"In Britain, America-bashing is so bad that I fear for my safety"

I failed to see the word "Palestine" mentioned in her article.

Sadly, none of this article surprises me. It is depressing.

the scene in the bus the writer describes seems odd - i just can't imagine english people speaking to strangers on a bus or train let alone shouting at them. i dont think i've ever seen strangers speak on the public transport except to say "excuse me". any londoners ever seen anything like this???

Yeah, you get the occasional spot of bother, but in general, it seems to be displaced anger about something else, and "American" is the easiest insult that comes to mind.

As I think about the number of errors that have occurred in attempting to arrange for accommodations in just the past two days, I'm wondering more and more if there are perhaps one or more individuals in the G14sgow Tourist organization that may have ulterior motives in causing 'contrived confusion' (US 'backlash' re world affairs?) for me as a US citizen. If that is so, it will most probably continue in unusual -if muted, perhaps anonymous, yet vexing and troublesome ways re future financial problems that can, for instance, result in time-consuming V1SA card problems that will need to be unravelled. I am trying to be realistic about such occurrences and the possibility of them continuing and perhaps even escalating while in Scotland.

this is more like it, ime. i have a couple of friends who did graduate work there - it's fashionable in some circles. usually if the academic types dare to visit the us, they change their minds or at least refine their opinion somewhat.

It's when they start pulling that paranoid schtick and swing from being totally surprised that the world doesn't fall at their feet for being American to being raging paranoiacs that I want to pat them on the head and tell them "Next time, stay in Ohio. Really. It will be better in the long run."

Adam, does it surprise you because you think Britian is anti-semitic and anti-American, or because those accusations are too frequently made based on very little?

x-post, that's pretty funny, Madchen.

The incident on the bus certainly sounded made up.

xpost Now you see, Nabisco, one of my coworkers IS Eritrean, should I introduce you?

I think that a great deal of English people are kind of passively anti-American. I never encountered very much anti-semitism.

...but then again, maybe that's why i'm not writing op ed pieces...

Among the innumerable categories applicable to the phenomena of human life one may discriminate between those in which substance prevails and those in which form prevails. To the latter- as distinguished from village, country, provincial, or even Moscow life- we may allot Petersburg life, and especially the life of its salons. That life of the salons is unchanging. Since the year 1805 we had made peace and had again quarreled with Bonaparte and had made constitutions and unmade them again, but the salons of Anna Pavlovna Helene remained just as they had been- the one seven and the other five years before. At Anna Pavlovna's they talked with perplexity of Bonaparte's successes just as before and saw in them and in the subservience shown to him by the European sovereigns a malicious conspiracy, the sole object of which was to cause unpleasantness and anxiety to the court circle of which Anna Pavlovna was the representative. And in Helene's salon, which Rumyantsev himself honored with his visits, regarding Helene as a remarkably intelligent woman, they talked with the same ecstasy in 1812 as in 1808 of the "great nation" and the "great man," and regretted our rupture with France, a rupture which, according to them, ought to be promptly terminated by peace.

Of late, since the Emperor's return from the army, there had been some excitement in these conflicting salon circles and some demonstrations of hostility to one another, but each camp retained its own tendency. In Anna Pavlovna's circle only those Frenchmen were admitted who were deep-rooted legitimists, and patriotic views were expressed to the effect that one ought not to go to the French theater and that to maintain the French troupe was costing the government as much as a whole army corps. The progress of the war was eagerly followed, and only the reports most flattering to our army were circulated. In the French circle of Helene and Rumyantsev the reports of the cruelty of the enemy and of the war were contradicted and all Napoleon's attempts at conciliation were discussed. In that circle they discountenanced those who advised hurried preparations for a removal to Kazan of the court and the girls' educational establishments under the patronage of the Dowager Empress. In Helene's circle the war in general was regarded as a series of formal demonstrations which would very soon end in peace, and the view prevailed expressed by Bilibin- who now in Petersburg was quite at home in Helene's house, which every clever man was obliged to visit- that not by gunpowder but by those who invented it would matters be settled. In that circle the Moscow enthusiasm- news of which had reached Petersburg simultaneously with the Emperor's return- was ridiculed sarcastically and very cleverly, though with much caution.

She seems quite certain that the woman wasn't A Crazy, though. Because y'know, she was just shaking a crying old woman screaming 'you feelthy amereekens are scum!'.

