Saturday, March 8, 2008

Unwelcome Visitor is not a man or a woman. It is Racism!


Convicted Holocaust Denier Irving Invited
to the Late, Late Show on RTE



To RTE Administration


Dear Sir/Madam,

I was appalled by the fact that the convicted
Holocaust denier Mr Irving was invited to express
his views on the Late Late Show.
This has nothing to do with 'free speech', this is
simply an insult to the memory of six million people
who were butchered as a result of
one of the greatest crimes in the history of the
humankind. Holocaust is not a matter of dispute but
a matter of condemnation by all the honest people.
Questioning and downplaying the horror of the crimes
of Nazism serves only one purpose - to rehabilitate
fascism as a political trend in modern days' Ireland.
Having in view the number of race hate crimes in this
country, including the recent murders of foreigners
on our streets, this is a highly dangerous policy.

Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky, PhD
Writer, a member of the Irish PEN
President of the Irish Haiku Society



Email RTE to complain!



info@rte.ie

latelate@rte.ie

complaints.review@rte.ie




I emailed, and got a reply within an hour. Register your disgust!



Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Unwelcome Visitor is not a man or a woman. It is Racism!


Latest News:

Naming Them and Shaming Them

Who did what?



Chelley McClear,
International Co-ordinator of Love Poetry Hate Racism

1. organised the Love Poetry Hate Racism event in Dublin (April 2007), and proclaimed that "it is about tolerance and diversity.” Despite that, she and Mike Igoe invited Dave Lordan, an outspoken anti-Israeli campaigner, to do the MC duties at the event.

2. gave an unauthorised access to my private e-mail to other people. She disseminated my private e-mail, in which I stated the reasons for my decision not to take any part in the Love Poetry Hate Racism reading in Dublin. In doing so she committed a violation of the copyright laws of both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. According to the law, the author of an e-mail holds the copyright in it; any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of an email by anyone except the addressee in the normal course of his/her business is unlawful, and therefore strictly prohibited.


Dave Lordan, writer

1. further disseminated my private e-mail that he unlawfully obtained from Chelley McClear (see above);

2. organised a Festival of Resistance in Dublin - http://lornadice.blogspot.com/2007/02/dublin-happenings-festival-of.html - and invited the writer and anti-Israeli campaigner Ali Abunimah, author of "Palestine: One Country", to do a talk at the festival. The title of his talk, as published by Dave Lordan and the other organisers in the Festival programme, sounded like this: "Palestine: One country. Should Israel be wiped off the map?" Ali Abunimah comments on this: "I was never consulted about the supposed title and did not approve of the title that was published. I objected to it when I saw it and asked that it be removed. Although I was invited, I declined the invitation."

3.
Despite that, Dave Lordan maintains that he is not an anti-Semite. Is he not, really?



Metro Eireann, tabloid newspaper

1. gained an unauthorized access to my private e-mail, unlawfully obtained from Chelley McClear and Dave Lordan (see above).

2. Commented on my private e-mails in the paper.

3. Tried to persuade the readers that I
made a number of allegations which I later withdrew. This statement was totally false and misleading.

4. Accused me of making 'potentially libellous claims' in my private e-mail unlawfully obtained from Chelley McClear and Dave Lordan. This statement by Metro Eireann is not potentially but actually libellous, and is bordering defamation.

5.
Showed little interest in that facts that I made known to the editor, but was diligent in pursuit of cheap sensation. So our hopes that we'll have a decent multicultural newspaper in this country are still nothing more than hopes.

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Why I shall boycott the so-called “anti-racist” event in Dublin


Love Poetry Hate Racism
Sunday, April 22, 2007
8:00 PM
Crawdaddy, Harcourt St
Dublin
Hosted by Naked Lunch and Philly Hayden with MC for the night Dave Lordan.

I was recently invited by Chelley McLear, International Co-ordinator of Love Poetry Hate Racism, to do a poetry reading as part of the aforementioned event. When I accepted the invitation, little did I know that the organisers invited writer Dave Lordan as MC for the reading. I don't see how one of the organisers of the anti-Israeli boycott can possibly take part in an anti-racist event, let alone host it.

As stated on http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com, as well as on the Poetry Ireland website at http://www.poetryireland.ie/news/competition.asp, Dave Lordan is currently editing an anthology in support of the cultural boycott of Israel. According to the Poetry Ireland website, he is “organiser and initiator of the project”. As we know, the Irish government recently responded to the Aosdana motion proposing such a boycott by saying that it was "firmly opposed to any proposals for an academic or cultural boycott against Israel”: http://unwelcomevisitor.blogspot.com So this boycott appears to be highly controversial in itself.

In March 2007, Dave Lordan and his fellow SWP members organised a Festival of Resistance in Dublin: http://lornadice.blogspot.com/2007/02/dublin-happenings-festival-of.html
They invited the writer and anti-Israeli campaigner Ali Abunimah, author of "Palestine: One Country", to do a talk at the festival. The title of his talk, as it was announced by the organisers, sounded like this: "Palestine: One country. Should Israel be wiped off the map?" Apparently, 'Israel being wiped off the map' is what Dave Lordan and the other organisers of the festival wanted to hear about. Ali Abunimah comments on this: "I was never consulted about the supposed title and did not approve of the title that was published. I objected to it when I saw it and asked that it be removed. Although I was invited, I declined the invitation."

