Dear Pamela,

All agreed - particularly re the Ottoman regime.  On terrorism, yes of
course, this wasn't invented in 1940s Palestine: the point I wanted to
make was that the sight of what was at the time the third most powerful
nation on Earth being forced out of Palestine by such tactics sent a
pretty unambiguous message to all other (and subsequent) nationalist
movements across the world - from Indo-China, through Africa to Latin
America: Vietnam, Aden, Kenya, Algeria, Belgian Congo, Angola, Mozambique,
Cuba and Colombia, and Northern Ireland to give just ten examples.

On nationalism: yes again: this was arguably the the very worst world
invention of the late 19th century and the the 20th century.

As late as the 1870s a leading German political philosopher insisted that
"Germany is not, and must never become, a Nation", but the world went on
to deify and then try to fossilise the concept of the independent and
all-powerful National State in the Versailles and related Treaties of
1919-1920.  My most fervent wish is that this utterly destructive concept
won't reach it's 100th birthday, though I fear that national politicians
will fight to the death to save it (with our lives, not theirs, of
course as usual).


Patrick Boylan

===========================


On Tue, 23 Apr 2002, Pamela Sezgin wrote:

> Dear Patrick,
>
> To add a footnote to your post, the Irgun were not the first to employ
> so-called "terroist" tactics in the Middle East.
>
> The Moslem Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s, employed these
> techniques against the British.
>
> Also, similar techniques date to ancient times, e.g., prior to the founding
> of Shi'ia Islam with the murders of Huseyin and Hassan, and before them, of
> Ali.
>
> Check the famous Arab historians Charles Issawi and Phillip Hitti for more on
> this topic.
>
> Also, please don't use revisionist Ottoman history.   Overall, the Ottomans
> ruled Palestine and other areas of the Levent, as well as the Arabian
> Penninsula with much less bloodshed and trauma than we have seen in our days.
>   Check Bernard Lewis' vast works on this subject.  It is nationalism that
> has created all the modern problems and human rights violations with it's
> false pretenses that a country has definable, geographic boundaries, and that
> the dominant culture is somehow homogeneous (they are not) with one language,
> one religion, one folklore tradition.  The Palestians and the Israelis have
> come late to this game (1940s) as have most modern Arab Countries
> (e.g.,Lebanon declared independence in 1956).  Many modern African nations
> are still caught up in these problems, too -- e.g., Zaire or  should we again
> say the Congo;  Zimbabwe/Rhodesia,   strife between the Hutu and Tutsi in
> Ruanda,  where and when will it stop???
>
> Note that the  1915 conflict with the Armenians unfortunately parallels
> todays events in the Middle East with  great similarity since the Armenian
> communities at the break-up of the Ottoman Empire who experienced problems
> and relocation were only those who supported armed "terrorists,"  (or
> liberation fighters according to the Armenian historians) who were organized
> in terror cells, called Dashnaks, and funded and supported by Imperial Russia
> to destablize and bring about the collapse of the last Ottoman government.
> Armenians who did not support this armed rebellion and treason against the
> central government in Ottoman Turkey retained their social status, security
> and property rights to this day -- e.g., their descendants own some of the
> most valuable land in downtown Istanbul.
>
> End of rant, but my minor in Middle Eastern Studies must be good for
> something.
>
> Cordially,
> Pamela Sezgin, Ph.D.
> Museum Consultant
>
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