REBELS

"You can listen to a radio interview (approximately 45 minutes) with reporter Aaron Glantz about the general situation in South Kurdistan, and Iraq, here, an interview brought to you by the Lunatic Fringe. It begins with a short discussion of the build-up of Turkish troops in North Kurdistan and pays superficial lip service to Turkish treatment of Kurds since 1984, and attribute the entire Kurdish struggle against Turkish occupation to a struggle for language. All mentions of Kurdish independence, or autonomy, are reduced to "separatism," no matter which portion of divided Kurdistan is under discussion.

All of this must be the result of the fact that references are made throughout the interview to media reports from other Lunatic Fringers.

There is obvious bias for Arab feelings as regards the occupation of Kurdistan by Iraq, with no concern expressed whatsoever for the Kurdish families who were arabized out of Kerkuk, nor is there concern for the fact that every Baghdad government that has ever existed has always insisted upon the Arab identity of Iraq--which relegates the Kurdish people to the status of second-class citizens. The implication is made that, while Kurds are the only ones concerned with the oil of Kerkuk, oil that would be used to fuel an independent Kurdistan, the noble Arabs are more concerned with dignity in their daily lives. The idea of Kurdish dignity through self-determination and independence, the question of Kurdish honor, are ideas that never occur to the Lunatic Fringe. Instead, the Kurdish people are depicted as self-serving opportunists."
Rasti