Prince Harry Wears Swastika To Party
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Macfistowannabe
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Pothead Harry makes the news again. Ahh, the beauty of monarchy. A case of jealousy on his brother William, who will take the crown? Somebody needs attention, oh wah.
Macfistowannabe
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
If I may add on, this reminds me of Death To Smoochy. Anyone remember that movie?
Anthony
Refugee
Though to be fair, I feel I have been very unforgiving and perhaps too critical. Its not his fault to begin with - its in his genes to be socially maladroit and culturally retarded; his grandfather and father are absolutely no better.
I apologise for beating a dead donkey over this issue - but, as one of the ministers said of the Royal family just after the American Revolution, 'The Americans managed to get rid of them, why can't we?!'
Stupid. All of them.
Ant.
P.S - The Royals, not Americans.
I apologise for beating a dead donkey over this issue - but, as one of the ministers said of the Royal family just after the American Revolution, 'The Americans managed to get rid of them, why can't we?!'
Stupid. All of them.
Ant.
P.S - The Royals, not Americans.
Anthony
Refugee
Haha! Great movie, Macfistowannabe. But if you ask me, Smoochy had it coming for being such a goody-goody.
Ant.
Ant.
MissVelvetDress_75
Blue Crack Addict
This is just a stupid as some white fraternity members here at a local university who thought that wearing black face to a party was a great idea. 
MissVelvetDress_75
Blue Crack Addict
[q]
UK's Harry Rules Out Auschwitz Visit in Nazi Row
1 hour, 34 minutes ago
By Jeremy Laurence
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry on Thursday ruled out visiting Auschwitz as atonement for wearing a Nazi uniform at a party just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation.
Reuters Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: British Royal Family
Jewish groups had demanded the 20-year-old grandson of Queen Elizabeth make the symbolic gesture as a way of apologizing for wearing a swastika armband and an army shirt with Nazi regalia at a costume party on Saturday.
The prince has apologized for his "mistake" but Jewish rights groups and politicians said he should do more.
"This was a shameful act displaying insensitivity for the victims, not just for those soldiers of his own country who gave their lives to defeat Nazism but to the victims of the Holocaust ..." said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
He added in a statement: "We strongly urge Prince Harry to accompany the British delegation on January 27th to the Auschwitz death camp to commemorate 60 years since liberation. There he will see the results of the hated symbol he so foolishly and brazenly chose to wear."
A royal official said he understood the calls for the prince to go to Auschwitz but there were no plans for him to attend any of the ceremonies.
"It would be a distraction and a detraction from the importance of the occasion because it would become a different story in media terms," the official told Reuters.
"He recognizes he made a very bad mistake and he apologizes for that. There are no plans for him to say anything more."
The Nazis murdered six million Jews and millions of others including Poles, homosexuals, Soviet prisoners and Gypsies. Millions more were imprisoned or forced to work as slaves.
Photographs of the younger son of the late Princess Diana and heir to the throne Prince Charles in Nazi attire appeared in Britain's Sun newspaper, in Israeli papers and on Web sites around the world.
Harry, third in line to the throne, said in a statement he was sorry if he had caused any offence. "It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize," he said.
"INTOLERABLE"
Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said: "Prince Harry has made it clear he is very sorry about it and I think the rest of it is best to leave to Buckingham Palace."
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was less sympathetic, saying the use of Nazi symbols was intolerable.
"I think anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste must be made aware that this can encourage others to think that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the young generation in the free world," he told reporters.
Conservative opposition leader Michael Howard, who is Jewish, told BBC Radio: "It would be appropriate if we heard from him in person about how contrite he is."
Royal commentator Robert Lacey said he was just "a messed up kid" and should be left alone. "He clearly got it wrong. It is a very fine line and Harry stepped over it. But he has apologized and we have to move on," he told Reuters.
Former armed forces minister Doug Henderson was quoted as saying the picture showed Harry was "not suitable" for the army.
Harry, who is due to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst this year, is known as a royal "wild child" and has admitted smoking cannabis and under-age drinking.