This gives you an idea of Dave Lordan's background. This is the man who, in his capacity as MC, is going to do most of the talking over the course of the Love Poetry Hate Racism event in Dublin. I have an Israeli and two Arab students in my writers group, and I keep telling them that the Irish writers do everything they can to ensure that they and their countrymen feel safe on this island. My students simply won't understand it if I agree to read alongside an anti-Israeli or an anti-Arab campaigner - at an event declared anti-racist but now turning into something completely different.

In my e-mails to the organisers of Love Poetry Hate Racism I expressed my concern over the forthcoming event. However in their replies there was nothing but general phrases, e.g. “The poetic community will not tolerate racism in any shape or form,” and “The Love Poetry Hate Racism organisation is about tolerance and diversity.” I strongly feel that this time their tolerance goes too far.

Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky
Writer and literary translator







So what Dave Lordan has to say to it?

from http://blog.myspace.com/davelordan (subsequently deleted by the author but quoted on http://technorati.com/posts/tag/Anatoly+Kudryavitsky


[quote]

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED BY THIS PATHETHIC LIAR

'Listen to the fools reproach. It is a kingly title' ... that Mr Anatoly Kudryavitsky has withdrawn from the upcoming Dublin leg of the Love Poetry Hate Racism event, which I am MCing, on account of what he calls my 'anti-semitism'. [end of the quote]

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As a French saying goes, "A man is as good as his style." Note Dave Lordan's style in the above piece!

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Now, a few questions to Dave Lordan:

1. Where in the above post did I mention your anti-semitism?
2.
If you use quotation marks to highlight the words I've never said, who is a pathetic liar?
3. If you boycott a nation, how can you possibly be 'MCing' an event celebrating "diversity and tolerance"?
Not I but you should have withdrawn from it - if you have principles, of course.
4. And finally, do you think that a writer who withdraws from a literary event on moral grounds is a fool
because a "clever" behaviour, in your opinion, is showing off at as many events as one can?

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I wonder if these questions will ever be answered.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
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Comment on this in Metro Eireann
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Love Poetry Hate Racism invite refused over ‘anti-Israeli’ claims Print E-mail
Written by Robert Carry
Thursday, 26 April 2007
A PROMINENT Dublin-based writer refused an invite to the Dublin leg of last weekend’s Belfast-originated Love Poetry Hate Racism event after suggesting that another participant was “anti-Israeli”.

A group of Belfast-based poets set up the Love Poetry Hate Racism event after hearing Belfast referred to in the media as the ‘race hate capital of Europe’. The event ballooned and dozens of cities around the world joined in by staging poetry readings aimed at examining issues around racism.

For the Dublin event, held on Saturday, the organisers invited Moscow-born writer and literary translator Anatoly Kudryavitsky, who runs a writers’ group for migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers from the Irish Writers Centre. However, Kudryavitsky refused the invitation upon hearing that fellow writer David Lordan, who is an active campaigner for the rights of Palestinians, would be the Master of Ceremonies at the event.

In an e-mail sent to Metro Eireann, Kudryavitsky suggested that because Lordan was involved in promoting the idea of a cultural boycott of Israel and was involved with Ali Abunimah, whom Kudryavitsky referred to as “an anti-Israeli campaigner”, he was an unsuitable choice for MC. Kudryavitsky made a number of other allegations which he later withdrew.
Lordan informed Metro Eireann that there was nothing in any way anti-Israeli about his actions, saying: “I support the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions called by John Berger, Brian Eno and hundreds of other internationally renowned activist-artists because I oppose the brutal racist suppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli State which has been going on now for 60 years.”

Event organiser Chelley McClear quickly moved to defend Lordan. In a statement sent to Metro Eireann she pointed out that Lordan had a “long and distinguished record” of campaigning against discrimination and bigotry.
She continued: “Love Poetry Hate Racism exists to promote cultural understanding and to bring together peoples of all cultural backgrounds in a celebration of poetic arts.

“We are a peaceful organisation and believe that racism can only be countered by a better understanding of the differences and, more importantly, the similarities between peoples of diverse origins…

“As a body we do not have a position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, other then the wish to see a just peace established between all the peoples of the Middle East.”


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My letter to Metro Eireann commenting on the article by Robert Carry (published in Metro Eireann of 14-20 June 2007):


Thank you for commenting on the situation, and for calling me a "prominent writer" (hope I deserve it!) However let me remind you that the duty of a journalist is to seek truth and provide a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. I regret to say that Robert Carry failed to do so in the afore-mentioned article.


He wrote: "Kudryavitsky made a number of other allegations which he later withdrew."
This statement is totally false
and misleading.
1. I didn't make any allegations. You said it yourself that Dave Lordan supports the anti-Israeli boycott. If one calls an anti-Israeli campaigner "an anti-Israeli campaigner" (or calls a spade a spade), is it an allegation? Boycotting a nation, by the way, is a far cry from "campaigning for the rights of the Palestinians" (which I support with all my heart!)

2. I didn't withdraw ANYTHING of what I had to say about the situation in general and about Dave Lordan. In my blog I corrected my reference to Ali Abunimah after the latter supplied me with information on himself and on what he stands for. And you knew it, because I e-mailed you about it. Why not stick to the facts, then?

