From Ireland (via Kim du Toit):
ON THE one hand, I expected some uproar in Ireland over my piece about Ethiopia on July 10. But there really wasn't any. On the other, I didn't expect an attempt to jail me by a state-sponsored body. Yet Denise Charlton, of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, has urged An Garda Siochana to investigate me under a special law, by which I could be tried and imprisoned for two years without even the benefit of a jury."Garda" is "guard" in Gaelic, obviously a loan word. An Garda Siochana is "The Peace Guard," that is, the police.
His competitors at Metro magazine are trying to get him hanged.
METRO e-mailed me the following questions. "Do you agree with the charges levelled against you by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (namely that the article can be seen as inspiring racial hatred?) Why/why not?No pressure!
"2. Do you agree that your article could be misunderstood in some quarters? If so then what is the main idea of it and what was it really trying to say?
"3. Do you agree that some of the statements you made could be offensive to people from Africa who live in Ireland? Did you think about them when writing the piece?
"4. It's definately (sic) not the first time that your writing offended somebody. Can you recall any other instances/ official complaints/death threats etc that you got from, say, the Irish republicans?
"That is all. It would be great if you could answer these questions or give your comment in any way you wish. I just want to add that there are a lot of Africans associated with Metro Eireann and they're all very offended."
So: do you agree that someone, anywhere might misunderstand what you wrote? If so, would you explain why you would write something that anyone might misunderstand for any reason? Can you recall any occasion you offended someone before now? We'd just like to add that we are deeply, personally offended.
Hey, that's a great standard for encouraging freedom of discourse. Have you ever offended anyone?
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