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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: willcousa who wrote (23861)	3/25/2003 12:44:59 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

I wonder whether a Kurdish state would be a good idea for world peace and stability? Funny.. I often voiced the same opinion about a Palestinian state. Especially one that has no apparent worth with regard to democratic values. It essentially, imo, returns us all to the ongoing issue of what should be the criteria for forming and recogizing a new state. Should it be ethnicity alone (as defined by distinctive cultural values, religion, and/or history? Regional demographics in the specific geographical area? Or should it be based upon some institutional and systemic governmental and/or economic values such as democracy, free markets, and/or human rights? Imo, there has been insufficient evidence to suggest the Palestinians are a distinctive culture, linguistically, religiously, or culturally. They are essentially a geographical demographic entity, deriving as a mish-mash of various intertwining religious cultures, including Arabic, Christian, and Turkish. But the Kurds, on the other hand, are a distinctive culture with respect to language, history, and culture. Sure, they share the same Sunni religious values as Arabs, but that does not exclude them from being considered as a defined ethnicity, since language is probably the greatest determinant for ethnicity, closely followed by culture and history. Thus, we see many nations in Europe who have essentially acknowledged the right of a Palestinian people to have a state, yet completely ignore the Kurds, who are the largets ethnic group without a state. Personally, I'm against states based upon ethnic or racial criteria. Nationalism is a scourge of democracy, since it focuses on what divides, rather than encouraging the uniting behind shared values and ideas (such as the US). Now obviously folks are going to cite Israel as a state that is formed on ethnic and religious criteria, and they would be absolutely right. But they also pay respect to democratic values and at least a measure of tolerance for other ethnicities (Israeli Arabs having representation in Israeli government). Combined with the historial record of the repression and genocide directed towards them, I can understand their desire for a national homeland. So my feelings are mixed about how they will adher to such values in the future, and whether they will grow more tolerant and inclusive of Arabs in their society, or more xenophobic and hostile, due to the current turmoil and hatred directed against them by many other Arab regimes. But with regard the Kurds, the final question may very well default to the strategy the Jews used.. To make it impossible for anyone to deny them their homeland, or to make the price so high that no one wants to pay it. Hawk@veryhardquestionsIdonthaveananswerto.gov