STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

GucciGal19 · BCBG

Asia rejects money...

honey · Gucci

i just did a quick search of the jerusalem post & the ny times and didn't see anything along those lines. outside of one article saying india was rejecting donations, which was mentioned in another post. unfortunately i could only read the abstract for free, but again i didn't see anything that said help from israel specifically was rejected.

i did a google search and found this

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7583

but i feel like i can safely (and objectively) say this article is a bit biased, and the arguments concerning the rejection, don't seem to have a factual basis.

if you remember where you heard/read that, please post it, i'd be interested in reading it.

Maddie · Coach

Here's an article I read about this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4130599.stm

I've only seen anything about Sri Lanka reecting aid, and only troops. I think it is based in anti-semitism, but they haven't come out and said it like that.

Mia · Kate Spade

"Asia" has rejected Israeli aid? Or "Sri Lanka has rejected Israeli aid in the form of troops"? Because those two statements are very, *very* different. "Asia" is not a country and cannot unilaterally reject aid from another country. ARGH.

Edit: Maddie - I think it's because Sri Lanka is a Muslim country and there are obvious issues there in terms of Israeli troops - I mean specifically troops, the military aspect. I'm not saying it was a good idea to reject the aid (in fact I think it was a bad one) - but there are other issues here, one of which is probably anti semitism to some degree.

-- Edited by Mia at 21:22, 2005-01-11

honey · Gucci

quote:
Originally posted by: Mia
Edit: Maddie - I think it's because Sri Lanka is a Muslim country and there are obvious issues there in terms of Israeli troops - I mean specifically troops, the military aspect. I'm not saying it was a good idea to reject the aid (in fact I think it was a bad one) - but there are other issues here, one of which is probably anti semitism to some degree. -- Edited by Mia at 21:22, 2005-01-11"

i agree with this. in general, i'm very conservative with the use of terms like anti-semitism and racism, so while i think anti-semitism was definitely a factor there are other issues working too. a lot of countries are hesistant to allow a foreign military presence in b/c once it's there it's very, very difficult to remove and i think that's a legitimate concern.

Maddie · Coach

Mia and honey - I agree. I should've chosen a different term. The point I was trying to get across was that Sri Lanka made excuses like, "there's not enough room" instead of saying, "we don't like Israel." I understand that there's more too it than just Sri Lanka being mean.

-- Edited by Maddie at 00:47, 2005-01-12

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

Actually, Sri Lanka is mostly Buddhist but has sizable Hindu, Muslim and Christian populations.

Mia · Kate Spade

You're right esquiress...now I am even more curious as to the rejection of Israeli soldiers being sent to help. I think India may also have turned them/some aid down. What's the deal? Is this an honour thing? An ethnic thing? Purely a rejection of foreign troops, no matter what their nationality? What? Is the gov't of Sri Lanka mainly Buddhist - do they have an Islamic movement on the rise or something?

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

I don't know, I'm certainly not as educated about the situation as i should be and i'm sure there's not just one reason but I think the rejection of troops might have something to do with...fear. of being taken over i mean. like what if they welcome the troops in to help and then the troops never leave? it's not like they'll be able to win a war due to their very limited resources you know? just a thought. i know that when my parents told me the story of bangledesh's independence from pakistan (which happened when they were in college, 1972 i think), india was bangledesh's very strong ally and helped win the war but afterward, just a day or two afterward people in bangledesh were like why are indian troops still here? and india quickly removed its troops because of that sense of unease. anyway, this is so just what my parents told me, i haven't read any books on it or anything and it's certainly not the same situation but maybe the sri lankan govn. has the same fear?

regardless, the situation just saddens me so much. i so wish we could all just pull together and trust each other.

honey · Gucci

my feeling with india is that they are in that stage of development where they are trying to prove they're economic independence and ability to become a viable superpower. so turning down aid is a (foolish) way to prove that point.