Post by depletedreasons on Nov 20, 2007 2:25:47 GMT -5
Those Who Forget Their History... Live in Greece
29 April 2007
National Herald, April 29 & 30 2007
By Andy Dabilis
Well, good news for Greece – even if retroactively and about 500 years too late. Looks like Turkey never invaded Greece and the Ottoman Empire didn’t rule the country for 400 years. New textbooks for sixth grade students in Greece whitewash a lot of the history between the two countries, apparently in the name of mollifying Turkey to keep current relations good so that businesses in the two countries can prosper and both sides can say, “What happened so long ago… well, it didn’t really happen,” because if it did, that would endanger chances for the rich to benefit from dealing with each other, and prevent politicians from pretending they actually care about anything beyond the next election.
The new textbooks have divided the country into camps which believe it’s heresy to change a single written word about the way Greece has portrayed itself under the yoke of the Turks, and those which think it is imperative to correct what they depict as the dominance of the Greek Orthodox Church in writing history to show it was the savior of the country’s language and culture.
Which is it? Thanos Veremis, one of the most respected academics in Greece – and the bravest for staring down university students and professors who blistered him for wanting education reforms requiring them to work and study – said history should be accurate, even if it doesn’t sit well with the Greeks:
“I do not understand why we have always portrayed Turks as monsters. Why do we not explain our own excesses in Anatolia? If all Turks were monsters, monsters kill each other. And the Ottoman Empire lived on for hundreds of years,” he told the Turkish Daily News. Veremis also noted that Greece did not want to spotlight its own invasion of Tripoli, and how the city was reduced to rubble. “There are monsters everywhere. Are we forgetting what we did,” he asked?’
But even if Greeks have been guilty of “excesses” and atrocities, that still doesn’t change the facts. Turkey ruled Greece in ways that were, at times, savage – even monstrous – and four centuries of Ottoman rule left an indelible imprimatur on Greece’s current history, and even on its cuisine. Much of what Greece did was in response to the attempted cultural genocide which wanted to wipe out Greek language and history altogether, and then there would have been nothing to remember.
It is undeniable that history must reflect what actually happened in the past, but the curious and growing support in Greece, including a petition reportedly signed by 500 historians, to soften Turkey’s image is not as much an attempt to correct inaccuracies, as much as it is to revise and rewrite history to suit today’s climate. It is an extension of political correctness which seeks to change history and appease everyone. As for Turkey’s burning of Smyrna and the mass killings of Greeks, the new text writes only this: “On 27 August 1922, the Turkish army enters Smyrna. Thousands of Greeks crowd at the port and try to leave for Greece.” They were trying to leave for Greece because they were being massacred, but that isn’t even mentioned, which suits Turkey just fine.
And the mass revisionist hysteria isn’t just in Greece. In England, some teachers won’t teach the Holocaust (P.S., this actually happened in Europe, see real textbooks) because they do not want to offend children from certain races or religions, particularly Muslims, said the country’s Historical Association.
“Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes. In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship,” the report concluded, according to the Times of London.
It didn’t take long for biting critics to point out the obvious flaws in tailoring history to modern sensibilities. In City Journal, a New York-based urban policy magazine which is must reading for American journalists and policymakers, John Leo wrote that it’s a slippery slope when you start revising history because, pretty soon, all textbooks will have to change, and actual history will be forgotten.
With a sharp tongue firmly in cheek, he also wrote, “Give the study credit for raising the point that almost any history lesson could bend some noses out of joint. Teaching about the slave trade, for instance, could leave both white and black children feeling alienated. Better not mention it!
One wag said that he deeply resents the Norman invasion of 1066, and doesn’t want his children to hear about it in school.” Leo’s sardonic witticism was too accurate, because it didn’t take long for some Muslims to call for England to change its flag from the Union Jack because they felt it symbolized Crusaders invading the Middle East which, of course, if you’re Christian and a revisionist historian, you can say didn’t really happen.
