Boo Elephant Man

[Re: “Elephant Man CD review,” Music, April 10] How can the Mirror lament the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government and in the same issue review the latest Elephant Man album?

Who, on previous CDs, sang these lyrics: “Queers must be killed! Take them by surprise. I am going to shoot you in the head, you are going to meet up with my big gun” (in “We Nuh Like Gay”) or “Join our dance and let’s burn out the queer man. Step on him like an old cloth. Join our dance and let’s crush queer men” (in “Log On”)?

I don’t get it.

And don’t invoke free speech. When was the last time the Mirror reviewed a white supremacist band, even one that would have left its controversial lyrics about race behind?

Yes, Elephant Man agreed not to perform homophobic songs in some countries but the CDs that contain the songs are still available and he still includes these songs in concerts at home in Jamaica.

Maybe your reviewers think some lives are worth more than others. Tell that to Gay and Lesbian Jamaicans who get assaulted, killed and raped on a regular basis.

(For more info, see Stop Murder Music at www.egale.ca)

>> Daniel Lanouette

Radiohead not greedy

[Re: “Load down,” Music, April 10] Radiohead essentially leaked their own album. Let. It. Go.

You can accuse them of many things, but accusing them of greed just makes you look like you have no idea how the music industry works, especially for a potential cash cow like Radiohead.

Look at the $80 million contract R.E.M. signed some time back. Radiohead could have gone that route as well but chose to release their (self-financed) album for, essentially, free, thus sabotaging all their future physical disc sales. Plus don’t forget the admin costs of running a site that millions are going to go to at the same time.

You can call them boring or irrelevant or just plain not your cup of tea, but greedy... it’s a ludicrous claim.

>>Matthew

Honorary doctorate

[Re: “Middle East revisited,” Letters, April 10] For many years, I have been writing letters to newspapers and magazines in defence of Israel and the Jews. Much of the time, the response has been excessive criticism of both me and the cause I promote. The first response to my letter [“Back to the Middle East,” Letters, March 27] was more of the same from John Dirlik. I am not surprised. This is exactly what I expected.

Several months ago, I mentioned this phenomenon to British Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks. He replied that I should continue to write and if this kind of response continues I should consider it “an honorary doctorate.” Well, that must mean that I now have an honorary doctorate.

I express my gratitude to Rabbi Sacks for teaching me how to turn a negative into a positive.

I would also like to add that I stand by all of the facts that I stated in my letter of March 27.

>>Barry Merson

Israel deserves its critics

[Re: “Middle East revisited,” Letters, April 10] A horrified Harvey Huffenmeuller huffed and howled because the “Muslim-run” Mirror (would he refer to a “Jewish-run” Gazette?) published a letter critical of Israel during the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. 

Admittedly, it is rude to opine that collective punishment is considered a war crime but has nevertheless been used for months in Gaza with deadly consequences. We should never point out that Israel’s blockade is devastating Gaza’s already battered infrastructure, water-treatment plants and hospitals, thus claiming as victims the most vulnerable, the elderly and the sick. Nor mourn the five people—three of them children—who drowned in human waste as a lake of sewage breached its embankment and engulfed a Bedouin village in northern Gaza.

Why bring up such unpleasantries? We should instead support Israel, whose response is always “measured,” as Harper informed us after nearly 1,000 Lebanese perished in revenge for the 2006 Hezbollah kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.

Until recently, there was “relative calm” in Gaza, meaning that no Israelis were killed, though many Palestinians were. When two Israelis died in an attack near the border, the “relative calm” was shattered and more Palestinians fell under Israel’s “measured response.” Germans facing French resistance in WWII killed 10 for every soldier lost—why blame Israel for competing with that record?

Please Mirror, no more letters on Israel, unless it is in hushed and reverential terms.

>> Patrice Bombardier

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