Harry was left alone by the British media for several years after the death of his mother in a Paris car crash in 1997, but has come in for criticism in the last few months. Last October, he scuffled with photographers outside a London nightclub.
(additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Jeremy Lovell and Michael Holden in London) [/q]
UK's Harry Rules Out Auschwitz Visit in Nazi Row
1 hour, 34 minutes ago
By Jeremy Laurence
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry on Thursday ruled out visiting Auschwitz as atonement for wearing a Nazi uniform at a party just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation.
Reuters Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: British Royal Family
Jewish groups had demanded the 20-year-old grandson of Queen Elizabeth make the symbolic gesture as a way of apologizing for wearing a swastika armband and an army shirt with Nazi regalia at a costume party on Saturday.
The prince has apologized for his "mistake" but Jewish rights groups and politicians said he should do more.
"This was a shameful act displaying insensitivity for the victims, not just for those soldiers of his own country who gave their lives to defeat Nazism but to the victims of the Holocaust ..." said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.
He added in a statement: "We strongly urge Prince Harry to accompany the British delegation on January 27th to the Auschwitz death camp to commemorate 60 years since liberation. There he will see the results of the hated symbol he so foolishly and brazenly chose to wear."
A royal official said he understood the calls for the prince to go to Auschwitz but there were no plans for him to attend any of the ceremonies.
"It would be a distraction and a detraction from the importance of the occasion because it would become a different story in media terms," the official told Reuters.
"He recognizes he made a very bad mistake and he apologizes for that. There are no plans for him to say anything more."
The Nazis murdered six million Jews and millions of others including Poles, homosexuals, Soviet prisoners and Gypsies. Millions more were imprisoned or forced to work as slaves.
Photographs of the younger son of the late Princess Diana and heir to the throne Prince Charles in Nazi attire appeared in Britain's Sun newspaper, in Israeli papers and on Web sites around the world.
Harry, third in line to the throne, said in a statement he was sorry if he had caused any offence. "It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize," he said.
"INTOLERABLE"
Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said: "Prince Harry has made it clear he is very sorry about it and I think the rest of it is best to leave to Buckingham Palace."
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was less sympathetic, saying the use of Nazi symbols was intolerable.
"I think anybody who tries to pass it off as bad taste must be made aware that this can encourage others to think that perhaps that period was not as bad as we teach the young generation in the free world," he told reporters.
Conservative opposition leader Michael Howard, who is Jewish, told BBC Radio: "It would be appropriate if we heard from him in person about how contrite he is."
Royal commentator Robert Lacey said he was just "a messed up kid" and should be left alone. "He clearly got it wrong. It is a very fine line and Harry stepped over it. But he has apologized and we have to move on," he told Reuters.
Former armed forces minister Doug Henderson was quoted as saying the picture showed Harry was "not suitable" for the army.
Harry, who is due to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst this year, is known as a royal "wild child" and has admitted smoking cannabis and under-age drinking.
Harry was left alone by the British media for several years after the death of his mother in a Paris car crash in 1997, but has come in for criticism in the last few months. Last October, he scuffled with photographers outside a London nightclub.
(additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Jeremy Lovell and Michael Holden in London) [/q]
Do Miss America
War Child
drhark said:
If this is referring to my question then you have a long way to go as to why George Bush and swatsikas have anything to do with a poor choice in costumes.
Ridiculous.
There is one thing on this earth you can NEVER EVER joke about, and that is the most evil bunch of human beings who ever disgraced this earth, and IMHO didn't even deserve the title of Human Being..they were the lice they called everybody else.
And that's the Nazis.
There is no EXCUSE for this.
And I am not Jewish.
Once, when I was in college, two girls showed up at class wearing yellow armbands with a Star of David on them. I took one look, sat there silent and incredulous the next few minutes, then got up and left the class. I had to do so in order to prevent myself from striking one of them.
A real case of "not giving in to the Dark Side"...
And that's the Nazis.
There is no EXCUSE for this.
And I am not Jewish.
