Namibia seeks reparations from Germany

A story I found today on the BBC website

Well, the Brits had better hope that they don't succeed and thereby set some kind of precedent.
If Britain had to pay reparations for all the outrageous acts committed during colonial times then they could shut up shop and declare themselves bankrupt.

And while we're at it - when is the British government finally going to hand back all the stolen goods it unabashedly displays in the British Museum? They could start with giving the Elgin Marbles back to Greece, and work their way down the list from there.

well said, tops... took the words right out of my mouth.

Why is Germany the only country that ever gets asked for reparations?

What about the UK, or France, or Spain?

Or for that matter, why doesn't Russia have to pay reparations to all the countries that were behind the iron curtain? Why didn't Russia have to pay for the rebuilding of East Germany after reunification, for example?

EDIT: beaten by Topsy too!!

I was thinking the same things myself when posting that article. Some of the countries would be bankrupted by their former colonies.

I am writing the claim for Gibraltar as we speak...

Ok they didn't kill anyone, but they're bloody annoying...

guess they think Germany could be a soft touch due to its bad conscience. Germany have been far better than any other nation at this sort of thing, as well as facing up to their past (you may claim I guess that they bloody well ought to considering what they did!). I think the way they (Germany) have acted post '45 is very commendable really

who are annoying?
people from Gibraltar?

nah, the British. People from Gibraltar are just lazy...

(I am not typical of a Gibraltarian! I'm annoying AND lazy.)

No comment

hehe

most of it is on purpose, and the rest is (usually) lack of ability at making myself understood through writing without sounding like a twot!

I think that Germany gets more slack because their attempts at colonial expansion relatively speaking are much more recent and were maybe more "noticable" as they in fact coincided more or less with the gradual withdrawl globally of the traditional colonial powers (Britain, Spain, Holland, Portugal, etc.)...

Then Britain should in just the same amount of trouble! India, Pakistan and a bunch of others. Spain too, the whole Morocco/Western Sahara thing...

Maybe Germany should claim reparations from Rome?

We want our spuds back !

And vice versa. Dont think the Romans occupied as much of Germany in comparison to the ass-kicking Germanic tribes unleashed on the roman empire later on.

Those damn Visigoths!

Yes but they did give us those cool Spanish surnames Fernandez,Gomez,Hernandez etc etc

Home Owners Of Jericho Against Street Musicians Association !

Join here.

True... many words in spanish come from Visigothic influence when they were in Spain.

Example:

"Mas" in spanish is like the German "mehr" or English "more" rather than being like the "piu" in Italian or "plu" in French which comes from Latin.

Aren't you the lucky one.

The Elgin marbles were not "stolen" they were taken and preserved with the full knowledge of the Greek government, encumbent at that time.

When will the Germans give back the only known image of Nefititi (sp) that was taken without the permission of the Egyptian government of the time?(They have been asked several times but just ignore it)

When will people in Yorkshire compensate the rest of the UK for:

1. Black puddings
2. Whippet racing
3. A ridiculous accent
4. Racism (or "countyism" (whereby only a man born in Yorkshire could play for their cricket team))(this rule was rescinded a few years back but no apologies from Yorkshire have been forthcoming))
5. Having to listen to the "wife beating" Geoffrey Boycott drone on in the aforementioned accent
6. Getting aggressive the minute their loss of the "War of the Roses" is mentioned
7. Leeds Utd fans

No, I am not from Yorkshire but my maths teacher was and I still have nightmares about her now!!