am not comfortable with Limonov. I'm not comfortable with their emblem, with their rhetoric. I'm not comfortable when those on stage say that democracy ended in 1991 and yell that “Russia is all, the rest is nothing.” The only reason I try to ignore this is because there are real political prisoners in the ranks of NBP. These people are in jail for this slogan: “Respect our Constitution.”

The traditional myth circulated by the [National Bolsheviks] is that [they] are the vanguard of the marches. We held a rally two years ago, also on June 12. There was no Limonov there - but there were as many people (or even more). I am absolutely convinced that the main body of the marches is made up of the liberal-democratic public that has to make quite an effort to tolerate Limonov.

But! Right now, the Dissenters' March is the main oppositional platform. And not because Limonov and NBP are there, but because people who wish to express their protest come there - and no one except the organizers of the marches offers them such an opportunity. If you want to organize the Dissenters' Marches without Limonov - just do it.

The Dissenters' Marches are not controlled by the Kremlin, at least. That's why I suggest that we, first of all, fight against Putin's bloody regime (TM), and not against Limonov, no matter what he does.

[…]

Yashin posted another comment (RUS) on the situation, also on June 13:

A few more words on yesterday's discussion on Limonov. Please believe me, I'm not trying to exacerbate the contradictions, but there are important issues that shouldn't be ignored.

So here. I ran into a couple of comments by NBP activists regarding the situation.

New York-based (!) [National Bolshevik] Sasha Lenina writes:

[National Bolsheviks] are not renouncing any of their views. Those who carried out the “shock therapy” are in for “stalin, beriya, gulag.” Ichkeriya will be cleansed according to Beriya's method.

The whole active of the marches are the [National Bolsheviks]. You can dislike Limonov. And it's natural that your associates (the liberal part of the Other Russia, the real cannibals) are the ones who can't stand him. But do they really have a choice?

And Moscow-based [National Bolshevik] Pavel Zherebin continues his colleague's thought:

It's simple: you keep silent about Yeltsin, your favorite USA and “Israel,” about the Russian “fascism,” about your support of gay pride parades, about the totalitarian [Soviet state], about the fight against international terrorism, about Lukashenko, etc. Then we'll keep from voicing our opinions on these issues, too, and will concentrate on the criticism of Putin's regime.

The rest of it we'll discuss in the Parliament of the Free Other Russia.

[…] [Let the likes of Maria Gaidar] act in “Israel.” It's Russia here, even though it's [the Other Russia].

Listen to me carefully, friends.

I've been involved in politics since 2000, joined Yabloko in 2001. In these seven years, I've never renounced a single slogan of mine. All that I said, all that I believed in seven years ago is still relevant for me today.

And you, [National Bolsheviks], have gone a long way during this time. You've publicly renounced the cannibalistic slogans, you've changed your program and are using my - liberal - slogans.

Your comrades are behind bars not for their “Stalin-Beriya-Gulag” - but for [Andrei Sakharov]'s “Respect the Constitution” addressed to the presidential administration. And through this your comrades have earned everyone's respect.

Today you declare your support for the fight for the free election, for independent courts and against censorship of the mass media.

First of all, I'd like to remind you that all these values were born thanks to the ideologues of the liberal movement, which I'm honored to belong to. Today, all the adequate ideological movements (conservatives, social democrats, and all the rest) accept these values as the fundamental ones. And it is these values that have earned the liberal ideology its right to exist and a place in history. And you have to respect this.

Second, you can't fight for civil rights and freedoms while also keeping your “traditional” National Bolshevik convictions. It's impossible to simultaneously “torture and hang, hang and torture” and demand fair elections to the independent parliament. […]

I find it offensive to hear slogans like “Russia is all, the rest is nothing” at a rally I'm taking part in (this is how it was at the latest March). This isn't patriotism, it's pure Nazism. Patriotism is the love for your country and respect for other countries and cultures. Nazism is the propaganda of the national superiority and contempt for those around you.

And one more thing. It's hard to accuse me of being [against Limonov]. You know that I've taken part in rallies to support NBP's political prisoners more than once, and I wrote letters to judges, and I helped your lawyers […]. I really respect many [National Bolsheviks] and consider them decent people, and some - real heroes.

But you'll have to renounce all the ugly stuff that you propagated in 1990s. Otherwise, guys, we have completely different other Russias with you.

Soon after Yashin blogged about his views, members of the “adult wing” of Yabloko spoke against any kind of alliance with the Other Russia and announced their intention to nominate Grigory Yavlinsky as their 2008 presidential candidate - a move that, among other things, further emphasized the Russian opposition's famous lack of unity.

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