Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.06.2005, Blaðsíða 4

LETTERS
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your mail to: The Reykjavík Grapevine, Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík.
WULFFMORGENTHALER
see more at www.wulffmorgenthaler.com
Hi Bart,
I was in Iceland until yesterday
doing my journo-ing bit looking at
a new product made by an Icelandic
company and picked up an issue
of the Grapevine in my hotel,
the Bjork. I like the look of the
Grapevine, long may it succeed and
prosper.
Something else that caught my
attention was the Icelandic girl in
the rather beat-up, soft-top Suzuki
Vitara jeep, which had broken down
right in the middle of Laugavegur
on Wednesday at around noon.
Now obviously, most British guys
would be far too reserved to ask for
the phone number of a woman in
distress. Normally, I would have
thrown caution to the wind and
asked, but I was on my way to catch
a bus to the airport to come home.
So, through your letters pages,
may I enquire as to the condition
of her battery now (well, I am an
automotive journalist!) and whether,
should she read this, she might send
me either her phone number, or e-
mail? I’ll be coming back to Iceland
later this year and would be happy
to bring a new set up ‘jump leads’
with me.
How many girls are there in
Reykjavík that drive beat-up white
Suzuki Vitaras? I’ll be happy to share
that information with you in due
course! Incidentally, on another
tack, why is it that Icelanders are so
blind to the treasures that are right
there in front of them? I’m talking
about 1930s ‘Art Deco’ buildings.
True, there are quite a few bad
examples, but Reykjavík has some
really excellent - if rather neglected
- examples that with a little bit of
imagination could provide more than
a good enough reason to visit the
city. If you, or the Icelandic tourist
office doesn’t believe me, look no
further than the equally hard to
reach New Zealand city of Napier
for inspiration.
I managed to (just) find enough
time to start photographing the best
examples I could find and asked
a number of local book dealers
and antique dealers whether there
was a society in Iceland for
the preservation of what I think
Icelanders call ‘funky’ 1930s-style
buildings and objects. With massive
degrees of redevelopment now taking
place in the city centre, it would be a
great shame if this heritage was lost
now in my view.
Is there an opening here for a new
pressure group? If so, count me in.
Malcolm
Oh boy, is this awkward.
My girlfriend drives a beat-up, soft-top
white Suzuki Vitara jeep, which broke
down in the middle of Laugavegur on
Wednesday.

Curse you automotive journalists and
your ways!!!!!!
Also, I wouldn’t start a pressure group
about preserving anything if I were
foreign. They’ll call you a professional
protestor.
From: Kara Hnjukar [mailto:
sirap0707@yahoo.com]

“It should be noted that the
term “professional protestor”
(atvinnumótmælandur) has been
frequently used to describe those
practicing civil disobedience in
Iceland. The term is inaccurate,
as there is no such thing as a
“professional protestor.”
Of course professional protestors
exist. Throughout history, imperial
forces on both right and left have
often bribed citizens to turn against
their own government. Surely you
must have heard the term “fifth
columnist”?

Closer to home, you say that “all are
welcome” to join the demonstration
outside the Ministry of Justice. You
are presumably being paid a salary
at the Grapevine so the Icelandic
government could claim that you are
a “professional protestor”.

And let’s not forget that Susan de
Muth, the author of that Guardian
piece, is the wife of protestor Ólafur
Páll Sigurðsson. Presumably she
was paid for the article, which the
Icelandic government and others
claim to be highly inaccurate
– professional protesting by a
journalist. And that’s nothing new.
This kind gentleman confirms the
definition of “professional protestor” not
with the fascist belief that if you have a
view that doesn’t match the government
you are there to cause disorder. No, he
advances it to a unique level: if you
report on someone who doesn’t fully
agree with the government you are a
“professional protestor.” Excellent logic.
We are familiar with the term fifth
column, a term coined by General
Mola in during the Spanish Civil
War, but that has since been used to
scare populations about foreign-born
populations, especially popular against
Jews in Britain in the middle of the
last century, as Jews would be loyal,
according to their accusers, to anarchists
and Bolsheviks. How curious to see the
term thrown about in Iceland when
a group of locals want to protest big
business.
The kindly gentleman also confuses
the Grapevine for any and all foreign
media. There he is correct. The foreign
media is actually a large jellyfish-like
creature living in a parallel universe
that sends bits of cruel information
through the cosmos undercutting the
otherwise philanthropic ways of all local
non-media peoples. There can be only
one answer to this dilemma: construct a
safety helmet from two parts cotton, one
part aluminium foil, and three parts
microwave chili. Don it. Now sit in
your bath tub and repeat “The rain in
Spain falls mainly in the plains” until
the apocalypse wipes us from the planet.
Mr. Cameron,
I have a bit of a thing for Iceland.
I would describe my fascination as
an intense interest in studying and
observing Icelanders in regards to
people of color and immigrants.
Others would describe my
fascination as freakish obsession
since I am a black woman from
Alabama. Most people in Alabama
suffer from severely localized
mentalities. When I was moving
to London years ago, countless
southerners asked me what language
they spoke “over there.” But, I
digress.
I visited Iceland in April through
Icelandair’s Midweek Getaway. I
had an amazing trip. Yes, the natural
wonders and horseback riding were
nice, but my best days were spent
schlepping around Reykjavík’s
coffeehouses. As much as I would
like to say that I no longer feel
drawn to Icelandic history and
immigration issues, I cannot. I feel
more compelled to study the strange
way Icelanders insist bigotry doesn’t
happen in their country. For some
reason, Icelanders seem to think that
placing focus on preservation of their
lineage and culture has nothing to do
with bigotry. It’s the same mentality
that fueled the Ku Klux Klan in the
United States. Racism doesn’t have
to be a violent act or a yelled slur.
It is more offensive in those small
every day acts. But, I am not writing
to flog Iceland because I live in the
hypocrisy capital of the modern
world.
I would like to know if there is any
way someone like myself could assist
with your paper on a volunteer level.
I currently live in Philadelphia and
have writing experience. I work as a
copy editor at a financial firm.
April Dobbins
We welcome submissions from around
the world, though we focus mainly on
local issues. We pay all writers as much
as we can.
Regarding blatant racism, in this
issue we decided not to print any of the
Iceland is a white motherland emails
that we receive. For one thing, they
have gotten more violent in tone and
they are not adding to the stupid racist
discussion—so if you want to read
about ignorant angry racists, read any
of our back issues.
Another reason we aren’t running any
of the angry racist letters is because
whenever we try to respond to one of the
vicious, antagonistic pieces of mail in
the hope of opening a dialogue, we find
the email is blocked. That’s right, angry
racists are afraid of emailed replies from
journalists of free newspapers. Or, to
paraphrase our journalist Paul Nikolov,
the racists were using our letters page
like a bathroom wall, scribbling graffiti,
not opening a discussion.