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Five years ago Hollywood produced a spate of movies about attacks on earth by aliens from other planets. The most extreme of these films was "Independence Day". In it alien space ships station themselves over every major city on earth and then blast them to pieces.
The movie had only been on general release a few weeks when word filtered back to Hollywood that when New York was pulverised to dust the audience in cinemas across Europe burst into cheers. The producers were left wondering: "Why New York?"
The answer to this question might provide us with an clue to the amazing turn around that seems to be happening in Britain in the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attack on the twin towers of New York's World Trade Centre.
The first forty-eight hours brought a wave of sympathy for the victims and outrage against the perpetrators. Londoners queued to sign books of condolence. Radio talk-back shows listened to Britons emphasizing their close ties of blood, language and culture with Americans and their horror at the images of devastation on their television screens.
Government ministers lined up to tell the nation that we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our American cousins in this terrible hour. Nothing was ruled out. Briton was prepared to go all the way with the USA.Then something happened. Almost overnight, another emotion crept in. On the BBC's question time on Thursday a surprising number of people in the audience said, in effect, "Serves American right."
People remembered that this was the first time in American history that the mainland of the USA had been attacked and noted the panic that the bombing seemed to have cause--all borders closed, all aircraft grounded, military on top alert, the President shuttling around the country from Florida to Louisiana to Strategic Air Command in Nebraska, home to the nuclear bunker.
Many recalled the bravery and stoicism that Britain displayed during the Blitz. Others pointed out that Britain--and many other countries--had been living with terrorist attacks for years. The IRA bombing in Brighton which came close to killing not only the Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher, but many of her Cabinet, did not close the country down. Life went on as usual. They also noted that one of the main sources of funding for IRA terrorism had come from the United States.
This sort of mild anti-Americanism could be summed up as "You've been lucky for so long. Now welcome to the real world." But it kick-started an anti-Americanism that is much more basic and widespread and which stuns Americans when they are confronted with it.
Most Americans do not travel abroad--less than ten per cent have a passport. At home they are certain that the rest of the world regards them as Americans regard themselves--kind, happy, tolerant, people who want to spread democracy, freedom and prosperity everywhere--the American way of life which President Bush regards as "not negotiable".
I therefore comes as a terrible shock to them to learn from demonstrations like those at Seattle that so many people dislike them and their country, some with a hatred so murderous that they could plan and execute Tuesday's terrorist atrocity.
What is the source of this second form of anti-Americanism? Much of it is simply envy. We envy the wealth and prosperity of the United States. We envy its confidence, its success. But we also resent its cultural imperialism, the fact that if Americans had their way we would all be eating McDonalds hamburgers, dancing to American music, drinking Starbucks coffee and wearing Nike shoes.
In a Greek nightclub last summer I watched dozens of young men and women eschew American popular music to dance to traditional Greek folksongs. When I asked why, one replied: "We don't want to be conquered by the Yanks."
Many dislike America's bullying over trade matters--"trade on our terms or not at all", its totally self-centred foreign policy, its contempt for treaties which no longer suit it, its willingness to use force as long as it can avoid American casualties.
This visceral anti-Americanism is best summed up by playwright Harold Pinter in a speech earlier this week: "Arrogant, indifferent, contemptuous of International Law, both dismissive and manipulative of the United Nations--this is now the most dangerous power the world has ever known."
I wonder, however, if it is not the New York aspects of American character that is behind much anti-Americanism--New Yorkers ignorance, crassness, sense of superiority, the flaunting of their wealth and, above all their contempt for anyone who does not hold the same values or think like they do.
This is why the attack on the World Trade Center carries a symbolism for anyone who has harboured even the slightest sliver of anti-American feeling. The twin towers were New Yorkers' two-finger salute to the rest of the world.
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