As Louis XIV once put it, "Being punctual demonstrates the politeness of kings." I would say, "Being accurate demonstrates journalists' mastery of the skills."

With best wishes,

Anatoly Kudryavitsky




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I regret to say that Robert Carry, commenting on this letter in the same issue of Metro Eireann of 14-20 June 2007, again resorted to false accusations and made a libellous claim about myself. Hence the following letter to Editor of Metro Eireann.

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Dear Sir,

I admit to being quite surprised at reading Robert Carry's comments on my letter to Metro Eireann of 14-20 June 2007, in which Mr Carry accused me of making 'potentially libellous claims' in my private e-mail. You will agree with me that this is a very serious accusation.

First of all, I find it unjustifiable that we have to discuss here what I wrote in my private e-mail(s). I must point out that I have never transferred copyright to the addressee; the information contained in my email was confidential, and was intended for the addressee only. Mr Carry confirmed it in his publication that he contacted Chelly McClear, an organiser of the 'Love Poetry Hate Racism' and the addressee of my private e-mail, in which I stated the reasons for my decision not to take any part in the LPHR reading in Dublin. You informed me yourself that Mr Carry then gained an unauthorized access to this e-mail either from the addressee directly or through other people. You even quoted that e-mail in our correspondence!

Let me put a simple question to you: what do you do if you have received a letter in error? You send it to the addressee or, if you are unable to do so, you return it to the sender. If you receive an e-mail in error, you notify the sender immediately by replying to it, then destroy any copies and delete it from your computer system. This is the standard norm of morality. Of course, nothing can prevent a person from reading an e-mail that he received in error or accessed without permission from its author, but this person definitely can't publish it or comment on it in a newspaper article, and the latter is exactly what Mr Carry did. I wouldn't call it fair play.

Talking about Belfast-based Ms McClear, she, as you kindly informed me, admitted that she gave an unauthorised access to my e-mail to other people. In doing so she committed a violation of the copyright laws of both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. According to the law, the author of an e-mail holds the copyright in it; any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of an email by anyone except the addressee in the normal course of his/her business is strictly prohibited. If every one of those involved in this matter observed the law, we wouldn't have a problem here.

Another question that I have to put to you: who defined what I was saying (in my private e-mail!) as libel? Was it an expert? A judge? No, it was nobody else but Mr Carry himself. His logic is quite simple: they are “potentially libellous” because he thinks that they are libellous. A self-indulgent way of thinking, isn't it? Mr. Carry assumes the role of a judge here, but did he ever ask for the proof of what I was saying? The answer is no, never. So what makes Mr Carry think that my claims were libellous? Isn't it his assumption that the man I was talking about, a man of certain political convictions that Mr Carry seems to share, can't be wrong, no matter what he says or does? But what if Mr Carry is mistaken here and what he depicts as libellous claims is the truth? In this case his statement that I made libellous claims would be not only unfair but extremely damaging. Incidentally, this is the case. To be honest with you, I find it ridiculous that Metro Eireann should comment on somebody's private correspondence; however, as this has already happened, I am ready to send you the proof of what I was saying in my e-mails.

Yours sincerely,

Anatoly Kudryavitsky

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The letter was send to Mr Chinedu Onyejelem, Editor of Metro Eireann on Monday July 23rd, 2007. I have never got any answer from him. I regret to note that Metro Eireann doesn't seem to be interested in the facts of the matter that I was prepared to make known to the editor. So I've come to the following conclusions:

1. Metro Eireann stands by its biased journalist who published his false and defamatory comments on my letter in Metro Eireann of 14-20 June 2007.
2. Metro Eireann sinks so low that its journalists comment on somebody's private e-mails unlawfully obtained from third parties, e.g. from the likes of Ms. Chelly McClear who illegally disseminates other people's messages sent to her in private.
3. Metro Eireann is a tabloid size paper, and it has turned towards the tabloid type of journalistics, with its all too familiar markings. It shows little
interest in facts, but is diligent in pursuit of cheap sensation.
4. Our hopes that we'll have a decent multicultural newspaper in this country are still nothing more than hopes.

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
July 30th, 2007


Monday, March 12, 2007

Unwelcome Visitor is not a man or a woman. It is Racism!



Cultural Boycott of Israel??
Anti-Arab Bias in the North??
A big NO to both!


Latest News:


Aosdana members urge policy of non-co-operation with state-funded cultural institutions

Aosdana passed a motion proposed by writer Margaretta D'Arcy. It encouraged Irish artists and cultural institutions "to reflect deeply before engaging in co-operation with Israeli cultural institutions." Before that, Aosdana voted on a motion, proposed by composer Raymond Deane and seconded by the same Margaretta D'Arcy, "to end all cooperation with Israeli state-sponsored cultural events and institutions." This motion was defeated in the organization's general assembly.

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The Irish government responded to the Aosdana motion by saying it was "firmly opposed to any proposals for an academic or cultural boycott against Israel."

John O'Donoghue, minister for arts, sport and tourism, said he was happy the motion had been voted down.

"The only way forward is through an inclusive approach of dialogue with and between Israelis and Palestinians. The government is working directly with the parties, and with our partners in the EU, for the revival of a credible peace process with the clear objective of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "Minister Dermot Ahern has worked with both Israelis and Palestinians to bring a lasting settlement to the conflict. The way forward is to be inclusive and to engage both Palestinians and Israelis."

