Unwelcome Visitor is not a man or a woman. It is Racism!
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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.
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Why I shall boycott the so-called “anti-racist” event in Dublin
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.
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]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 |  |  |
| 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. 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. “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
