A WOMAN HITTING A NEO-NAZI WITH HER HANDBAG

Hans Runesson, 1985

Enraged that a neo-Nazi demonstration was taking place in her city of Växjö, Sweden, Danuta Danielsson emerged from a crowd that had gathered on the street and swung her handbag at a member of the group. Her mother being an Auschwitz survivor, Danielsson's symbolic confrontation with the Neo-Nazi illustrates the disparity of scale in terms of power, aggression, hate, and reason.

The more I think about the idea of "freeom of expression" the more I question it. If hate groups are given a platform to thrive and spout their ignorance because Western ideology stresses on the fanciful concepts of "freedom" and individualism - concepts that, as evidence shows, amounts to enslavement of all peoples, of lack of social cohesion or moral responsibility, then we are complicit in disregarding what is best for the greater good of humanity.

While the photo continues to provoke debate today, and supporters rally behind Danielsson's spontaneous attack of what is unquestionably wrong, she regretted her actions for the attention it received, and committed suicide two years later.

WHEN WORDS LOSE THEIR MEANING, PEOPLE LOSE THEIR FREEDOM

Watched The Occupation of the American Mind earlier tonight. This is an important film. It's not just another Israel-Palestine study, but it delves into the problem of extreme brainwashing that the United States enforces by using tactics that include the repetition of falsehoods, manipulation of facts, and dominating discourse through powerful PR. The entire goal of the two propaganda machines known as the United States and Israel is to portray one side as the victim, and the other the aggressor. 

The extremist methods that relationship exercises is akin to Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, the meticulously crafted propaganda documentary made upon personal request by Adolf Hitler in 1934, and which is often hailed a masterpiece to this day. There is not a war raging between Israel and Palestine, because war entails combat between armed groups. And there can be no combat between a highly trained military equipped with sophisticated weaponry sponsored by the world's largest arms dealer, the United States, and a people imprisoned within their land, who defend themselves against the world's giants with sticks and stones. What is raging within the Israel-Palestine conflict is, essentially, psychological warfare. 

Since it's release, The Occupation of the American Mind has been largely ignored, and no major film festival has chosen to screen the film. Shame about all the cowardice in the world.