Turkish and Kurdish martyrs

[Jon Flanders <72763.2240@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 >> So don't underestimate the contribution made by the self-sacrifice of the
comrades on hunger-strike.

 And don't forget that for every hunger-striker there are dozens of people
working outside agitating for the demands of the strikers and fighting to
 keep the comrades alive to be able to fight the better as a result of the
improved conditions or releases that can be won.

 The brave death of a comrade in a good cause is both tragic and inspiring.
This is something the mercenary armies of the imperialists can never emulate
however much they try. <<Hugh Rodwell

 Jon Flanders:

  Very well put Hugh. You are certainly capable of getting to the heart of
some questions, when "The Line" doesn't have to be defended.

  At the time of the Bobby Sands hunger strike, I was living in Burlington,
Vt. of Bernie Sanders fame. I participated in the organization of a Irish
Human rights group and was involved in many support activities around the
Hunger Strike.

  One meeting that sticks in my mind was part of a series on Irish History
sponsored by St. Michaels College inspired by events in Ireland at the time.
The speaker was Conor Cruise O'Brien, the Irish social democrat, who used to
be a regular contributer to the NY Review of Books here in the US.

  He managed to go his entire talk without mentioning the Hunger Strikes, and
since he is a capable speaker, had the audience well in hand. During the
question and answer period, for some reason the chair didn't recognize me. I
practically had to jump up and down, but at the end he called on me. I didn't
make a speech, I just asked O'Brien if he supported the hunger strikers. He
said no and attempted to explain.

  It didn't matter after that what he said. The good will he had managed to
build up for his position during  his talk leaked out  from the largely
Irish-American audience with the speed of a popped balloon.

  This is the political power of a real hunger-strike until death. In the end,
the greatest powers in the world are helpless before such an ultimate
statement of human dignity.

  And should unite, I might add, even the most polarized participants of this
list.


  E-mail from: Jonathan E. Flanders, 23-Jul-1996




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