He added that the decision by Aosdana was "a matter for themselves".

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Israel's embassy in Dublin released a statement condemning the motion as "wrong, unjust, biased and based on misunderstanding and misinformation."

Ambassador Zion Evrony said, "It appears that a very small number of Aosdana members... have misled others and imposed their views on the whole organization."

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D'Arcy
, for her part, wrote an open letter to the ambassador attacking his views: "Mr. Ambassador, who the hell do you think you are, interfering with Irish artists, prescribing what we may or may not reflect upon?" she fumed.

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Nobody has ever asked Ms D'Arcy who the hell she thinks she is talking in this way to the ambassador of a sovereign nation.





Aosdana in Another Controversy


It is not the first time that Aosdana, an affiliation of government-funded creative artists in Ireland, is involved in such a controversy.

In 1997, the group voted to support the continued membership of the wartime Nazi collaborator and propagandist Francis Stuart after he said on a British television documentary that he did not regret his role in working for the Nazis at a time when the extermination of the European Jews was already under way.

Francis Stuart (1902–99), an Irish writer and member of Aosdana who wrote in one of his books: “The Jew is the worm that got into the rose and sickened it,” received a Saoi (Gaelic for ‘wise one’) award in 1996 (the highest honor the state can give an artist). He was also known for his antisemitic radio broadcasts made during World War II There was some outcry at the award and calls for Stuart's removal from Aosdana.

The Irish-language poet Maire Mhac an tSaoi, also a member of Aosdana, tabled a motion calling for Stuart's resignation and a condemnation of his sentiments as expressed in the programme. The motion was defeated by 27 to one, causing Maire Mhac an tSaoi to renounce her own membership.

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This is how you can contact Aosdana:

aosdana @ artscouncil.ie


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Anti-Arab Incidents in the North



On a different note, I am getting reports about the sharp increase in the occurrence of anti-Arab incidents in Northern Ireland. It very much looks like some people living on this island never stop trying to stir the pot of racism and xenophobia.

If you are a victim of such incidents on this side of the border, or have information about them, please report them here.

This is the website of The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) is an independent expert body that seeks to provide advice and to develop initiatives to combat racism and to work towards a more inclusive, intercultural society in Ireland.
You can visit their website at http://www.nccri.ie
or e-mail them at

info @ nccri.ie

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My older post about the same thing (March 2007)


The Western Writers Centre website (http://www.twwc.ie) describes the book "calling for a cultural boycott of Israel" as "admirable"!

Have a look at this post here

Apparently, this is a boycott of all the Israeli writers, no matter if they are pro-oppression or anti-oppression, pro-Arab or anti-Arab.

We are nearing the Intercultural and Anti-Racism Week, 19 - 23 March, with the official UN International Day Against Racial Discrimination on March 21st, so maybe it is time for us to raise our voices against such things?

This is how you can contact the Western Writers Centre:


Fred Johnston, Director

Fred @ twwc.ie
sylfredcar @ iolfree.ie

The staff:

Judith @ twwc.ie
Angela @ twwc.ie


Yours sincerely,

Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky,
writer and literary translator
ak2004 @ planet-save. com

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I've since got the following from Fred Johnston, Director of the Western Writers Centre:


Dear Sir -

Your remarks about the cultural boycott of Israel is
both uninformed and slanted. You give the impression that such a boycott
would be racist? Well, then, sir, tell me what the Israeli attitude
towards the Palestinians is when they refuse visas for Palestinian writers
to travel to Ireland. I think, sir, you want everyone to support you
rather blindly and you will take no criticism. I am well aquainted with
that idea. So now the Western Writers' Centre is your enemy? Your
attitudes on this seem, well, rather totalitarian, to me, sir.

Fred Johnston
Mon, 12 Mar 2007

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My reply to this, sent to Fred Johnston on the same day:

Uninformed? Ok, give me some information then. From what I've read in the twwc website, I gather that it is a one-sided racist boycott. Can you prove that I am wrong? If I am, I will be the first to admit it.

Generally, I don't like any kind of oppression, and I would criticise the Israeli government for many things they did; same with any writer who supports the oppression of the Palestinians. But I will never support a boycott of writers on the grounds of their nationality/religious beliefs.

And of course, my enemy is not the Western Writers Centre but racism and xenophobia. Let us hope that they are your enemies, too.

Regards,

Anatoly Kudryavitsky
Mon, 12 Mar 2007

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So what do you think about this? Would such a boycott serve the interests of the Palestinians, the Israelis, and the Irish?

Please feel free to leave your comments below. Thank you.




Friday, March 9, 2007

Who is that man?


Stalinist lecturing in the Irish Writers Centre,
or the Real Pryakhin File


I brokered the publication of Mr Pryakhin's collection of stories by Scotus Press, I am
organizing Mr Pryakhin's visit.

-- Jack Harte




Scotus Press is now going ahead with the publication of Pryakhin's book and with his Reading at the Writers' Centre on Monday 26 March at 8.00pm.

-- Jack Harte




Who is that man?
Georgy Pryakhin

a writer?