Once, when I was in college, two girls showed up at class wearing yellow armbands with a Star of David on them. I took one look, sat there silent and incredulous the next few minutes, then got up and left the class. I had to do so in order to prevent myself from striking one of them.
A real case of "not giving in to the Dark Side"...
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Teta040 said:
Looks like they've got some competition with the enemy we're fighting today. Just substitute master race for master religion. Don't know what to substitute gas chambers for as they haven't quite been able to proceed with killing Jews on a mass scale. For now they settle for suicide bombings and beheading. Fuhrer Bin Laden, Fuhrer Zarqawi, Fuhrer Zawahiri have made their vision for the future clear and it ultimately includes you and I.
I have to write a disclaimer that this isn't attacking an entire religion but a fundamentalist sect of that religion
Macfistowannabe
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I grant you permission to attack bin Laden all you want.
Oh, are we going to turn this into a "who's more evil " dick-measuring contest? so would you argue al-queda is more evil then, say, Pol Pot? Idi Amin? The Ottoman Turks, and their modern aplogists in the modern Turkish gov't who continur to deny what their predecessors did?The Spanish conquestadors who blithely put n writng how much they approved of the 80-90% death rate that conquest and smallpox wrought in the Americas? there were 25 lillion "Indians" in Cwntral and SOuth America in 1500, and by 1700 onlu 5 million. By 1800, 3 million, And while doisease did most of the dirty work, letters and diaries show how much the Spanish took this as a divine sign they were Go'ds chosen people. We Americans have experienced SO LITTLE on the evil scale. And, of course, Africans lose twice as many people to AIDS in one day as we did on 9/11.
I am out of this thread. There is a whole host of things I could say, a whole host of insulting things I could reply. But I won't say them.
And believe me, if I said what I wanted to, I'd be banned. Hell hath no fury like a half Irish-Catholic, half Armenian woman who can count on both sides of her recent ancestry people lost through genocidal means.
I am out of this thread. There is a whole host of things I could say, a whole host of insulting things I could reply. But I won't say them.
And believe me, if I said what I wanted to, I'd be banned. Hell hath no fury like a half Irish-Catholic, half Armenian woman who can count on both sides of her recent ancestry people lost through genocidal means.
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oceane
Refugee
I agree this was a bad move on his part, but I can't help to see the irony in the fact that the party he was going to had 'Colonial Africa' as a theme ( I heard this on the radio). So if he had dressed up as a British or Dutch Colonial Officer in 19th Century South Africa, or in a ridicule 'primitive' African dress for example (like probably most other rich kids there), nobody would have cared.
Hundreds of years of slave trade, all the damage and plunder the British Empire was responsible for in Africa and elsewhere in the world, apartheid, all that is ok for a party theme. But a swatsika ? Nooooo...
Don't get me wrong, anything related to the Nazis disgust me to the highest point, and I certainly don't think the Holocaust or WWII is any subject for fun and partying. But this double-standard from our part (Westerners) never ceases to amaze me.
Hundreds of years of slave trade, all the damage and plunder the British Empire was responsible for in Africa and elsewhere in the world, apartheid, all that is ok for a party theme. But a swatsika ? Nooooo...
Don't get me wrong, anything related to the Nazis disgust me to the highest point, and I certainly don't think the Holocaust or WWII is any subject for fun and partying. But this double-standard from our part (Westerners) never ceases to amaze me.
Diane L
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Harry obviously doesn't have much understanding of the role his Great-Grandparents on his dad's side played during World War II.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mum) were a great source of comfort to their subjects when the Nazis were trying to bomb them to smithereens. They went on walking tours to bombed areas to see the destruction first-hand--they showed that they cared about those who were affected.
During one such appearance, someone in the crowd yelled out, "Thank God for a good king," to which George VI replied "Thank God for a good people."
George & Elizabeth also refused to have their daughters evacuated to Canada or the countryside, when many politicians were urging them to do just that.
Hitler once called Queen Elizabeth "the most dangerous woman in Britain" because of her popularity amongst her subjects and her part in keeping the morale level of Britons high.
