Countering the Nazi smears against Kim Dotcom

By
Keith Locke
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17
8

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We have to defend Kim Dotcom against efforts to associate him with Nazism simply because he possesses a copy of Mein Kampf.

It is a form of censorship when a person is being demeaned because of the philosophy espoused in a book he happens to own. [It should be noted that Dotcom is Jewish and forthrightly anti-Nazi.]

There is a sorry history of New Zealanders being penalized for possessing “extreme” political books. In 1921 Walter Nash (later to become Prime Minister) was convicted for importing “seditious” left-wing literature, and in the 1930s several Kiwi activists were imprisoned for possessing socialist books.

Many in the mass media have simply repeated the British tabloid-like slander against Dotcom. Some have tried to have it both ways, defending Dotcom’s right to own Mein Kampf, but then saying it is “creepy” to do so. A question for them: are museums also “creepy” for having Nazi memorabilia – and that from other brutal dictators?

People shouldn’t be discouraged from reading books like Mein Kampf. Knowing how fascists think is useful for identifying and countering neo-fascist groups today, like Golden Dawn in Greece. The question we have to answer is not whether these groups specifically identify with Hitler’s Nazi Party but whether they have a similar philosophy and practice. I haven’t got a full assessment of the Ukrainian groups like Svoboda and the Right Sector, often labeled as neo-fascist, but their uniformed armed militias, thuggish tactics and ethnic chauvinism does ring some bells. There is a sickening video on Youtube of an invasion of a Kiev TV station where a gang, including a Svoboda MP, beats the CEO and forces him to write a resignation letter. [Mind you, Putin’s people can also act like thugs.]

Like the “communist” smears of the McCarthy period, the “Nazi” smear against Dotcom is calculated to discourage people from looking at his message.

It is too early for me to make a proper assessment of the Internet Party because it has yet to determine so much of its policy. However, the policies for internet freedom, greater public access to the internet, and an end to state surveillance are ones I support. The party is right on with its call for New Zealand to withdraw from the Five Eyes spy network – and something the Internet Party, Mana and the Greens can unite behind.

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17 COMMENTS

  1. I would think Dot com owning the book and saying he has Jewish blood is a bit of a stretch or a betrayal to his so called Jewish ancestory as I do not know one single Jewish person who would own such a book out of respect to there fellow Jews who were slaughtered by the author.

    • Jim, hate to tell you this but the president of the NZ Jewish council was on TV3 the other night saying quite clearly that he owned a copy and that there was nothing wrong with doing so.
      Also a bit rich for MPs to be up in arms about it when the parliamentry library holds a copy of Mein Kampf

        • No idea, Herr Gosmann. Do you? Do you own a life-sized statue of Ayn Rand? With the special fountainhead application for true believers?

          Do you know how many Gosmanns held officer rank in the SS? Why have you kept this information from us?

          Why are you so keen to direct attention towards Mr. Dotcom, who has Jewish ancestors? How much is anti-semitism involved in this action of yours?

        • So if it’s signed by Hitler he’s definitely a Nazi?

          Poor trolling, not a complete write-off but only a C- for that one.

        • Face it Gosman, reading anything at all apart from the latest shares and currency trading, is like encountering a strange, frightening and potentially hostile planet for a certain prominent politician.

  2. [It should be noted that Dotcom is Jewish and forthrightly anti-Nazi.]

    Keith – – – from whence does that comment come ? I haven’t seen it anywhere else but feel it is a very important piece of information (if correct) that should be used in counter arguments to the current media feeding frenzy.

  3. What is really behind this smear of Dot Com and also behind the on-going negative, misinformed, petty reporting of Cunliffe, Labour, Turei, Norman the Greens, Harawira and Mana is summed up very well in this article by Chris Hedges.

    http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/democracy_in_america_is_a_useful_fiction_20100124

    I get the sense that who is threatening the corporate interests the most and who are getting the worst smears and negative reports in the mainstream media is a direct correlation. This is a pathetic state of affairs.

    I hope people ask themselves what party/ies are most addressing the type of issue raised in Chris Hedge’s article and choose to vote from one of these parties.

    I commend all the voices, including Dot Com and many of our left-wing politicians, who speak out on this disgraceful state of corruption we are currently experiencing. It only serves a very few small minded self absorbed people to silence these voices – for the rest of us, those who speak out are doing us a great favour.

  4. Trying to associate someone who wants to end state surveillance with fascism is ridiculous.

    Mass surveillance and control is the cornerstone of a fascist regime.

  5. Anyone remember the British TV series Spitting Image skit where Brit MP Margaret Thatcher used to get advice from her gardener who looked a lot like Adolph Hitler? I was sorry they replaced it with the New Zealand version which wasn’t half as funny.

  6. In my opinion Mein Kampf isn’t the real issue here. The muckrakers were out for whatever dirt they could find, any Nazi-era collectables would have sufficed, however they struck pay dirt with Mein Kampf. Never mind Dotcom has collectables associated with Churchill and Stalin which the sensationalist media ignores or downplays.

    Contrast this with John Key who owns Goering’s bed as revealed in an interview:

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4094710/Tom-Scott-gets-personal-with-the-PM

    This isn’t portrayed in a scandalous manner but as a good investment made by his grandmother who purchased it and himself who retains it. Key, whose Jewish ancestry runs through his mother’s side would make him a Jew in the eyes of Orthodox Judaism. Is it outrageous that his mother’s family who fled Europe and the coming Holocaust later brought an item associated with one of its architects? Apparently not for a media so praiseworthy of Key. For Dotcom the standard differs however. Now Dotcom has revealed he has Jewish ancestry, I can now easily imagine the tiring and nonsensical debate by detractors of how Jewish he is; whether he’s lying, how much ancestry, whether he’s Jewish based on religious criteria, not a Jew or traitor because he owns Mein Kampf; and so forth.

    From what I’ve observed in media coverage, the notion Dotcom has Nazi sympathies is ridiculous. He has a Filipina wife, many big events revolving around him one can easily see people of many different ethnic backgrounds and the music he produces is of the dance/electronic genre – not the type of music that would appeal to Neo-Nazis which would likely be some ghastly variant of heavy metal.

  7. Im just offended that someone who isn’t a Kiwi citizen can come here and attempt to buy a political party. If a billionaire right wing neo lib yank arrived here for a visit and tried same we’d all be screaming

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