"Untalented fiction writer who, as a publisher, tries
to rescue his works from inevitable and well-deserved
oblivion."
- Znamya No 7, 2002.
[Znamya/Banner is the leading Russian literary magazine well respected in Russia and abroad.]


"Nobody here has read his works"
- A Member of the Academy of Russian Science, as quoted by Jack Harte himself. In Jack Harte's article published in his website, now shut down by the owner, it is one of a few true statements. http://www.pryakhinfile.com


So Pryakhin is a bad writer? Forgivable, of course: he is not the only one. But why has he been chosen?



Jack Harte's website: Russian translation of Jack Harte's novel entitled 'From Under Gogol's Nose' is to be published by Mr. Pryakhin's publishing house, "Voskresenye".


Well, I don't insist that this is the answer, but it gives you food for thought...

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Knowing Mr Pryakhin as a reactionary politician posing as a writer, I submitted a dossier on Mr Pryakhin and sent it to Jack Harte, as requested. The list of the quoted newspaper articles is available at the bottom of this web-page.

What followed?



Jack Harte's Bogus Investigation



Jack Harte: I employed a Bulgarian translator to take a look at Mr. Pryakhin's dossier supplied by Anatoly Kudryavitsky

Why Bulgarian? Of all Slavic languages, Bulgarian is the most dissimilar to Russian. Will you employ a Danish translator to work with English documents?

And by the way, who is that mysterious Bulgarian translator? Is he or is he not the Bulgarian author published by the same Scotus Press that is going to publish Mr. Pryakhin's book? If he is, what kind of 'independent investigator' can he be?

Anyway, let us see how he gets on with his task.


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From my e-mail quoted by Jack Harte:

Mr Pryakhin is not a member of the democratic Union of Russian Writers, like all the Russian writers we like to read. He belongs to the alternative Union of Writers of Russia. The name sounds very similar but the ideology is utterly different: Mr Pryakhin’s union of writers and its so-called “Academy of Russian Literature” are regarded in Russia as most reactionary Stalinist and Xenophobe organisations.

www.uvao.ru - the official Moscow’s Southeast Municipal District website.
Here is the list of the Union of Writers of Russia’s Sholokhov Prize winners, which includes, among the others,
- Radovan Karadzic
- Gennady Zyuganov, the Russian Communist Party leader
- Alexander Lukashenko, Belorussian dictator
- Igor Smirnov, “President” of the breakaway Pridnestrovye area of Moldova/Moldavia, not recognised by the UN or any other country but Belarus.
- Slobodan Milosevic
- Ex-general Valentin Varennikov, an active participant of the 1991 anti-Gorbachev coup.


Jack Harte: This is all about the extreme Right of Russian politics. They obviously have their own political movement with subsidiary organizations, and they have their own 'Sholokov Prize', which they award to their favourites, not to be confused with the Sholokov Prize.

Yes, these people, some of them calling themselves writers, are
the extreme Right of Russian politics. Mr Pryakhin is one of them, Mr Prokhanov is another.

As to the Sholokhov Prize, I
have to disappoint Investigator: it is the same Sholokhov Prize, because there is no other! Similarly, if you say, "the moon is not to be confused with the moon", this won't mean that we have two moons now.

Staying on the topic of confusions, don't confuse the highly respected Academy of Russian Science (remember? "Nobody here has read Mr Pryakhin's works") with the so-called "Academy of Russian Literature" established by the alternative anti-democratic Union of Writers of Russia which has Mr Pryakhin among its members. Along with Mr Prokhanov.


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So who is that man?



Georgy Pryakhin

A politician?


Mr. Pryakhin is a former high-ranked Communist party official who once supported Gorbachev (and still uses his name as a cover when he deals with Westerners), but then migrated to the Far-Right end of the political spectrum. He is currently one of the leaders of the Union of Patriotic Organisations, which is the leading Russian Stalinist and Xenophobe block of parties. The leader of this block is the infamous politician and writer Alexander Prokhanov.

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Jack Harte on Prokhanov:

Prokhanov's extremist activities are well documented. He belongs to the extreme of the Russian political spectrum, which would be Slavophile (in the ugly sense of this word), xenophobe, anti-Semitic, etc. No doubt he and his followers would be sympathetic towards their counterparts in Serbia, such as Karadzic and Mladic.

You couldn't put it in a better way. I confirm: this, and only this, part of the investigation is genuine.


Jack Harte: But Mr. Pryakhin is nothing like Prokhanov.

Do you seriously believe that Mr. Pryakhin, another leader of the same Union of Patriotic
Organisations,
is a dove? Of course, he isn't. These two men have a very good working relationship within their pro-totalitarian and highly dangerous block of parties.

Another quote for Investigator:


Zavtra of 08.11.2006
"I was amazed to see how close the writer Alexander Prokhanov's mystic insight is to the mystic insight that the novelists Lichutin, Pryakhin, Salutsky and Bykov have."

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Sovetskaya Rossiya/Soviet Russia of 11.11.2002: "Russian Revival party, headed by Gennady Seleznev and Georgy Pryakhin, took the name of the illegal Russian fascist party that existed in USSR in the 1930s."

Jack Harte's response:
If one looks at the array of parties in Russia today, it is a wonder that voters can distinguish one from another.

The voters can, and they will. But Investigator cannot. Does he want to? Or is this the way he deals with facts - just dismissing them?


