Itt-Ott, 1999 (32. évfolyam, 1/131-2/132. szám)
1999 / 2. (132.) szám
1 Chechnya. (Meanwhile in the West the annual Christmas shopping orgy and the media blackout has put the fate of Chechens out of sight and out of mind.) Whether or not Chechnya will survive as an independent political entity or even an "autonomous" province of the Russian Federation is now very doubtful. The revision of Russia to imperialist aspirations seems to be assured with this primitive and brutal assertion of its numerical and military superiority. However, Russia will pay dearly for this blind stupidity. First, because the Chechens know how to fight and will continue to hurt the Russians even after they are militarily overwhelmed. The body bags will continue to arrive on the doorsteps of Russian homes throughout the empire long after the war is "won." Second, because Hungarians, and other peoples in minority status, plus the growing army of human rights activists the world over, will not simply close their eyes or turn their backs on this travesty of justice. They will continue to publicize, to put the spotlight of world attention on this Russian atrocity. Just as the Serbs have become a "war criminal" people, so the Russians too will acquire this less than desirable designation. In fact, this emerging international public of activists will and can become particularly significant in an election year. This is why we Hungarian-Americans must gird our lions and prepare for a very active and resolute electoral campaign in the year 2000. We must not forget that Hungary is where it is today as a free state, in large part, because it helped to reveal the bankruptcy of the Soviet system. Hungarian youth - the world over - must continue this legacy. They must be willing to take a stand with the victims against all imperialist and chauvinist-racist-exploitative aspirations. They should be ready to march in demonstrations, to participate in letter-writing campaigns, or even to help raise funds for the freedom fighters who are in the foxholes or trenches in Chechnya or elsewhere. They must be ready and willing to help the Kurds in their struggle for self-determination. They must not forget the fate of the Chinese oppressed Tibetans, the Israeli oppressed Palestinians on the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, or the Mexican oppressed Indios of Chiapas province. They cannot afford to turn a blind eye to these suffering peoples, if for no other reason, their own interest in survival. The Hungarians of Transylvania, southern Slovakia, Vojvodina, and Transcarpathia (Ruthenia) are in a similarly exposed and vulnerable position. They too can become the victims of the rapacity and brutality of a "blinded majority." Hungarian-Americans have the opportunity to become the cutting-edge of a new global international. As critically situated spokesmen, spokeswomen and activists, they can become the voices, the yeast, for a new international, the international of the oppressed peoples of the world. On their banner they can proclaim: "minorities of the world unite, you have only your chains to lose and everything to gain." On the threshold of the 21st century minorities everywhere are being empowered by the technological revolution that is making them aware of parallel problems on a global level. It also makes them aware that every sixth person lives in minority status in the world today. That means that over one billion people are living as minorities. This number is numerically the same as the total population of the world just 150 years ago. And ... with perhaps the Hungarians as the sole exception, minorities tend to have a higher birth rate than the majority populations in their resident states. This means that "demographic history" is on the side of minorities. However, to be able to take advantage of this minority population surge, the leadership of minority peoples must build their self-consciousness and their self-confidence. To this end it is in their interest to lock arms with other minorities, view their struggles as common struggles, and demand for a new world in which the assimilationist nation-state is not/or no longer the institutional framework for interethnic relations. The only way this world will be better is if democratization makes it possible for peoples to coexist peacefully in a context where democracy means self-government for both majorities and minorities, and where majority rule and minority rights are both integral parts of the political order. To achieve such a pluralist world context, it is in the interest of all to declare a new revolution: "minorities of the world unite, stand in solidarity against discrimination, persecution, and oppression!" With this commitment in your heart, call up the White House "comments line" right now. Let them know that you are interested in the fate of the Chechen people and that you are not going to swallow the bullshit about the need for Russian stability as a justification for a "genteel" American reaction. Tell them in the White House that backbone is needed now! Tell them that all aid should be immediately cancelled to Yeltsin and their gangster crew. No loans! No food! Nothing! 10 ITT-OTT 32. évf. (1999), 2. (132.) SZÁM
