by Joseph W
Liberal Democrat peer and Index on Censorship trustee Ken McDonald QC has a fantastic piece in the Times about Julian Assange, which you can also read here. He writes powerfully:
“The business of peace, just like the business of war, sometimes requires discretion and sufficient space, and sometimes even darkness in which to grow; it is not always nourished by daylight. It is, perhaps, the uneasy sense that Wikileaks has no taste or discrimination, no sense of reality in a rapidly evolving world, no real quality of morality beyond a gigantic virtual ego, that make it less easy to like or admire.
So it is wise to be a little cautious. Information is everywhere and so is exposure – but in the trembling hands of zealots either is a combustible cargo with a capacity to injure and maim on a grand and shocking scale.
The Index on Censorship itself has called on Wikileaks to take great care in the way they release information, noting:
And any association with the US looks bad to a lot of people in some parts of the world, especially when done in private. WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange hardly helped this week by telling al-Jazeera TV that many officials visiting US embassies are “spies for the US in their countries”.
This is true in parts of the Arab world, and also true in parts of Eastern Europe.
Elsewhere on the Index on Censorship blog, we read reports of the terrible suppression of the democratic opposition in Belarus:
Riot police targeted and fought with media. They smashed cameras, directly attacked and jailed journalists, even those who had international accreditation, which normally serves as a “universal pass” in any situation in any country.
The author adds as a postscript:
UPDATE: PS. POLICE CONTINUE SEARCHES OF FLATS OF JOURNALISTS AND PHOTOGRAPERS, LOOKING FOR FURTHER 19 DECEMBER VIDEOS. Late on 30 DECEMBER THEY SEARCHED THE FLAT OF EKATERINA TKACHENKA FROM BELSAT AND CONFISCATED HER LAPTOP. At 8 AM on 31 DECEMBER THE HOME OF NASHA NIVA PHOTOGRAPHER YULIA DARASHKEVICH WAS SEARCHED, WITH ALL HER PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT CONFISCATED
As the IOC have portrayed, Belarus is becoming a highly dangerous place for freedom of speech, as those opposing the current regime are suppressed and put in prison.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Belarussian newspaper Naviny reported:
“According to a secret diplomatic despatches from the embassy on Nov. 19, 2004 , provided Naviny.by by the representative of the WikiLeaks site Israel Shamir , the Americans were interested in the position of European officials on several issues in advance of the GAERC (EU Foreign Affairs Council) meeting, including – on the question of Belarus.”
Naviny announced:
Internet newspaper Naviny.by became the first partner site of Wikileaks in Belarus.
Wikileaks has more than 250 thousands of despatch of the U.S. embassies around the world, that shed light on important developments in recent years. The right to publish confidential and secret documents pertaining to Belarus, Wikileaks has provided online newspaper naviny.by .
Beginning the publication, Wikileaks representative Israel Adam Shamir wished Naviny.by a Merry Christmas. ” With snow we have a white Christmas, fabulously clean and clear! Let its whiteness and purity illuminate our way! I am glad that Christmas sees the start of our cooperation in publishing Wikileaks!” Shamir said. “Long live the winter, and Christmas – its main holiday! “.
According to the founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange , the purpose of publishing these dispatches is to ” quiet diplomacy has become impossible. Criminal plans and conspiracies resurface outside. The world has entered a new phase – a strip of honesty and openness . “Internet newspaper Naviny.by considers the achievement of this goal is very important for creating an open, civil and just society in Belarus and other countries, and therefore attached to this noble mission. Partners include Wikileaks in other countries – ” El Pais “,”Le Monde “,” Der Spiegel “,” The Guardian “,” The New York Times“,” Russian Reporter “and other resources.
Just as it is with Ruskiy Reporter, so it is with Naviny.by. In both cases, the papers make clear how they intend to use these cables, working with Shamir in redacting them.
The principle concern that Naviny and Wikileaks address is the fear of American influence in encouraging internal Belarussian dissent against Lukashenko. Lukashenko admitted as much when he boasted of a meeting between his presidential administration and Wikileaks’ envoy.