Jack Harte: My Bulgarian translator couldn't locate the quote in the article.

It is not far from the beginning of the article, in the third paragraph, so it is hard not to notice it. Of course, if you don't overlook it deliberately.


Now, an exercise in Russian for our Investigator. Take a Russian dictionary and translate the following, word by word:

Партия возрождения России. По иронии судьбы точно так же называлась подпольная фашистская партия, существовавшая в СССР и в среде белой эмиграции в 30-е годы...

Which literally means:

"Russian Revival party. It took the name of the illegal Russian fascist party that existed in USSR and abroad, among the Russian expatriants, in the 1930s."

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Rodnaya Gazeta of 28.05.2004. Pryakhin and Seleznev on the objectives of the Russian Revival Party: the party won't support Putin, as they think him too much of a liberal. The party joins the Union of Patriotic Organisations, and aims at gaining power in Russia for the so-called Russian patriots (i.e. ultra-nationalists.)

This is what Investigator doesn't want to hear. So he has to distort the facts:


Jack Harte: What Kudryavitsky says is in the article, and what is really in the article are more or less opposite.

Wrong! I am not a bad translator from Russian myself, so let us call a spade a spade.


There is a very positive attitude to Putin, whom Russia Revival has been supporting unconditionally.

This is NOT what the article says! Does the Bulgarian translator know Russian at all??


There is no question of joining an ultra-nationalist coalition.

Wake up, my dear Investigator, they are already IN the coalition, for quite a few years now!




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Rossiysaya Gazeta/Russian Newspaper of 27.03.2004 - as quoted in the website of the Russian Revival Party. In his interview, Pryakhin expresses his dislike of the Belorussian democratic anti-Lukashenko opposition.


Jack Harte says, quoting his Bulgarian translator: Pryakhin often declares his dream of unification of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan with Russia.

In my book, it is called annexation and land-grabs. We had enough of that before the Second World War when Stalin's occupied half of Eastern Europe plus part of Finland.

Would you welcome a politician who often declares his dream of unification of the Republic of Ireland with the United Kingdom, on the grounds of the same language being spoken in both countries?


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Trud/Labour of April 19, 2003. Pryakhin on the Russian Nazi Limonov's conviction: "It shouldn't have happened. He is a talented and unique writer. I sympathise with him and pity him".

Jack Harte: What Pryakhin is articulating in this interview in 'Trud' is the traditional liberal attitude to freedom of speech - ie, I may hate what you say, but I defend your right to say it.

The Russian Nazi Limonov was convicted by a Russian court for stirring racial hatred. Pryakhin defends Mr Limonov's right to do so. This has nothing in common with freedom of speech. A liberal attitude to murderous calls is nothing else but complicity.



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www.pravoslavie.ru - the official Russian Orthodox Church website referring to Pryakhin's television broadcast on the First Channel of Soviet Television on September 20, 1987. Mr Pryakhin lashing at the Jews who want to emigrate to Israel, at the people of the Baltic republics who want independence, and at the religious believers in general.


Jack Harte: This piece concerns the memories of a woman involved in a project to erect a monument to an Orthodox saint back in 1987. She says that Pryakhin (probably the official she was dealing with) was critical of the Jews who wanted to go to Israel and of the Baltic nationalists who wanted 'out' of the USSR. She says he also pointed out that this religious project was at odds with the canons of the Communist Party.

The official she was dealing with? Can the translator you employed understand Russian at all? The whole middle part of this piece is the report on the Pryakhin's television broadcast on the First Channel of the Soviet Television on September 20, 1987. The woman (a free-lance journalist) wrote that she was deeply offended by what Pryakhin said about religious believers and the national minorities in the Soviet Union. She also said that she was not the only one. The article states that there was a public outcry in the USSR about what Pryakhin said in TV interview, resulting in many people phoning the Soviet television to express their disgust.


Further on, Investigator quotes (without my permission, of course) my private e-mail sent to him to warn him about Mr Pryakhin's background:

Mr Pryakhin called the Jews emigrating to Israel 'Zionist traitors', and the people of the Baltic Republics calling for independence, 'Nationalist scum of our society'.



Jack Harte: There is no suggestion whatsoever that Pryakhin's language was immoderate. So the words 'lashing', 'Zionist traitors', 'Nationalist scum of our society', are totally of Kudryavitsky's coinage.

On Mr Pryakhin's wording in the course of that broadcast, I am the living witness, and I don't think I'll ever forget what Mr Pryakhin said and the way he said it.

Following that broadcast, the leading Russian journalist Andrey Tcherkizov openly accused the Central Committee of the Communist party of introducing anti-Semitism as the state policy. Read about it here



Jack Harte: Pryakhin was only a journalist then.

In 1987, Pryakhin was not merely a journalist but
Acting Director of the Soviet State Television and the member of the Central Committee of the Communist party responsible for all ideological matters. Read about it here




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Mr Pryakhin is a self-published writer. In his anti-Semite novel called ‘Khazar Dreams’, Pryakhin blames Trotsky for all the Russian troubles, not because he was Trotsky but because he was Jewish and therefore "didn't belong in Russia". Pryakhin praises the assassination of Trotsky, and calls the hand of the man who murdered Trotsky with an ice-pick "the hand of God" Read about it here

This man is a dangerous extremist masquerading as a writer, and should be exposed as a hate-monger.



