(HERALD) West’s double standards exposed

West’s double standards exposed

EDITOR. — After reading your story about Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa’s illegal detention at Frankfurt International Airport, I could not help but wonder at the West’s double standards.

It's not over, until it's over isn't it? And, they don’t walk their talk, but expect us to do as they say, and not as they do. And to imagine that this incident happened in Germany of all places, with that historical track record. I guess that some things never change.

Germany becomes so relevant in this issue of walking the talk, for a silent storm is brewing around US President Barack Obama regarding the metaphorical meanings of gestures: raised clenched fist versus raised open palms.

These are symbolic gestures that have permeated the political sphere. In the Zimbabwean context, the clenched fist is used by Zanu-PF, and it became more well-known in the last elections, when the picture of President Mugabe with his fist raised up on high was accompanied by the message, "fist of fury".

Lots of noise was made about it, as some quarters thought that this was confrontational and unacceptable. On the other hand, the raised open palm, though used in praise and worship is also the slogan of the MDC formations.

Obama heightened the tensions about these gestures in his inaugural address last January when he said that his administration was extending a hand to adversaries willing to "unclench their fists."

Depending on who you are and where you were, this was either a reference to Zanu-PF’s clenched fist and/or Iran.

But, according to Kaveh L Afrasiabi in an article entitled "From ‘axis of evil’ to ‘clenched fist’, Obama has failed to break away from the "George W. Bush administration's addiction with negative, and dangerous, metaphors", and this is already becoming problematic when experts are questioning to what extent the raised palm is reflective of other unacceptable gestures.

The fist and the palm mean something, and they can also mean something positive or negative.

The fist has already been demonised, but what does the raised palm stand for? Is it as innocent as we are made to believe?

Nomagugu M’simang,

Harare.