For all of these reasons, it is so very, very unfortunate that Prince Harry is ignorant of his Great-Grandparents' role during WWII. If he knew how heroic they were during this dark time in their nation's history, he would have chosen a different costume.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mum) were a great source of comfort to their subjects when the Nazis were trying to bomb them to smithereens. They went on walking tours to bombed areas to see the destruction first-hand--they showed that they cared about those who were affected.
During one such appearance, someone in the crowd yelled out, "Thank God for a good king," to which George VI replied "Thank God for a good people."
George & Elizabeth also refused to have their daughters evacuated to Canada or the countryside, when many politicians were urging them to do just that.
Hitler once called Queen Elizabeth "the most dangerous woman in Britain" because of her popularity amongst her subjects and her part in keeping the morale level of Britons high.
For all of these reasons, it is so very, very unfortunate that Prince Harry is ignorant of his Great-Grandparents' role during WWII. If he knew how heroic they were during this dark time in their nation's history, he would have chosen a different costume.
pax
ONE love, blood, life
Okay, people have made some very good points in this thread. Let's try to keep it on track and have an honest discussion, perhaps, about symbolism, the responsibility of public figures, Nazism...whatever, as long as we can keep our heads about us.
Teta, I don't think drhark meant to minimize the suffering of the victims of Nazism, only that this kind of evil can crop up in different ways and we have a responsibility to nip it in the bud before it causes damage on the scale of the Holocaust. I think that could also be read as trying to honor your ancestors and others who suffered terribly because of the policies of the Nazis: to prevent such horrific acts from happening again.
Deep breaths all around.
Carry on.
Teta, I don't think drhark meant to minimize the suffering of the victims of Nazism, only that this kind of evil can crop up in different ways and we have a responsibility to nip it in the bud before it causes damage on the scale of the Holocaust. I think that could also be read as trying to honor your ancestors and others who suffered terribly because of the policies of the Nazis: to prevent such horrific acts from happening again.
Deep breaths all around.
Carry on.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
I agree the Harry thing was in bad taste, but I find myself cringing a bit at the idea that the Nazis must NEVER EVER be joked about.... that would consign Fawlty Towers and half of Monty Pythons Flying Circus to the dustbin for a start.
Mock the devil, etc?
Mock the devil, etc?
Judah
War Child
As someone pointed out, the Nazis have been used for a lot of comedic material in pop culture (e.g. in Hogans Heroes, by Charlie Chaplin, Mel Brooks, Monty Python, even the last Indiana Jones movie where Indy accidentally runs into Hitler, etc.)...if it was a costume party where people dressed up to be funny looking, maybe that was Harry's motivation (misguided as it may have been). I don't think anyone thinks he was galmourizing Nazis.
He's young, stupid, and has apologized...time to move on.
He's young, stupid, and has apologized...time to move on.
najeena
War Child
It's too bad his Mom isn't around to keep his sorry ass in line.
A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
I will go for the historical record and say that the links between radical Islam and Nazism existed during the war itself and Adolf Hitler held Islam in high regard as a religion of warrior peoples. The grandfather of Palestinian nationalism was Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini and he met with Hitler numerous times even travelling to Germany during the war to assist, he gave units of Muslim troops to the SS to assist with the wiping out of Jews and to this day Mein Kamf is a bestseller among the PLO Arabs. The despotism of theocratic Islamic governance matches, the genocidal Jew hatred is there the only difference is that the Nazi's wanted to rule the world and bin Ladens ideological contemparies want to destroy it. The ideology gets thrown away to the dustbin of history - which I suppose must be the Arab world.
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Diane L
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
najeena said:
I agree, Najeena.
I miss Diana. I know some people here might think that's stupid, but what can I say? I was a fan.
indra
ONE love, blood, life
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 12,689
Anthony said:
I kind of thought the same thing... I mean the royal family isn't exactly know for brains, and there is a fair amount of mental/emotional instability in the line too. Although these traits are found in most families, the British royal family's sole purpose is to be a figurehead...to be the "face" of the nation. They all live a very cushy life and all they have to do is not be offensive. For a normal kid, it's a stupid thing to do, for someone who's sole purpose is to be a goodwill ambassador, it's intolerable. I think he needs a refresher course on what he's getting paid for.
ultrraviolette
Refugee
He's apologized, I'm sure his intent wasn't to make Nazis look like a desirable group. People are making too much out of this, in my opinion.