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Summing Up


The following articles were included in the dossier on Mr Pryakhin that I sent to Jack Harte:

1. Trud/Labour of April 19, 2003. Pryakhin on the Russian Nazi Limonov’s conviction: "It shouldn't have happened. He is a talented and unique writer. I sympathise with him and pity him".

2. Komsomolskaya Pravda of Dec 12, 2006 (Pryakhin on Pinochet: “We should have cloned Pinochet, so that we could install him as Governor of some Russian provinces.”

3. Literaturnaya Gazeta No 32, 2003. Pryakhin confesses to placing Stalin’s portrait on the cover of the book of Stalin’s correspondence published by “Voskresenye”.

4. Znamya No 7, 2002, on Pryakhin: “Untalented fiction writer who, as a publisher, tries to rescue his works from inevitable and well-deserved oblivion.” [Znamya/Banner is the leading Russian literary magazine well respected in Russia and abroad.]

5. www.pravoslavie.ru - the official Russian Orthodox Church website, on Pryakhin’s television interview broadcast on the First Channel of Soviet Television on September 20, 1987. Mr Pryakhin lashing at the Jews who want to emigrate to Israel, at the people of the Baltic republics who want independence, and at the religious believers in general.

6. Sovetskaya Rossiya/Soviet Russia of 11.11.2002: “Russian Revival party, headed by Gennady Seleznev and Georgy Pryakhin, took the name of the illegal Russian fascist party that existed in USSR in the 1930s.”

7. Rodnaya Gazeta of 28.05.2004. Pryakhin and Seleznev on the objectives of the Russian Revival Party: the party won’t support Putin, as they think him too much of a liberal. The party joins the Union of Patriotic Organisations, and aims at gaining power in Russia for the so-called Russian patriots (i.e. ultra-nationalists.)

8. Rossiysaya Gazeta/Russian Newspaper of 27.03.2004. Pryakhin expresses his dislike of the Belorussian democratic anti-Lukashenko opposition.

9. Zavtra/Tomorrow of 09.06.1998. Vladimir Bondarenko’s article on the objectives of the Sholokhov Prize Committee, elected by the Union of Writers of Russia: anti-democracy, anti-semitism, Slavic supremacy, Russia – for Russian patriots. “We are up for a fight for a new Russia dominated by the Slavs.”

10. www.uvao.ru - the official Moscow’s Southeast Municipal District website. The list of the Union of Writers of Russia’s Sholokhov Prize winners, which includes, among the others,
- Radovan Karadzic
- Gennady Zyuganov, the Russian Communist Party leader
- Alexander Lukashenko, Belorussian dictator
- Igor Smirnov, “President” of the breakaway Pridnestrovye area of Moldova/Moldavia, not recognised by the UN or any other country but Belarus.
- Slobodan Milosevic
- Ex-general Valentin Varennikov, an active participant of the 1991 anti-Gorbachev coup.

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As I show here, Jack Harte didn't disprove EVEN ONE of the facts gathered in the dossier.

The Bulgarian translator that he employed mis-understood and misinterpreted most of the Russian documents he examined.

Moreover, Jack Harte posted a misleading and slanderous article about me (!) in his website at
www.pryakhinfile.com


Jack Harte - to me: Scotus Press has accepted my report and regards your campaign as totally dishonest and totally malicious.

Do they know that you have submitted a bogus report? They trusted you, Jack! So whose campaign is dishonest and malicious?

Let us see what the Scotus Press people will say to you when they read this.



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Some other hights of absurdity that Jack Harte reaches in his site.

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He insists that "the Russian Poetry Society is "a bogus entity, set up by Anatoly Kudryavitsky to endorse his own activities."

I was wondering where our Investigator dug out this rubbish.

Voila!

vavilon.ru - the website of a certain group of homosexual young Russian writers that also publishes a gay magazine called “Argo-Risk” and a few leaflets, including so-called 'Moscow Literary Life'.
Their sexual preferences don’t matter here, but what matters is the fact that Vavilon is the organisation that has always been in a close contact with the jailed Mr Eduard Limonov's Nazi Bolshevik Party. Mr Alexey Tsvetkov Junior, one of the leaders of Vavilon, is a long-serving Committee member of the Nazi Bolshevik party and Mr. Limonov's right-hand man. This is the source Jack Harte is quoting in his website in a shameful attempt to blacken my name.

Jack Harte claims that he couldn't find any other information on the Russian Poetry Society.

Why not give him a hand?


The following is from the UNESCO website:
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Russian Poetry Society

Date of creation: 03.10.1998




The Poetry Society was established in 1998 by the leading Russian poets Genrich Sapgir (1928-1999), Gennadi Aigi, Konstantin Kedrov (the current President), Anatoly Kudryavitsky (President from 1998 till 1999), Tatyana Shcherbina and Larissa Miller. The aim of Russian Poetry Society society is to help poets and poetry thrive in today's Russia. The Russian Poetry Society is a strictly non-political membership organisation open to all poets.

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Is it enough to say that two of the six founding members of the Russian Poetry Society, Gennady Aigi and Konstantin Kedrov, were nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature? Some 'bogus organisation'!

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Jack Harte also denies me membership of the Irish Pen.

