Raffi, genocide and OST

[Raffi Aftandelian]

Filiz,
I want to say I think it's wonderful you've been to Armenia. What
courage!

I would very much like to meet you some day. And it would be great to
work together on an OS.

I have wanted to go to a PoP training. The announcement looks
interesting, but I don't quite understand how it's different from
an OST training.

And I am very happy that you'll hold space on the 24th.

We are all connected in more ways than we can imagine.

My grandfather escaped northwest Iran (Tabriz) for Russia in 1910-1915
to avoid the genocide coming to that country. And he was deported as a
foreigner back to Iran in 1938.

As a doctor with a private practice most of his patients were Azeri
Iranians. He spoke Azeri with them. My grandparent's housekeeper was
Azeri.

Today, a number of people asked the question of what the point of the
Poem in your pocket day was. I think that ultimately it's about all of
us being in genuine contact with one another, to remind ourselves if
only once a year that we are interconnected. All. Of. Us.

Do you have a poem, Filiz?

Funda,
I appreciate you replying to what I wrote about the Genocide. I am so
thankful that we met each other at the OSonOS in Goa. When I see your
words, I recall those eyes of love and that warm smile. I know (if
only a little bit) the human behind those words. And in the way I can
I love you.

All I can ask you, if you care to continue, is to unfold those
feelings, whether privately (to yourself) or onlist.

On one level I understand the sadness. On another level, there is
"helpful" on the other side of the coin which has "helpless" looking up.
Helpful for me would look like this:

Writing a letter to a Turkish newspaper (a major daily) just sharing
your questions on the Genocide. It can be on your sadness, on your
sense of helplessness, whatever. But, for me is that any piece should
ask the question. What the question is, you decide.

Yes, I agree that it wouldn't make a lot of sense to hold an OST
meeting on what happened in 1915. The other meeting you propose makes
sense to me. AND, I would say, that I probably wouldn't wait even for
the facilitator to finish opening the space to write my session topic
for THAT meeting:

"When/how are we going to recognize the Armenian Genocide?" and
"What reparations should the Armenian people receive?"

Do I feel that this conversation must receive an answer before there
is ANY true collaboration between Turks and Armenians?

No. But it sure would help.

Otherwise, our collaboration would smack of dancing around our
ancestors.

Warmly,
Raffi


                          mailto:raffi at bk.ru

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist