I am addressing this letter to those of you who have a conscience based on reason and fairness, to those of you who consider themselves a part of a broader human society that changes with time, to those of you who believe in the fundamental rights of every person in our world regardless of their ethnic and religious background for I know it would be a waste of time to address those who think Arabs belong to a race that is independent of the rest of the world, who believe God must be called Allah, who believe only a truly Arab Islamic system can eliminate misery and backwardness currently visible in many Arab and Islamic countries. I am not addressing my letter to those intoxicated by tribal nationalism or unknowingly drowned in fascist forms of nationalism.
I have no doubt there are many Arab intellectuals who believe that the only hope for the future of the human race lies in equality and mutual respect when it comes to coexistence in a peaceful world. Many of these intellectuals are no doubt very well aware that the current miserable state of affairs in most of the Arabic and Islamic countries is mostly due to the way of thinking in these countries and the corruption practiced by the systems running them. However, the majority of the Arab intellectuals, while appalled by the policies and practices of the Sharon regime against the Palestinian people, have distanced themselves from supporting non Arab groups that have suffered for long under some Arab regimes. The atrocities committed against the Kurdish people for more than a century is a good example.
The Arabs themselves have suffered from discrimination for decades. Millions of them have also suffered at the hands of brutal regimes. It is sad to see so many Arab nationalists who do not seem to have learned from this when it comes to the respect of the rights of other people. Let me give you an example. There must have been thousands of pro Palestinian demonstrations in the Arabic (and Islamic) countries in the last fifty years. No doubt the Palestinian people do deserve more than this support. Indeed the Kurdish people have always supported the rights of the Palestinian people, even when they were carrying the photos of Saddam Hussein. Yet, how many pro Kurdish demonstrations have taken place in the Arabic, and Islamic, countries in the last fifty years when so many atrocities were committed against the Kurdish people in all parts of Kurdistan? Every time the Kurds ask for their legitimate rights they are accused by Arab nationalists of being agents of communism, imperialism, Zionism, USA, Any reasonable person would have finally realized that if the USA really wanted to support an independent Kurdish state that state would have been a reality by now. The Kurds are not asking to grab anyones land. They have been deprived of basic rights on their own land.
The states of Europe that fought each other for centuries are now endeavouring to unite in order to have stronger status in the world. This unity is only possible through mutual respect and common interests. Do the peoples of the Middle East have to live as enemies for centuries before realizing that animosity and wars can only lead to more bloodshed, fanaticism and misery?
Many Arabs and Islamists seem to be so concerned about the unity of Iraq. How can a decent and intelligent person in a country like Egypt, Lebanon or a country as far as Yemen so automatically be pro Iraqi Arabs and against Iraqi Kurds without even being fully aware of the background of the Kurdish people and the details related to this issue? No doubt one reason can be attributed to the propaganda spread by regimes that have tried to eliminate the existence of the Kurdish people and the name of their country from the face of earth and the narrow mindedness of some Arab nationalist organisations that still follow the principle of I against my brother, my brother and I against my cousins, and we and our cousins against the others!
Currently most of Arab regimes and many people in the Arab world are so concerned, indeed terrified, about the notion of Iraq becoming a federal state. The fear of rulers is understandable but not that felt by the Arab public. Allow me to give Australia as an example. Australia consists of the following states and territories: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and The Australian Capital Territory. Each state has its own government, parliament, capital city and own flag. They have their own police forces, school systems and collect their own taxes. Yet the inhabitants of all these states and territories consider themselves Australians and are united and governed at the same time by a federal government with a parliament in the capital Canberra. Why shouldnt Iraq become a federal state? Is it because the Iraqis are too primitive for this? Is it because the Arabs and Islamists are only used to authoritarian centralized systems? Is it because Kurds do not have the right to govern themselves? Or: is it because of selfish and narrow minded chauvinistic reasons?
In todays Iraq there is a part that has distinct geographic and ethnic characteristics. Any visitor to the Arab and Kurdish parts of Iraq will immediately notice this. If there is to be a united Iraq then federalism is a guarantee for this unity and not vice versa. Denying the Kurds the right to be real partners within a federal Iraq will sooner or later lead to the Kurds struggling for an independent state of their own for a brotherhood based on selfishness, inequality and betrayal can not last forever.
Before ending this open letter allow me to present two contrasting pictures, one showing some of the rights Muslim Arab migrants enjoy in Australia, a country some fundamental Islamists may call infidel, and another portraying what more than two million Muslim Kurds do not enjoy in Syria:
Australia: The Arabic speaking people came to Australia as migrants. Most of them came from Lebanon after the start of the civil war in the seventies (the majority of them live in Sydney and Melbourne). They have radio programs, including those financed by the Australian government, and radio stations that broadcast 24 hours. They have Arabic satellite TV channels. The Australian SBS TV broadcasts news in Arabic and often shows films and other programs in the Arabic language. There are more Arabic newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne than in some Arab countries with some directly or indirectly financially supported by government agencies. There are several Arabic and Islamic schools. The Arabic language is accepted as a subject at schools and children of Arabic speaking families are taught Arabic at government schools if they so wish. There are hundreds of Arabic organisations and welfare agencies with many financed by government funds and grants. Members of the Arabic community have the right to demonstrate against government policies or to express themselves in any regard
Syria (where more than two million Kurds live): Kurdish identity: Not recognised / Kurdish radio, TV or newspapers: No / Teaching in Kurdish: No / Even one single Kindergarten where Kurdish is accepted as the second language: No / Kurdish representation in parliament: No / Kurdish organizations or agencies supported or recognized by the government: No
Has there been one Arab government, organization or group that has approached the Syrian government regarding the rights of the Kurdish population? I leave the answer to your conscience.
Dear friends,
Please think about the issues raised in this letter objectively and with a fair mind. I know you will, for otherwise I would have wasted my time writing it. Maybe one of you will even translate it into Arabic so that some with lesser capability to look at things more humanely can read it. Let us live with the hope that the Middle East will one day be a better place, at least for future generations. It is worth remembering that those who do not consider others worthy of the rights they want for themselves do not themselves deserve the same rights.
Finally I sincerely hope the governments and the people of the Arab world as well as Turkey and Iran will finally realize that the Kurdish people have suffered too much for too long. Unity is dependant on their ability to change and accept the Kurds as equal partners within the countries they now live in, and not on the Kurds who for too long were subjected to cruelty and discrimination. We are living in an era where technology has made it possible for man kind to reach mars. It is about time for reactionary mentalities to change for the better. Only you, the intellectuals with conscience, can transfer such a dream into reality, even at this time when many of you have restricted freedom.
With best wishes.
Shahin B Sorekli
(Kurdish Australian writer / journalist)
Sydney, 11/01/2003