He is a nice man to know, Jack Harte. The only problem with him is that he doesn't know the meaning of a certain word, and the word is "truth".

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My comments
here are always in red.


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I have since got many e-mails from the Irish writers and organisations who object against the Stalinist lecturing in the Irish Writers Centre.

This one came from Jenni Doherty, the Irish Pen

Sunday 11 March 2007

Hi Anatoly,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, otherwise I'd have been none the wiser. I am not really sure how to respond, but I will say that I am quite appalled by the below and support you in all that you have remarked upon and stand by you also for it.

I'm assuming that the reading will still go ahead but I would hope that opposition to it will be made well known and that the local media and the centre itself are most aware. Not only is it out of order but the attitude of Mr Harte is most unprofessional and disrespectful.

I hope that a compromise is reached and that respect will be due. Do let me know how you get on.

All the best,

Jenni (in Derry, Northern Ireland)
irishpenjen at yahoo dot co dot uk

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It is frightening to realise that, in the wider world, such invitations
may be perceived as coming from, and supported by, the majority
of Ireland's creative writers - a perception which I am certain is
totally wrong. It highlights the need for an independent writers'
watchdog body to monitor what is done in 'our' name, without
our even being aware of it.'


-- Felicity McCall
freelance writer, actor and facilitator,
a co-founder of Handful Productions, Derry
founder of the Derry Scriptwriting Group

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Excellent and brave response of yours.

-- Helena Johnston, the Irish-Polish Society

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I certainly won't be supporting that event at the Irish Writer's Centre.

-- Maeve O’Sullivan, Haiku Ireland

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I won't be going to his reading. I'd find it hard to listen to his politics.

-- Noel Monahan

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Do let me know if you wish to see this protested in any concerted manner; I would certainly add my voice.

-- Bridget Farrell, Russian translator

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Among the other writers who e-mailed me expressing their concerns about the Stalinist's reading were Macdara Woods, Anne Le Marquand Hartigan, Pat Boran, Mary O'Donnell, Raymond Deane, Philip Casey, Paul Perry. I don't have their permission to publish quotes from their e-mails, however I keep them on file. They all told me that Jack Harte called all of them on the phone or e-mailed them to make them disallow the publication of what they had to say. I hope he didn't sound too intimidating!

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Latest News:


Jack Harte published my private e-mails to him on his website!!
Without my permission, of course.
I wrote to him demanding that he withdraw my e-mails but he didn't deign to reply.

Playing dirty Jack, yeah?


What else is he prepared to do to get his book published in Russia
(and immediately become The Great Irish Writer Jack Harte)?


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From: Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky
To: Jack Harte
Date: March 28, 2007
Re: The copyright offence: last warning


Sir,

In my e-mail of March 16, 2007 I have cautioned you that you have made my private e-mails available to the public without my permission. I referred to the publication in your web-site at the following address: http://www.pryakhinfile.com/02%20Kudryavitsky-Harte%20E-mails.pdf

In the afore-mentioned e-mail I demanded that you remove the file containing the infringing copies of my e-mails immediately. However you have chosen to ignore my warning and took no action.

I must warn you again that the publication of my texts without my written permission contradicts paragraph (1e), Section 140 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, and is a copyright offence (see the definition of a copyright offence in the afore-mentioned Act.) A person who infringes the copyright in this way is guilty of an offence [paragraph (4), Section 140 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000.]

I give you three days beginning from today, March 28, 2007, to remove the infringing copy of my texts. Otherwise I will take legal action against you for breach of copyright. I hope you will understand that I have to take proper action to protect my legal and literary interests.

Anthony Anatoly Kudryavitsky

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The story has been vividly discussed on the Internet. Here is one link.

More will follow.

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The Western Writers Centre has been commenting on Pryakhin's visit, and at some stage I was
satisfied that Fred Johnston presented a balanced case - until he published an article on Pryakhin book.

It is a review of the Pryakhin's book published by Scotus Press; it is written by... Surprise, surprise... by www.scotuspress.com


"Handsomely and clearly produced by Dublin-based Scotus Press..." Jeez, how modest...

"Good informative Introduction by Jack Harte..." I bet this was written by no one else but a certain Mr J H - he is such a big fan of the writer Jack Harte!

"Pryakhin is a well-published writer in Russia." Self-published, my dear Ja... sorry, www.scotuspress.com. Self-published. You probably know the difference.

His story "reads like a newspaper column piece..." Now, you're getting closer to the point, www: this man's prose always reads like hackneyed journalese...

So what's the fuss? Jack Harte publishes Pryakhin, Pryakhin publishes Jack Harte... What has it to do with literature, or vice versa?

Just thought that this page might have been called "Congratulations on an extra Green Bin Day, or more paper for recycling..."

The question is, why the Western Writers' Centre is prepared to publish promotional materials from publishers in their Kiosque? After that, who is going to take their Kiosque seriously? Definitely not me...

Read about it here.
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If you want to make your opinion known, please contact

Jack Harte:
jack @ jackharte. com

Scotus Press:
phone/fax: +353 (0)1 4126663
info @ scotuspress. com

The Irish Writers Centre:
19 Parnell Square Dublin 1
Tel: +353 1 8721302
Fax: +353 1 8726282
info @ writerscentre. ie

You can also contact me at
ak2004 @ planet-save. com