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COSTS OF CELEBRATING
By Thomas Reynolds
Georgia Today
http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=10126
May 17 2012
Georgia
This column appears twice monthly and discusses current topics that
impact youth, women, those affected by conflict and those located
in remote villages. Thomas Reynolds is the Mission Director of CARE
International in the Caucasus.
A group of young men and women are relaxing on a disabled tank. Below
the gun turret is painted the number 442. In the centre a boy aged 9
or so is reaching for a flag held by a young man. Teenagers celebrate
an Armenian victory on a black-and-white picture which I came across
on Euraisa.net. In Nagorny Karabakh, the town called Shushi by those
of Armenian descent or Shusha by people who hail from Azerbaijan
is a touchstone that evokes intense feelings for those having lived
through the conflict.
On May 7th, the twentieth anniversary of the liberation of Shushi
was celebrated. It was marked by stories of heroism, determination
and victory over struggle and injustice. Honoring heroes of war is
common practice; it builds on national identity and fosters patriotism.
On the same day, somber remembrances observe the occupation of Shusha
twenty years ago. Absent of fanfare, the strained reflections of
lives and property lost underscored the deep scars that continue to
torment the vanquished in periods of conflict.
When peace and reconciliation is an objective for restoring relations
between neighbors, the commemorations of significant events in the
conflict is a factor. This is irregardless of who was right, who
was wrong, who was justified in their actions and who was not. When
sorrow and celebration are apportioned by the result of war, a wedge
of conflict persists between societies for a long time to come.
Georgia also has key dates in its history marking a glorious
beginning or a tragic episode. At the end of May, independence will
be celebrated. Freedom from tyranny, oppression and foreign control
will headline the narrative of the day. A flurry of rapidly completed
development projects and subsequent ribbon-cutting ceremonies are to
be held which will promote the sparkling future that is desired by
government and Georgians alike. It will be an unabashed flourish of
patriotic accomplishment.
In September, the calendar points to a different scenario. The
"fall of Sukhumi" will be observed in Tbilisi while the "liberation
of Sukhum" will kick-off celebrations in Abkhazia. Similar to the
Nagorny Karabakh circumstances, commemoration unleashes diametrically
opposite reactions.
It is part of the human nature to mark significant events in history.
Victories will be celebrated. Heroes will be lauded. Defeats will be
lamented. But when passions fed by patriotic fervor overwhelm rational
thinking, we risk bringing past conflicts into the present. The
divisiveness caused by yesterday's conflict threatens to overwhelm
today's efforts at reconciliation and tomorrow's hope for peace
and tolerance.
By Thomas Reynolds
Georgia Today
http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=10126
May 17 2012
Georgia
This column appears twice monthly and discusses current topics that
impact youth, women, those affected by conflict and those located
in remote villages. Thomas Reynolds is the Mission Director of CARE
International in the Caucasus.
A group of young men and women are relaxing on a disabled tank. Below
the gun turret is painted the number 442. In the centre a boy aged 9
or so is reaching for a flag held by a young man. Teenagers celebrate
an Armenian victory on a black-and-white picture which I came across
on Euraisa.net. In Nagorny Karabakh, the town called Shushi by those
of Armenian descent or Shusha by people who hail from Azerbaijan
is a touchstone that evokes intense feelings for those having lived
through the conflict.
On May 7th, the twentieth anniversary of the liberation of Shushi
was celebrated. It was marked by stories of heroism, determination
and victory over struggle and injustice. Honoring heroes of war is
common practice; it builds on national identity and fosters patriotism.
On the same day, somber remembrances observe the occupation of Shusha
twenty years ago. Absent of fanfare, the strained reflections of
lives and property lost underscored the deep scars that continue to
torment the vanquished in periods of conflict.
When peace and reconciliation is an objective for restoring relations
between neighbors, the commemorations of significant events in the
conflict is a factor. This is irregardless of who was right, who
was wrong, who was justified in their actions and who was not. When
sorrow and celebration are apportioned by the result of war, a wedge
of conflict persists between societies for a long time to come.
Georgia also has key dates in its history marking a glorious
beginning or a tragic episode. At the end of May, independence will
be celebrated. Freedom from tyranny, oppression and foreign control
will headline the narrative of the day. A flurry of rapidly completed
development projects and subsequent ribbon-cutting ceremonies are to
be held which will promote the sparkling future that is desired by
government and Georgians alike. It will be an unabashed flourish of
patriotic accomplishment.
In September, the calendar points to a different scenario. The
"fall of Sukhumi" will be observed in Tbilisi while the "liberation
of Sukhum" will kick-off celebrations in Abkhazia. Similar to the
Nagorny Karabakh circumstances, commemoration unleashes diametrically
opposite reactions.
It is part of the human nature to mark significant events in history.
Victories will be celebrated. Heroes will be lauded. Defeats will be
lamented. But when passions fed by patriotic fervor overwhelm rational
thinking, we risk bringing past conflicts into the present. The
divisiveness caused by yesterday's conflict threatens to overwhelm
today's efforts at reconciliation and tomorrow's hope for peace
and tolerance.