And where does this nonsense stop? Nowhere, because if everybody gets their personal version of history approved – which, given the hysteria of blogs on the Internet spouting insane rhetoric, is not far off – the Japanese can say they never attacked Pearl Harbor or invaded China (they still deny they forced Chinese women into prostitution); Americans can say they “liberated” Native American Indians instead of just about obliterating them from the face of the Earth; pro-Stalinists can say Stalin was really just a misunderstood guy who had a bad childhood and didn’t mean to kill millions of his fellow Russians (P.S.S., there was no Armenian Genocide); modern Nazis can have it written that Hitler was a Jew’s best friend; the US can say it accidentally dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Europeans can teach they colonized Africa to bring benevolence to poor black folks; and Viking descendents can demand that America change its name to New Scandinavia.
Greek Education Minister Marietta Giannakou said the textbook writers will now revise their revisions to their rewritings and review it over the summer to make some changes, but will not relent to pressure from the Church and ultra-nationalists who want the book banned. Even Veremis told Kathimerini, “I think that some changes are needed, but the book should not be withdrawn.”
So what is all the fuss about in Greece over the textbook? It downplays the role of the Church in the 1821 ignition of the Greek War of Independence from Turkey which, depending on who you believe, was either viciously trying to repress the Greeks or open their eyes to the joys of being Turkish.
Hercules Millas, who was raised in Turkey but now lives in Greece and said he has studied textbooks in both countries, told the English-language Turkish newspaper Zaman that texts are constantly changing as more facts become available; that perhaps there should be a more balanced approach to depicting Turkey’s occupation of Greece; and that ultra-nationalists in Greece are overly zealous in resisting revisions.
“They believe that the effort of changing the books was dictated by some centers – a paranoid understanding. The people who changed the books say young boys and girls should not be brought up believing in myths that are not true,” he told the newspaper. It has long been said and known that the winners write history, and it looks like Turkey will get to rewrite Greece’s history. Best of all for the Turks, they’ve invaded Greece again without firing a shot, and some years from now, they can say they were never there this time either.
Mr. Dabilis was the New England editor for United Press International in Boston, and a staff writer and assistant metropolitan editor at the Boston Globe for 17 years before relocating to Greece. His column is published weekly in the National Herald. Readers interested in contacting him can send e-mails to andydabilis@gmail.com
www.hellotia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1177&Itemid
29 April 2007
National Herald, April 29 & 30 2007
By Andy Dabilis
Well, good news for Greece – even if retroactively and about 500 years too late. Looks like Turkey never invaded Greece and the Ottoman Empire didn’t rule the country for 400 years. New textbooks for sixth grade students in Greece whitewash a lot of the history between the two countries, apparently in the name of mollifying Turkey to keep current relations good so that businesses in the two countries can prosper and both sides can say, “What happened so long ago… well, it didn’t really happen,” because if it did, that would endanger chances for the rich to benefit from dealing with each other, and prevent politicians from pretending they actually care about anything beyond the next election.
The new textbooks have divided the country into camps which believe it’s heresy to change a single written word about the way Greece has portrayed itself under the yoke of the Turks, and those which think it is imperative to correct what they depict as the dominance of the Greek Orthodox Church in writing history to show it was the savior of the country’s language and culture.
Which is it? Thanos Veremis, one of the most respected academics in Greece – and the bravest for staring down university students and professors who blistered him for wanting education reforms requiring them to work and study – said history should be accurate, even if it doesn’t sit well with the Greeks:
“I do not understand why we have always portrayed Turks as monsters. Why do we not explain our own excesses in Anatolia? If all Turks were monsters, monsters kill each other. And the Ottoman Empire lived on for hundreds of years,” he told the Turkish Daily News. Veremis also noted that Greece did not want to spotlight its own invasion of Tripoli, and how the city was reduced to rubble. “There are monsters everywhere. Are we forgetting what we did,” he asked?’
But even if Greeks have been guilty of “excesses” and atrocities, that still doesn’t change the facts. Turkey ruled Greece in ways that were, at times, savage – even monstrous – and four centuries of Ottoman rule left an indelible imprimatur on Greece’s current history, and even on its cuisine. Much of what Greece did was in response to the attempted cultural genocide which wanted to wipe out Greek language and history altogether, and then there would have been nothing to remember.
