Through the wall of fire : Armenia, Iraq, Palestine : from wrath to reconciliation PDF
Preview Through the wall of fire : Armenia, Iraq, Palestine : from wrath to reconciliation
Through the Wall of Fire Muriel Armenia–Iraq–Palestine: From Wrath to Reconciliation Muriel Mirak-Weissbach Mirak- Weissbach Can peoples and nations who have been pitted against each other in AT rh geopolitically manipulated conflict overcome the adversary relationship m Through the r and achieve reconciliation? Through the Wall of Fire attempts to answer this eo n question, examining the Armenian genocide of 1915, the two Iraq wars and iu a embargo regime, as well as the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians beginning –g Ih r in 1948. Muriel Mirak-Weissbach portrays these seminal moments of a Wall of Fire qt the twentieth century through the eyes of those who were children at the –h time. Their first-hand accounts of the dramatic events are corroborated Pe a by documented historical research, in the effort to identify which political leW forces were ultimately responsible and why. s tia n l An episode from Dante’s Divine Comedy, the pilgrim’s passage through a el wall of fire, serves as a metaphor for the challenge facing political leaders : F o Armenia–Iraq–Palestine rf and their citizens who seek reconciliation; like the pilgrim-poet, they must o F m undergo a profound internal, emotional transformation, overcoming the i From Wrath to Reconciliation r hatred, bitterness and desire for revenge that the traumatic past has left We r behind. In contemporary politics, traversing the ‘wall of fire’ requires a t abandoning the prejudices and ignorance bred by conflict. It means facing h the truth about the past, acknowledging the historical record in all its brutality t o and identifying those responsible. Only then is it possible to ‘forgive and R e forget’, to define a new relationship based on the commitment to enhance c the progress of the Other. o n c i l i a Muriel Mirak-Weissbach is an Armenian-American journalist living in ti Germany. She has published hundreds of articles on economic, political o n and cultural developments in the Arab and Islamic world. Her latest book, Madmen at the Helm: Pathology and Politics in the Arab Spring, was released by Ithaca Press in July 2012. This is an outstanding book for the author’s ability to combine personal narrative with political analysis, to bring out previously unnoticed historical facts and show the way forward to a better future. Jordan Times Genocide Genocide / Ethnic Cleansing Genocide Ethnic Cleansing Middle East Studies www.ithacapress.co.uk ME Studies Middle East Studies ThroughtheWallofFire HB jacket.indd 1 19/10/2012 09:45 Through the Wall of Fire ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 1 19/10/2012 09:52 ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 2 19/10/2012 09:52 Through the ITHACA Logo. Wall of Fire eps Armenia–Iraq–Palestine From Wrath to Reconciliation Muriel Mirak-Weissbach 2013 www.ithacapress.co.uk ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 3 19/10/2012 09:52 Through the Wall of Fire Armenia–Iraq–Palestine: From Wrath to Reconciliation Ithaca Press 8 Southern Court, South Street Reading, RG1 4QS, UK www.ithacapress.co.uk www.twitter.com/Garnetpub www.facebook.com/Garnetpub blog.ithacapress.co.uk Ithaca Press is an imprint of Garnet Publishing Ltd. Copyright © Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. First Edition ISBN: 9780863724411 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Typeset by Samantha Barden Jacket design by Garnet Publishing Cover image © Muriel Mirak-Weissbach Printed by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 4 19/10/2012 09:52 Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction ix Part One: Armenia Chapter 1 The Loss 3 Chapter 2 If Not the Turks, Then Who? 39 Chapter 3 The Challenge of Reconciliation 61 Part Two: Iraq Chapter 4 Born in Mesopotamia 69 Chapter 5 Homecoming Iraqi-Style 97 Chapter 6 Innocents and Patriots 105 Chapter 7 Fly Iraqi Airways! 115 Chapter 8 Genocide? 139 ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 5 19/10/2012 09:52 Part Three: Palestine Chapter 9 Oslo Betrayed 161 Chapter 10 The Battle for Gaza 189 Chapter 11 Palestine Lost 201 Chapter 12 The Geopolitical Mind 233 Chapter 13 Composing the Peace 255 Epilogue 273 Photo Credits 279 Index 281 ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 6 19/10/2012 09:52 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Vahakn N. Dadrian of the Zoryan Institute for helping me to identify many important sources, and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan for its generous permission to use documentary material, including photographs. Ara Ghazarians, of the Armenian Cultural Foun dation in Arlington, Massachusetts, provided me with textual corrections of translit- erations and invaluable suggestions regarding content. I am also grateful to A. Altay Unaltay of Istanbul, who helped to translate a number of expressions from Turkish. My brother Bob, who published a book on Armenians in America many years ago, read my manuscript several times with most welcome ruthless criticism and productive proposals. Whatever I have done with the material and suggestions offered by all of them is solely my responsibility. Finally, I thank my husband Michael for his infinite patience and support, as well as many friends who encouraged me to proceed with this project. This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents and all those of their generation, in the Ottoman Empire or Europe, who were victimized by the geopolitical machinations of the Great Powers. May their will to survive and capacity for forgiveness shape the approach of today’s political leaders in the search for justice. vii ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 7 19/10/2012 09:52 ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 8 19/10/2012 09:52 Introduction I am the daughter of two orphans, both victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide. Although I did not realize its implications until entering adulthood, this fact was to shape my outlook and work. The following pages are a reflection of some of that work and the process that led to it. This is not intended to be yet another book which recounts the horrors, and seeks self-righteously to consign the perpetrators to an appropriate circle in Dante’s Inferno. I have no doubt that those involved in such crimes have already met, or will eventually meet, their just reward or punishment in a realm in the afterworld over which I certainly have no immediate influence. My intention is another: it is to recount the experience of ethnic cleansing, genocide and war from the viewpoint of those who were children at the time, to communicate the nature of the trauma they suffered. It is only by grasping the deep psychological impact on the children that others may understand how prejudices, hatred and the thirst for revenge can be passed on from generation to generation, until it may appear that no solution is in sight. I am convinced that solutions do exist, but that they can be sought only if there is adequate psychological insight into this subjective character of the problem. To presume, for example, that there could be a quick Palestinian–Israeli peace based on some internationally imposed formal treaty arrangements, especially in the wake of the infernal Gaza war, is at best naive. A fundamental revolution in thinking, a far-reaching shift in moral outlook, is required to pave the way to a possible peace, and cultural means, including great music and poetry, may have a role to play in this. ix ThroughWallofFireBook.indd 9 19/10/2012 09:52
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