Given the sensitive nature of Cablegate and the peculiar nature of Shamir’s visit to Minsk, it is worth considering the possibility that Shamir passed unredacted cables to the Belarussian authorities which name individual people. Perhaps we will never know.
Following the meeting, Lukashenko and Shamir both promised that Wikileaks cables would prove ties between the USA and Belarussian dissenters.
Weeks later, Naviny reports that it is working with Shamir in presenting the Wikileaks cables to a Belarussian audience in a way that will be fit for consumption. Judging from this most recent article, Naviny now follows the Lukashenko/Shamir line on Wikileaks.
By accepting Shamir’s line, Naviny is opening itself up to a world in which the USA are criminals for talking with people in other countries, and people from other countries who talk with the USA are traitors who should be held to account.
Shamir believes that there is a Jew-led conspiracy to take over the world, aided by Gentiles whom the Jews have brainwashed or otherwise convinced to join them. He thinks that the Jewish lobby has an undue influence on the American government, which in turn has an undue influence on world politics. Shamir thinks that the Jews persecute people like Ernst Zundel who wish to tell the truth about the Holocaust.
Assange believes that there is an American-led conspiracy to dominate the world, that the Jews are restricting what is published in the American press, and that America organised a conspiracy to stop the world’s most famous Holocaust-denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from saying “important things about the Holocaust and the Jews.”
Both men cite Wikileaks cables to justify their narratives. Put the two streams of thought together, and we have a dynamic combination, to say the least.
Many people make the point that they are uncomfortable with Wikileaks’ relationship with Shamir, but still admire the leaking of the US diplomatic cables. Supporters of Assange may speak of their embarrassment that a neo-Nazi is on-board with the project. They may reason that Shamir is only one part of Wikileaks, as are many journalists, and his troublesome views are hardly relevant to what Wikileaks is doing.
This is not the case, however. No journalist has identified so clearly with Wikileaks as has Israel Shamir.
When you deal with Wikileaks, you don’t just get the cables, but you also get Wikileaks’ interpretation of the cables. Assange interprets many of the cables wrongly, thinking they prove that the US is being sinister or duplicitous, when they are often just observations of how events are unfolding beyond the control of diplomats.
Shamir has previously argued that the democratic, pro-Western “orange” movement in Ukraine is backed by the USA and also backed by the Jews and Jewish oligarchs. Since receiving Wikileaks cables, Shamir has used the evidence to accuse “orange” Ukrainians, Belarussians and Estonians of having sinister ties to the CIA and the US government.
Today, Lithuanian newspaper Obzor – a Russian-language publication catering to Russian communities in Lithuania – has repeated another Shamir spin, the Bronze Soldier myth re. Estonia, noting Shamir’s co-operation with Russia’s biggest newspaper Pravda.
We read in Obzor:
The WikiLeaks revelations still have some benefit. All the unflattering descriptions of certain world leaders by American diplomats can be classified as chatter and forgotten, but the U.S. role in Estonia’s demolition of a Soviet monument is quite remarkable.
Russian-language internet journalist Israel Shamir has revealed unpublished documents and shared with the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. It turns out that Americans are not only allowed the Estonians to do it [demolish the statue], but also organized the provocation of the Estonian diplomatic cover for the regime.
This is quite untrue, yet Wikileaks appears unconcerned.
For Assange to put the Cablegate documents in Shamir’s hands, and send him forth as his emissary in Russia and Eastern Europe, is hugely irresponsible to say the least.
It also suggests that Assange – deeply suspicious of many – has a great amount of trust for Shamir.
The details of Assange’s relationship as a Wikileaks rep with the Guardian and the New York Times are fascinating in many ways. Yet the more urgent matter is Shamir’s relationship as a Wikileaks rep with Ruskiy Reporter, Pravda, Naviny and the Lukashenko government.
The Belarussian regime is moving in only one direction against freedom of speech, and – astoundingly – Wikileaks is helping them out.