It is undeniable that history must reflect what actually happened in the past, but the curious and growing support in Greece, including a petition reportedly signed by 500 historians, to soften Turkey’s image is not as much an attempt to correct inaccuracies, as much as it is to revise and rewrite history to suit today’s climate. It is an extension of political correctness which seeks to change history and appease everyone. As for Turkey’s burning of Smyrna and the mass killings of Greeks, the new text writes only this: “On 27 August 1922, the Turkish army enters Smyrna. Thousands of Greeks crowd at the port and try to leave for Greece.” They were trying to leave for Greece because they were being massacred, but that isn’t even mentioned, which suits Turkey just fine.
And the mass revisionist hysteria isn’t just in Greece. In England, some teachers won’t teach the Holocaust (P.S., this actually happened in Europe, see real textbooks) because they do not want to offend children from certain races or religions, particularly Muslims, said the country’s Historical Association.
“Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes. In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship,” the report concluded, according to the Times of London.
It didn’t take long for biting critics to point out the obvious flaws in tailoring history to modern sensibilities. In City Journal, a New York-based urban policy magazine which is must reading for American journalists and policymakers, John Leo wrote that it’s a slippery slope when you start revising history because, pretty soon, all textbooks will have to change, and actual history will be forgotten.
With a sharp tongue firmly in cheek, he also wrote, “Give the study credit for raising the point that almost any history lesson could bend some noses out of joint. Teaching about the slave trade, for instance, could leave both white and black children feeling alienated. Better not mention it!
One wag said that he deeply resents the Norman invasion of 1066, and doesn’t want his children to hear about it in school.” Leo’s sardonic witticism was too accurate, because it didn’t take long for some Muslims to call for England to change its flag from the Union Jack because they felt it symbolized Crusaders invading the Middle East which, of course, if you’re Christian and a revisionist historian, you can say didn’t really happen.
And where does this nonsense stop? Nowhere, because if everybody gets their personal version of history approved – which, given the hysteria of blogs on the Internet spouting insane rhetoric, is not far off – the Japanese can say they never attacked Pearl Harbor or invaded China (they still deny they forced Chinese women into prostitution); Americans can say they “liberated” Native American Indians instead of just about obliterating them from the face of the Earth; pro-Stalinists can say Stalin was really just a misunderstood guy who had a bad childhood and didn’t mean to kill millions of his fellow Russians (P.S.S., there was no Armenian Genocide); modern Nazis can have it written that Hitler was a Jew’s best friend; the US can say it accidentally dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Europeans can teach they colonized Africa to bring benevolence to poor black folks; and Viking descendents can demand that America change its name to New Scandinavia.
Greek Education Minister Marietta Giannakou said the textbook writers will now revise their revisions to their rewritings and review it over the summer to make some changes, but will not relent to pressure from the Church and ultra-nationalists who want the book banned. Even Veremis told Kathimerini, “I think that some changes are needed, but the book should not be withdrawn.”
So what is all the fuss about in Greece over the textbook? It downplays the role of the Church in the 1821 ignition of the Greek War of Independence from Turkey which, depending on who you believe, was either viciously trying to repress the Greeks or open their eyes to the joys of being Turkish.
Hercules Millas, who was raised in Turkey but now lives in Greece and said he has studied textbooks in both countries, told the English-language Turkish newspaper Zaman that texts are constantly changing as more facts become available; that perhaps there should be a more balanced approach to depicting Turkey’s occupation of Greece; and that ultra-nationalists in Greece are overly zealous in resisting revisions.
“They believe that the effort of changing the books was dictated by some centers – a paranoid understanding. The people who changed the books say young boys and girls should not be brought up believing in myths that are not true,” he told the newspaper. It has long been said and known that the winners write history, and it looks like Turkey will get to rewrite Greece’s history. Best of all for the Turks, they’ve invaded Greece again without firing a shot, and some years from now, they can say they were never there this time either.
Mr. Dabilis was the New England editor for United Press International in Boston, and a staff writer and assistant metropolitan editor at the Boston Globe for 17 years before relocating to Greece. His column is published weekly in the National Herald. Readers interested in contacting him can send e-mails to andydabilis@gmail.com
www.hellotia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1177&Itemid