What do you know about the occupation of Cyprus?

Curiously not nearly as much as you likely know about Israel's occupation of lands after the Arab-Israeli war. Around the United States, no war protest is complete without reference - sometimes extensive - to the Israeli "occupation of Palestine." But nothing about Cyprus....now I understand, the situation in the Middle East is more volatile on a world-wide scale - but is peace and justice limited to such definitions? All over the world, people are "under occupation." And as one amongst at least two plays about the life of the "peace martyr" Rachel Corrie are being offered here in Seattle, there are still no "peace martyr" wannabes standing in front of Turkish efforts to continue turning richly historic christian churches and monasteries into mosques or worse yet, rubble. Where are the peace activists from Evergreen State College raising money to travel to Cyprus? Heck, the Taliban got more flak for destroying those Buddhist statues, when arguably there were no Buddhists left in Afghanistan at all (hmm...why would that be I wonder.)

Fact is, the world really has a double standard with not only criticizing religions (bash Christians, silk glove Muslims...did you see the recent series - once making frontpage even - in the NYT about the Imam...anyone wonder if the story had been about a Christian pastor if the series would have been a little less glowing an endoresment? See Diane West's OpEd), but also with regard to real suffering and oppression.

Story here.

We should endeavor to learn more about what has happened there - especially as Turkey continues to seek entrance into the EU.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Obviously, Christians who got pushed out of their homes in Cyprus so it doesn't matter. On the other hand, Islam gets a pass is that there is a lot of oil in Islamic nations and of course, a lot of the followers of the Religion of Peace get extremely violent. Is there a moral here somewhere?

-Rick
10:33 AM
Mimi said…
So, when I was at Evergreen, one of my best friends was an Orthodox Convert, who later married a Cypriot. A Cypriot whose family home had been taken away in the Turkish occupation - they had to leave immediately and leave the vast majority of their posessions behind.

My Professor at Evergreen, by the way, stood as my Sponsor when I became Orthodox.
1:27 PM
fdj said…
So Mimi...would you say that the rep Evergreen has amongst some conservatives is unwarranted?
1:59 PM
Mimi said…
I would say that as all places are, it's multifaceted and to paint it with a broad brush is unwarranted.

I'm also saying that I cannot know the ways of God and I pray that I'd be Orthodox no matter what, but I do know that my conversion to Orthodoxy happened as a direct result of me going to Evergreen.
4:24 PM
fdj said…
I'd love to hear that story sometime Mimi!
8:49 AM
Mimi said…
Someday you shall, James. I am sure of it.
2:31 PM
Christina said…
I know a lot about Cyprus. I did my undergrad thesis at Whitman on the US involvement in Cyprus from 1974 to present (present being, 1995, the year I graduated from college). My dad is a member of an organization here in Portland that makes sure congressman and senators are educated on the facts of the Cyprus issue and other Turkish human rights violations. They want the US to stop all aid to Turkey. Anyway, my sister was born July 1974 right around the time that Turkey attacked northern Cyprus. My dad told my mom that he was going to join the cypriot army to fight the turks. my mom obviously put a stop to that:) But that's how strongly the Greeks and the Cypriots feel about this issue. It is sad. And it is sad that things like when Irag invaded Kuwait, the US jumped and quickly put the Iragis in their place. We did nothing and are still doing nothing about Cyprus. Because, obviously, Cyprus is not an oil rich country. The Greeks were forced to move to the less hospitable, area of Cyprus and now it is the more hospitable area and the northern area is a waste land. And before this all happened, the regular greek cypriots and turkish cypriots lived side by side for centuries, without problems.
8:50 AM
Post a Comment

Popular Posts