Itt-Ott, 2002 (35. évfolyam, 1/137. szám)

2002 / 1. (137.) szám

tary defeat, the execution and imprisonment of their revolutionary leaders and the reestablishment of their satellite status. However, it also led to a massive flow of refugees out of the country through Austria and Yugoslavia. This produced the third wave of Hungarian emigration in the 20th century. It also became the defining moment for Hungarians throughout the world, and consolidated a new sense of national solidarity on a global basis.

Out of the trauma and the glory of 1956 was born the diaspora consciousness that currently still acts as a bond between us whether we live in Portland Oregon, Ada Ohio, Sydney Australia, or Budapest Hungary. The retention of this consciousness combined with our dispersal particularly in the United States, gives us the opportunity to influence the course of events better than we could if we lived anywhere else. However, it demands a steadfast commitment on our part to continue the struggle for human rights and national selfdetermination for all who are oppressed in the world - and there are many. Every 6th person in the world lives in minority status, many or most as oppressed minorities.

This means first and foremost a commitment to lobby and intercede for those who fight oppression. Whoever the oppressors are, they must be opposed: Whether the Russian oppressors of the Chechens, the Chinese oppressors of the Tibetans, the Serb oppressors of Hungarians, or the Israeli oppressors of Palestinians. OPPRESSION IS OPPRESSION! We must be able to press for a recognition of distinctions by our government in Washington, DC, even in the midst of the frenzy of fighting terrorism. Our government cannot become the source of the problem; it must become the solution.

The shadow cast over us by recent events is disconcerting. It can be so confusing that it has a debilitating effect on our actions and makes otherwise totally rational individuals behave irrationally. But that is of course the objective of terrorism. It is an old tactic but with new methods, resorted to by the weak, to draw attention to their suffering, through the horror and the panic created in society by their actions. As Cindy Combs point out in “Terrorism at the Beginning of the 21st Century”, terrorism’s objective is to publicize a cause through an outrageous act that draws attention to it and creates an atmosphere of intense fear. It is always carried out in front of an audience, and the victims are frequently innocent people who are

at the wrong place at the wrong time. Others, however, are specifically targeted because they wear uniforms or are employed by the establishment of the official power structure. Still - the audience is the one that is terrorized, via the publicity of the act - through the extensive coverage provided by the mass media. The impact has a great “2x4” effect, but it also leads to a negative reaction against the cause of the terrorists. Just take as a case study the recent Chechen theatre hostage taking in Moscow. Those who know the history of the conflict and have followed developments in Chechnya for the past ten years, ...know that the Chechens have a just cause. Like the Hungarians in 1956, they are struggling for the reestablishment of their independence.

Their resorting to terrorism must be condemned, but not their quest for national independence. When Vladimir Putin says we had no choice, - after guessing the terrorist and the hostage audience - we had only two alternatives,... he is lying through his teeth. The third alternative would have been to negotiate, and to begin the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, the termination of a bloody and brutal military escapade that still has no end in sight. Our own government’s feeble and shameful response - almost apologetic posture for the Russians’ action is something that we should not tolerate. We should be in the forefront of those who do not let the war on terrorism become a pretext for stifling the just national independence struggles of the Chechens or of any other peoples. The legacy of 1956 demands this of us.

Our leaders need to learn that of the 6 billion inhabitants of the world, one billion is composed of peoples like the Hungarians of Transylvania and Vojvodina, the Chechens of the Caucasus, Palestinians or Kurds of the Middle East, or the Indios of Chiapas, Mexico. Their commitment to a better life, to self-determination, to the end of persecution, abuse, humiliation, ethnic cleansing and systematic oppression, cannot be stopped simply by calling them terrorists. Their needs must be addressed and then you will have a better and safer world. Fighting “terrorism” as a pretext for continuing a world of oppression is only going to lead to the creation of more terrorists,... like the sorcerer’s apprentice according to Walt Disney’s rendition. We must have the courage of 1956 to oppose a course of using force to perpetuate force.

After 9/11 it has become evident that a whole year has been squandered in fighting the symptoms of terITT-OTT 35. évf. (2002-2003), 1. (137.) SZÁM 17