Re: Timor again (sorry Lou)

[Warwick Kenneth Fry <wfry10@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

James,
     The East Timorese call themselves the "Maubere" people and I think it
would be an appropriate sign of respect to them for 'us' to do the same.

     As good an introduction as any, to those who wish to familiarise
themselves with the formation of Fretilin and the events of '74 '75 is
Jill Jolliffe's book "East Timor: Nationalism and Colonialism". Jill is a
journalist, who originally went to East Timor on a trade union delegation
in the early days, and I believe was involved in a relationship with the
first Fretilin leader Nicolau Lobato.( Lobato was later killed by the
Indonesians during the first occupation and his body pickled in
formaldehyde and put on display.) The book is not too heavy on theory but
is one of the few accounts of those days  - Jill was one of the few who
stayed on when things got hot, and is a rare 'insider's' account.

     Another good source with a good bibliography is Geoffrey C. Gunn's "A
Critical View of Western Journalism and Scholarship on East Timor" which
was largely researched by Jefferson Lee.



On Fri, 19 Nov 1999, James M. Blaut wrote:

> Joao:
>
> What I'm saying is:
>
> 1. I find it disturbing that you talk about Timorese with phrases like
> --Guzmao "a romantic and sentimental character,"
>
> --Beloved "to the point of worship,"
>
> --"The east-timorese are very sensitive to this kind of nobility
> and distinguish it with blind loyalty and ritual submission."
>
> --"They are kind of monarchic."
>
> --" these are cultural traits very difficult to eradicate."
>
> 2. When detailed information is provided to me on a complex political
> situation, I would like to know if the writer (a) knows what he or she is
> talking about and (b) is not giving me the view of some particular sect/or
> of the Left that would not be seen as factual by the Left in general. We
> are all sensitive to this problem from having read such accounts -- often
> very detailed -- in various party publications.
>
> 3. What did you mean by "...is now urging Xanana Gusmao to please stop
> acting like Fidel Castro"?
>
> 4. You describe a bewildering number of political formations. Those of us
> who know relatively little about East Timor tend to think that FRETILIN is
> essentially the unitary liberation movement. Are we wrong?
>
> 5. It would help if you would call the people "Timorese" once in a while,
> insteadf of always calling them "East Timorese." Of course, in terms of
> modern political history the two parts of Timor are distinct, but I suspect
> that we should view Timor as a nation and be ready to support what will
> probably become a Timorese fight for a unified independent nation-state.
>
> Jim Blaut
>