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October 17, 2005

Nobel Prize Vs. George W. Bush, Part II

By Pierre Langlais

This year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has probably decided to show its opposition to a certain vision of the world, symbolized by Bush's administration and its allies. After giving the Nobel Prize for Peace to Mohammed El-Baradei, the Prize for Literature was given to Harold Pinter, a British playwright and one of the biggest opponents in the artistic world to George W. Bush and Tony Blair. All of the four major French daily newspapers wrote articles last week about this militant artist.

Alain Dreyfus wrote in Libération, in his article called "Pinter, militant Nobel" :

"[Harold Pinter] speaks unambiguously : According to him, Blair is "an idiot full with illusions" and Bush "a war criminal". In 2003, at the time of the London's demonstrations against the War in Iraq, he read a poem from his " War" collection, called "God bless America" : Your head rolls onto the sand / Your head is a pool in the dirt / Your head is a stain in the dust / Your eyes have gone out and your nose / Sniffs only the pong of the dead / And all the dead air is alive / With the smell of America's God."

Raphaëlle Rérolle et Brigitte Salino wrote in Le Monde an article about the tributes made after Pinter received the award. They quoted Andrew Burgin, the Stop the War Coalition spokesperson, who said :

"The award of this prize is important because it reflects that the forces that speak up for humanity and justice are the real voices that people want to hear -- not the voices of war mongers like Bush and Blair"

Marie-José Sirach wrote in L'Humanité, in her article called "Harold Pinter, a "mad" militant" :

"Harold Pinter is a great defender of the human rights. He rose against the war made by the United States to reverse the Sandinist's government in Nicaragua. Then, against both of the War in Iraq, he used his feather in the newspapers, his words on the radio. Harold Pinter is a man in anger towards the contempt and the arrogance of Messrs Blair and Bush junior, a salutary indignation which gave him the nickname of "the Mad one" in the British press."

Pierre Marcabru wrote in Le Figaro an article called, "Harold Pinter, the playwright of unrest" :

"His engagement is more moral than political and pushes him to show us Bush as the devil having fun with poor fellows."

Posted October 17, 2005 01:09 AM

Comments

VERY interesting. I didn't get a sense of this at all, either from the American or foreign news media. I tend to review right-wing media outlets in the States (National Review, Weekly Standard, Drudge.com) occasionally, and I can guarantee you that they were all too keen to disparage El Baradei for his perceived intransigence. None, however, even dignified a review of Pinter's nomination--I wonder what that says, if anything?

Posted by: Sam Schramski [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 17, 2005 10:02 PM

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