Is should at least be possible to check the veracity of this statement. Did this actually happen?

haha but before he came to london he did get harassed by a 10-yr-old french kid in the pompidou centre who said "shut up you american w.your loud voice- you NEVER STOP TALKING"

x-post: Michael, I wouldn't doubt that, but what bothers me is when someone automatically assumes that every American 'tourist' is that way.

xpost

i would love to have witnessed this

Now what mostly happens is that a subtle change comes over the faces of strangers who hear me speak (shopkeepers, people I've just been introduced to who don't know my nationality, etc). Anyone in this circumstance that I get into a conversation with is polite and may or may not test out my political views--seems to me that they are aware that since I'm over here, I must want to be over here, and that must be a point in my favor, or something. It probably helps that I'm a reserved person with a quiet speaking voice who hates confrontation, i.e. unlike the 'typical' american persona and more like the British (if I can generalize so broadly). (many xposts!)

Helen Rumbelow

MANY BBC viewers yesterday called for an apology to be made to Philip Lader, a former American Ambassador, who was the target of vociferous attacks from a heated Question Time audience.

The special edition of the programme provoked a strong protest about a vocal minority of British Muslims in the audience, who dominated the debate with strong criticisms of America's desire to retaliate. Complaints about the programme's content ran into several hundreds, while viewing figures were a record 5 1/2 million, more than double the usual viewing audience.

Mr Lader, who is now an adviser to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the banking firm heavily affected by the attack on the World Trade Centre, was the focus of much of the anger of the live studio audience. The BBC denied yesterday that the audience had been weighted in favour of those with anti-American views. It advertised for Thursday night's audience on London radio and on its website and said that it vetted applicants to balance the numbers of Americans and British Muslims. The majority of the audience was non-Muslim.

"There was no weighting of the audience to be anti-American, but there were Muslims in the audience because we chose to put some in there," a spokesman said. "From some of the complaints you would think there had been a cheerleader for Osama bin Laden there. There absolutely was not. There is no denying it was a controversial programme, but not one person from the audience or panel expressed any support for what the terrorists did."

Many viewers were shocked by the hostility of the audience to Mr Lader so soon after the attack. Some called for an apology to be made to him.

Gail Truchard, of London, was typical of scores of viewers who wrote to the show's website. She said: "I'm absolutely ashamed. Apologies should be extended to Philip Lader as representative of his countrymen and women for what he was subjected to tonight."

Most of the time I meet people, they usually play the safe card by assuming I'm Canadian, but then they want to know why I left the U.S. to come to London, which they tend to regard with disdain. I even had a cute boy follow me around the pet shop just to hear my accent.

I have never experienced any kind of anti-Americanism in the European countries I've visited -- in fact, the nicest people were in Paris.

Not being Jewish though I'm not sure about all the anti-Semitism. My best friend is Jewish ("Some of my best friends are ______") so I tend to be very sensitive to anti-semetic comments in the same way I'm very sensitive to homophobic comments.

I was raised not to assume anything about people based solely on their appearance, nationality, race etc... I think this is true of most civilized people worldwide.

"DON'T ASSUME I AM A WOMAN JUST BECAUSE I HAVE BREASTS"

We were behind a guy in a US Flag sweatshirt when we went through the Catacombs in Paris and he kept lifting skulls up and moving them around despite obvious signs posted everywhere telling you not to do this. This is pretty much the worst I've seen.

How many non-Americans have an understanding of how impoverished and unequal our educational system is?

I have to say that when I first came to the UK, I was shocked at the differences. But my first thought wasn't "Europe is anti-semetic" so much as "Holy shit, American news is censored!!!"

You have to admit, this is VERY tempting though.

This is so true. God, but I'm a frightful snob sometimes.

That article reads like bullshit.

http://www .frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14249

One of the worst articles I have ever read, is also from front p4ge magazine. If this, and the above is representative the calibre of article they are publishing, then what the hell kind of organisation are they? America's equivalent of the Daily Mail?

Just to make it clear – I'm British; Jewish; totally opposed to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and to the treatment of Palestinians in general by Israelis, so don't accuse me of that; surprised by the level of anti-Semitism the author perceives in the UK – I have directly been affected by anti-Semitism but not in the ways or to the extent she describes; and on the whole a bit queasy about the tone of the article.

Non-tourist Americans in America are just as annoying.

I also think that whereas Europeans from little countries travel 'abroad' quite easily and are familiar with other languages, cuisines, governments, and mentalities, many Americans are not exposed to 'otherness' as much.

I remember once being painfully embarassed by a friend of mine coming to visit my x-wife and I in Paris and for one whole day he couldn't shut up about how the streetlights, doorknobs, phone rings, electrical outlets, etc... were different. He was shocked to find that there were countries different to his own and I was appalled.

Oh, and look who's on the front page of Front Page - our old friends Phyllis Chesler and Tammy Bruce!

Chicago has the right idea, though - create a special tourist zone where they can leave all of their cash.

So we're better abroad? Explain, please.

Personally, I find this rather charming. I hate it when I have a visitor who seems completely oblivious to the fact that they are somewhere new and/or just complain about everything.

well I've never heard of them but David Horowitz writes for them and all their articles are conservative screeds. I don't think they have any presence outside of the web. Consider it crackpot stuff for the right wing.

Yeah, that's what some Americans would like to think.

As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large group of Middle Eastern men boarding. The first man wore a dark suit and sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closet to the cockpit door. The other seven men walked into the coach cabin. As "aware" Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get comfortable. I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the situation as well. As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other. They continued to look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I could tell that my husband was beginning to feel "anxious."

She then continues to spy on these men for a while. Have anti-terror fears in the US had the effect of releasing people so inclined to act as a kind of racist neighbourhood watch? Also, they have an Anti-Chomsky blog - as if the man's ego isn't big enough already.

massive xpost

This is almost irrelevant in this thread now, though.

So we're better abroad? Explain, please.

I should said that they/we CAN be just as (and more) annoying.

A couple weeks ago: I'm picking up dinner from neighborhood restaurant. Large vehicle with "W '04" and "Support our President and Troops" stickers dumps off a bunch of middle-aged whites. They enter the restaurant, look around, become visibly nervous. I'm assuming it was because they saw a lot of black people (myself and one waiter were the only exceptions). Hostess walks up to them, asks if they'd like to be seated. The whole group leaves without responding. (This was less than one mile outside of Detroit. These people actually seemed stunned to be in "that kind" of situation.)

-- adam. (adamr...), October 22nd, 2004.

I agree with Adam. I like it when people note the differences, it makes me think they're excited. It doesn't ALWAYS mean total ignorance.

Yes, and U.S. can't possibly be racist because we have black politicians.

("allowed")

I generally agree and I appreciate people who are curious and observant. It's just that my friend was shocked more than amused and while he didn't complain about everything many of his questions were tinged with an incredulity that anyone would do things differently than here in the U.S. Luckily my feisty Parisienne ex-wife liked him and he was very happy to have a local show him around.

*cries in delight* This sounds marvellous.

(What a fucking cunt she is. Does anyone know her views about Ay-rabs and faggots and niggers?)

http://www.hayvanlaralemi.net/yazilar/image_kisa/159_koala.jpg

And now here is the news for koalas. A month ago, a koala was travelling on a double-decker bus. A well-dressed woman boarded with her son, respectable in his school uniform. Ahead of her was an elderly koala, who said, "I beg your pardon, I didn't mean to bang into you." This prompted a tirade from the woman. "I rejoice every time I hear of another koala dying! You koalas are destroying the world".
The koala fought back: "I personally am not destroying the world." This only provoked the woman more, and she screamed into the koala's face: "I wish every last koala of you would leave this country and not set foot in it ever again." The koala began crying. "Thank you for ruining my trip." The woman lunged at the koala and began to shake it. I jumped up and shouted for the driver to stop and for her to leave the woman alone, prompting the woman to come over and grab me. "Another bloody koala! You are scum."

In other news, an American missile today destroyed a wedding party in the rebel-held city of Falluja. Military spokesmen say the intended target of the surgical strike was an insurgent cell operating in the area. No koalas were injured.

They do serve fish. I'm certain these people were scared off by the diners and staff. The eyes said it all (I've seen that look many times before). And, despite their ignorance, I really don't think they walked into a place called Om expecting to get a mom-and-pop Ponderosa or Old Country Buffet.

Fish is meat for fags.

I've only ever had debates about politics and America with British people in conversation - never in argument. Most people recognise, like I do, that most US politicians are well to the right of my political beliefs so don't blame me for them. I do fight like a crazy thing about US issues with my mom constantly.

Did I imagine this? No. Was the Englishwoman a crazy nymphoslut? Yes. God, I love this country.

Very Robert Evans!

I jumped up and shouted for the driver to stop and for her to leave the woman alone, prompting Lady E to come over and grab me. "Another bloody American! You are so fucking hot. Have a squeeze of this bap."

"Yours was pretty good, too," he responded.

WUV.

ICE
Whatever you say, Commander.

nb this has nothing to do with British people but I thought it was kind of amusing/sad.