Comments | siriala: 14 juillet

siriala

14 juillet

Jul 14, 2006 22:34

I'm not very interested by the celebrations of our national day, it's a kind of folklore every country has and probably needs for his identity, but I don't mind them either, as long as I don't have to participate. The only 14 juillet parade I ever saw was in 1989 because we celebrated the bicentenary of the Revolution and so there was a particular ( Read more... )

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Comments 5

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siriala July 20 2006, 14:07:47 UTC

We don't do as much sports in school as you seem to do in the USA. We don't have football team for example, or not directly related to a school in what I think is the way for your country. Those who wish to specialize in sports have to go to special schools where they will have their course of study adapted so that they can practice. But it's not that many people, which maybe explain why we're not that good as a country in sports. Football is special due to the fact that kids play a lot outside of schools.

Yes, fans can be violent, hooliganism and racism are a real problem, in some countries more than others. The Olympics are special for me, even if I'm sure money plays a big part there too and drugs are involved as much as in any other competitions.

robtengel July 18 2006, 09:03:27 UTC

Hey ( ... )

siriala July 20 2006, 14:54:36 UTC

First, I think each and every country in the world is plagued by nationalists who think their country is the best under the sun, and that there's no better people than their own. It makes me laugh a lot to think they would have the same belief, were they born in the country they despise the most ( ... )

q_spade July 19 2006, 06:47:28 UTC

I missed this post the first time around, apologies! Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Is Zidaine of North African or Arab descent? I can imagine that he'd not take kindly to racist comments, especially in the current political climate; I should hope that the (presumably Caucuasian) player who made those comments was censured, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a bit of a dirty trick on the other man's part; while I agree with you that physical violence often causes more trouble than it stifles, there are many types of violence. Zidaine's opponent is equally guilty of a violent act by using Zidaine's race/culture as a target of attack.

I work for a Muslim gentleman of South Asian descent, and I will never, EVER forget the immediate aftermath of 9/11. We lost clients, I had to field tons of hateful calls from bigots and my boss got randomly beat up by some thugs in Staten Island (yes, the very place I'm moving to! *sigh*) for being a "filthy Arab". Being nonwhite myself, I had to deal with shit and watch my back during that ( ... )

siriala July 20 2006, 15:25:29 UTC

I didn't know about your boss. I hate those people who think they have the right to act as judge and executionner (?), particularly when they use violence against defenseless and innocent people - whatever the supposed crime may be, race, sexual orientation, religion... I've been very sensitive to those problems since a very early age, because my father was prejudiced against some people. He explained rationaly why (his family was ruined when he was a kid because of someone and they lived in extreme poverty for a while) but I could never find any excuse to racism against a whole people because of the acts of one man, and this was the main reason why my father and I fought a lot during all my teenage and then adult life.

Zidane is of Kabyle Algerian descent. You can read more about him here. I just heard today that the FIFA commission judged both players guilty for what happened. Zidane said the insults were not racist as the journalists had said but the commission judged that they were nonetheless a matter of honour (I don't know how ( ... )