"I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe 'the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews,' down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb America has gotten. Jews totally run Hollywood." Joel Stein, The Los Angeles Times
I've always found self-deprecating humor to be the best way to break the ice, as well as get over political correctness, now suffering from myopia.
Take the recent 'apology' campaign for example.
To apologize or not to apologize... or to be apologized to...
Some of the so-called 'enlightened' individuals apparently started a signature campaign to 'apologize' to the Armenians for what the Turks might have done to them about 90 years ago.
The irony is that most of these individuals are Turks themselves. Some of them even insist this is not an admission of any 'Genocide' but an apology of some acts of unkindness inconsistent with, as well as to clear up, the Turkish identity.
And apparently they got tired of waiting for an official apology from the Turkish Government, which continues to deny the 'Genocide' allegations, or at the very least states 'what's happened in the past, stays in the past,' as it proudly points that the Turkish Republic is not a continuation of the Ottoman Empire.
However, no one also seems to explain if the Ottoman Empire actually ever passed an official decree of ethnic cleansing against those who didn't think 'Turkishness' was a case of being a Turk by race, not by citizenry.
Or was it simply a case of mass deportation due to obvious reasons (which I won't go into here), whereby some Turks may have taken matters into their own hands and committed offenses against other Ottoman/Turkish citizens (of Armenian descent). And to make matters worse, some Turks themselves may also have been targets of genocidal tendencies by those same Armenian-Turks who were supposed to go away quietly.
One thing for sure. It's apparent both sides suffered, systematically or not.
But to counter the recent popularity of the signature campaign, with 'we're not apologizing,' or yet another one insisting it's the Armenians who should be apologizing, may not have been the smartest thing to do. It only works to de-unify the Turks and the Turkish people.
Do we really think the world is going to determine our worthiness by comparing the two signature campaigns, and public opinion will be swayed by whichever side gets the most signatures?
Is this small claims court mentality of 'if you sue me, I'll sue you' that we often see in The People's Court, really the right and mature way of dealing with this issue, that simply will not go away?
Instead, as an alternative, I'd like to start a campaign of signing up for a JOINT-COMMISSION to look into this delicate matter to be settled only between the two sides in question; something the Turkish side has been pushing for some time now, and Armenia has opposed.
But I am not sure Armenians in diaspora support Armenia in this case. However, I do know many Turks abroad actually do support and would welcome such a thing.
So I follow the lead of Jewish Joel Stein. I urge the Armenian community of Los Angeles, the largest 'Little Armenia' in the U.S., if not the world, to do what Joel did. Proclaim California, and Los Angeles in general, as an Armenian stronghold. And be proud of it.
But I am the first one to recognize it's only a matter of 'so what.' Contrary to what many believe, (keeping in mind that the exceptions are not the rule), not every Armenian wants to behead a Turk. Not every Muslim is a terrorist. Not every black male is a mugger. They don't even steal elections, (Obama won with the 'white' vote handed to him). And not every Turk is an apologist, or an apology demanding-ist, or an Armenian hater. Turks are not even opposed to discussing the double standard-ness or the bastard-ness of the 'G' word.
And the Turks will reciprocate. In a mature way. Especially if we agree that a joint-commission do all the research & investigation, without any pre-conditions.
And then we should all apologize. Regardless of the outcome. There are no winners or losers. It doesn't matter if we're Turkish, or Armenian, or Greek, or Kurdish, or Arab, or European, or even American. Even if we're some poor tribal members of Indian casinos robbing Asian-Americans of their hard earned money. If we're members of the human race, then we should all apologize. To each other. And we should do it quickly.
What do you say? Should we forgive even if we don't forget?...