Macfistowannabe
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I tend to agree with Indra on this one. He knows he's getting followed around by the press. What he did was careless, and he has a repeated pattern of irresponsibility.
beli
Blue Crack Addict
Mrs Simpson, ex King Edward VIII, you know who.
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beli
Blue Crack Addict
I'm personally of the opinion that its better to mock Nazis then hide them like some banished he-who-shall-not-be-named relative . How can people remember to never forget if they're not occassionally reminded? I do enjoy Monty Pythons Nazi gags.
Having said that Prince Harrys intentions are unclear.
Having said that Prince Harrys intentions are unclear.
digsy
New Yorker
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2004
- Messages
- 2,853
it was an exceptionally poor judgement on his part... but not because i think that what he did was sensationally wrong but because he should have realised how the press would react if they saw it. had anyone else gone dressed as a Nazi not a single person would ahve batted an eyelid and its not like the guy was running around pulling "Heil Hitlers" or is an actual nazi sympathiser.
It was a PRIVATE party after all and its unfortunate for him that his actions are judged so quickly and so easily but that is part of his status so far greater thought was needed when planning his costume. i think the whole thing has been blown way out of proprtion but he should have known better really.
that said, has anyone seen what the theme of the party was...?
"Natives and Colonials"
know if anythign is offensive that is - its such a stark indication of the upper classes and the supremist little world they live in. No one mentions that William went dressed in leopard skin as a "native". personally i reckon thats pretty offensive....
this lot must be taking advice off Grandpa Philip...
"Gramps, i got a Native and Colonials fancy dress party, what should i go as?"
"Well why dont you go as a spear chucker (his words once in reference to Aborigines) and you as a Nazi"
lets be honest... its a Philip type thing to do!
It was a PRIVATE party after all and its unfortunate for him that his actions are judged so quickly and so easily but that is part of his status so far greater thought was needed when planning his costume. i think the whole thing has been blown way out of proprtion but he should have known better really.
that said, has anyone seen what the theme of the party was...?
"Natives and Colonials"
know if anythign is offensive that is - its such a stark indication of the upper classes and the supremist little world they live in. No one mentions that William went dressed in leopard skin as a "native". personally i reckon thats pretty offensive....
this lot must be taking advice off Grandpa Philip...
"Gramps, i got a Native and Colonials fancy dress party, what should i go as?"
"Well why dont you go as a spear chucker (his words once in reference to Aborigines) and you as a Nazi"
lets be honest... its a Philip type thing to do!
Anthony
Refugee
I find Monty Python hilarious. Absolutely hilarious - John Cleese, too. However, Prince Harry is not a member of the Monty Python troop, and, I'm sorry to say, he is 'not' a normal 20 year old man. None of the Royals are - if they wanted to be normal they would stop living in their palaces and go out and work for a living. Thats a separate issue, however.
Prince Harry should remember his place, what he is meant to represent and what he is supposed to pay homage to - not think himself a comedian.
Ant.
Prince Harry should remember his place, what he is meant to represent and what he is supposed to pay homage to - not think himself a comedian.
Ant.
Kieran McConville said:
I agree completely with this statement and find it hard to understand why this silly matter has caused such outrage. On the one hand Harry is a playboy prince not yet grown up.
Further, I find it no different at all from Bono goose-stepping on stage which he did many times during ZooTV, not to mention U2 showing the image of a burning swastika at staidums all over the world during bullet the blue sky.
Harry was hardly running for parliament as a nazi! We fought and destroyed the Nazis so that we could live in a free society and that must include being free to take the piss out of them!
Mock the devil and he shall flee thee - absolutely!
verte76
Blue Crack Addict
Diane L said:
I liked her, too.
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