17.10.07

צײלן די מינוטן צו די טערקיש אָנפֿאַל


Turkish Tanks being deployed to the Iraqi border.


The bones of Armenians killed in the Genocide.


איז עס מערנישט מיר, אָדער איז דער װאָך אײן פֿון דעם װאָכן
? װוּ דאָכט זיך אַז די װעלט איז גײן צעפֿאַלן

I'm really fed up with the Turkish government. First, their almost century long denial of the Armenian genocide, and now all this bullshit with Iraq. In case your out of the loop, their Parliament just approved an invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan to fight PKK rebels, potentially bringing chaos and instability to the relatively (only) peaceful part of Iraq. From my perspective I'm not even sure if their pulling this shit because the PKK is a threat to their security, or their just "punishing" the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. My fear is that the Turkish government is backwards and immature enough to take the extra step and not just threaten to invade Iraq as "punishment", but actually invade Iraq, potentially bringing Iran and Syria into the mix.

And now this. Turkey's Foreign Minister has said in an interview, "the perception in Turkey right now is that the Jewish people, or the Jewish organizations let's say, and the Armenian diaspora, the Armenian lobbies, are now hand-in-hand trying to defame Turkey." In a separate interview he is reported saying, "we would not be able to keep the Jews out of this business'' if the resolution is adopted. "

(As a member of the Jewish people, I can confidently say that in supporting resolution 106, I am in fact doing the opposite of defaming Turkey. Should the resolution become law, it would put extreme pressure on the Turkish government/state mindset to quit being jerkoffs and accept it's country's dark history. Such an official realization would raise Turkey's international reputation and in turn make it a much more respectable nation than it it currently is. In the same breath, the United States' government is doing itself no favour by not officially recognizing the genocide it committed upon the native peoples of this land. Nor by not officially apologizing for its practice of chattel slavery. The acceptance of such facts does not defame one's country, but in fact elevates it by proving it to be mature.)

What sucks is that the threat to Jewish security both in Turkey and elsewhere has caused a splintering of moral integrity among Jews. While the resolution is complete justified and should pass, the threat to the security of Jews in Turkey, the pending invasion of Iraq, and future relations with Israel is causing many Jewish (and other) groups in the United States to lobby against its passage. (As a side note, the chance of the bill passing the full House is getting shittier with every passing day). The question I pose to those Jews working against resolution 106 is, why? As a victim of genocide, our people should not cease in the fight for the end/recognition of all genocides.

Oh, but Turkey is Israel's ally. Hey, guess what, if the Turkish government wants to be a bunch of backwards fools, Israel doesn't need 'em. Think about it, almost every country in the world has something against Israel, what's one more. If Turkey wants to sever relations with Israel over something as petty as it's own inability to affirm historical fact, then fuck 'em. Go join every other backwards Muslim state.

As for the pending invasion of Iraq, go head Turkey. The war in Iraq is obviously going so well for the United States that Turkey can be confident an invasion will be quick and easy. They're only Kurdish separatists, I heard they love to be occupied.

Finally, regarding the security of Turkey's 23,000 Jews: if conditions are going to get bad there because Jews have the terrible reputation of fighting for social justice, then its time that Jews prepare to fight for social justice. If they aren't already, Jews in Turkey should organize armed self-defence groups to protect their rights as Turkish citizens and as Jews. If extremists/nationalists are going to be genocide denying babies and kill Jews in Turkey over a resolution that they had no control over, then Jews have no other choice defend themselves and their morals. It is truly deplorable that Turkish society would put its Jewish citizens in a position where they have to apologize for the just actions of 27 members of the United States Congress (none of whom are Jewish Turkish Citizens). It is equally deplorable, however, that Jewish citizens of Turkey (or any Jew) would fold to such pressure and speak out against the resolution and thus, historical fact. It is my opinion that such action is tantamount to moral treason. (Maybe I'm going out on a limb, but from what i have learned of the Armenian Genocide, it seems all to similar to the event that put Jews in places like Turkey in the first place...the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain...).


This is ridiculous!




One last thing:



! אַ בראָך אױף די טערקיש רעגירונג

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again I am impressed by the sincerity of your writing and the expectation that you can make a difference. I firmly belive that you will and probably already have on the people within your own circle. I also felt your pain as you talk about the decision between Yiddishist and Religion. Welcome to the real world and the fact that we live in a dynamic setting constantly infused with new information that changes our views from moment to moment. On the other hand the ability to be able to absorb new information is what allows us to grow intellectually and continually revise our purpose for being. It also brought great pleasure to me to see the respect that you have for your sister in being able to take into consideration her suggestions. After reading your blog I have never been more proud of you and the work your doing as you make your path through life

The W said...

thanks dad. what do you think of the current crisis regaurding turkey?

Anonymous said...

I think that the current War on Terror is a paper tiger unless we can show the world that we have the moral fortitude to supprt our beliefs in real democracy. The gutless politicians who sent our young men and women to IRAQ in the name of democracy lack the strength of their conviction when it comes to recognizing the true terror that reigned down on the Armenian people nearly 100 years ago. It is tantamount to rewriting history and places them in the same category as those who deny the Holocaust

Jasper Yate said...

It's a interesting point pops bring up (hey how's it goin mr Bass?), though irrelivant to the actual conversation, the question just came to me...

it's labeled as fighting for democracy, and certianly some form of democracy is the form of government that will present to humanity the best and most fair body of law, etc, but being heavily interested in philosophy, which means I will take things literally; what are we asserting by fighting for 'democracy'? Surely all we assert in this is the human beings right to choose, which the 'terrorists' whom we fight willfully choose to forfeit in light of a greater good they are led to believe in. The actual form of the government, it seems, doesn't make a difference enough to fight in the name of it. Rather, it seems that fighting in the name of the way America objectively attempts to find a way to respect basic humanity and does not allow for violent religious sects, while still respecting religions equally...yea something like that. it just seems like War in the name of democracy is fighting in the name of self evident rights for people to choose for themselves, which is a silly thing to kill other people over...just a thougt/question for discussion...

Anonymous said...

Jasper
Our President defines democracy with a moral construct. It was that moral construct that I was mocking. How can this moral Presidency supported by a moral Congress ( because Dems won the mid-term but you can not tell them apart from their Republican counterparts) who throw their support for our being and staying in IRAQ ignore a plea for democratic(moral) justice to the Armenian people. I guess in terms of American policy there is a statue of limitations on democracy and its moral backing. I shudder to think that we will at some time in the future remove the word holocaust from our political dictionary.