This translation was created for the purposes of archiving and does not originate from the original creators of the text.
This leaflet was published in March of 2012, by the Skapoula Student Group in Nicosia.
Nationalism is a recipe for submission – an ideology of death
National ideals are pills of stupefaction
pushed by traders to stupefied consumers
homeland is a concept synonymous with fraud and violence
the pimps of our misery praise the holiness of the race
Parades: With them rises the stench of militarism and fascism. They emerged from the hitlerian youth, moved to Greece by Metaxas, then to Cyprus as part of the post-independence educational system, which was largely based on the greek one. Parades impose uniformity, divide students between good, bad and average ones (the position of the flag-bearer makes some particularly proud), and function as an entryway to militaristic discipline. It is a way to fanaticize students with the homeland’s ideal. It is the projection of a subjugated mass, hailing the political authority and recognizes its position as subject of the sovereign…
When nationalism and militarism are out on parade, we don’t fall in line!
Just like every year, we students are called to march and participate actively (in the school and outside) in the national celebrations for the 25th of March and the 1st of April. The “national identity” we see in Cyprus is a relatively recent construct, essentially since the time of the British rule (around the end of the 19th centy), which divided humans in Greeks and turks to serve its interests. This was embraced by local bosses and the church as they found a way to defend their economic interests. How? The fixation on the “national vision” of the two communities put a break in the bicommunal strikes and the struggles of the decades of the 30s and 40s, as the enemy was no longer to be recognized in the face of the boss, but in the face of another worker.
Schools – cages & rotten ideals…
From the first years of elementary school we are being force-fed the national ideology. History lessons on a blue & white background, parades, national celebrations and commemorations and flags constitute an important part of the school’s brainwashing. They teach us that we are greeks, that we are part of this “glorious history”, whether we want it or not. Why? Because they want students which will grow up and become good citizens of the system, patriots, law-abiding and subjected. Because in the end that was the reason all along. The national ideals want to persuade us that the oppressed and the oppressors belong in the same body, essentially hiding the inequalities of this society behind the veil of the nation.
We frequently hear many calls from the president of the republic, the minister of education and various bosses calling for unity based on national criteria, either for the economy, the Cypriot problem and so on. The national unity makes us want to puke! Because the national interest is the interest of the bosses, all those who feed us the national fairytales with a spade, and we do not have any common interest with those who steal our life and impose us the coercions of the school, army and work. Patriotism stinks of subjugation, as in this way the oppressor becomes your brother, within the framework of the imaginary community of the nation.
Let’s put it in simpler terms. In the past, bosses relied on the use of violence by the police and the army to maintain their dominance, but today the school machine is in charge of the task, flattens out anything difference in its gears and spits out national unity and homogeneity. What better way anyway to enslave society other than providing it with a “barbarian” enemy, with various characteristics ascribed to it over time, and emphasize the need to unite against an external threat? This is also how they justify their existence, supposedly as our protectors from the barbarians.
Schools play an important role in the reproduction of nationalism, with family and the church also assisting. They essentially shape the youth within specific models. They forcefully baptize us and burden us with their religion, assign us to recite their bloodthirsty poems and carry their flags, put us to parade and so on. In both parts of the island they tell us similar things, that, respectively, the others were killing and raping therefore whatever “our side” did was justified. Bullshit! The acts of national hatred is cannibalism, always in line with the interests of the bosses, from the time of the british rule until today.
How can you respect a homeland which burns you?
The scenery is changing. Economic crisis, layoffs, unemployment, are gradually becoming part of our daily life even in Cyprus. The calls for national unity take on another dimension, as they are an attack on our dignity. Those who call us to tighten our belts (a little bit, not too much… for the time being) in the name of national good are those who without a second thought will push large parts of society in misery, are those who will exploit and oppress us daily. They think they will come out of this clean… it is in our hand to disprove them.
And that is why we are traitors!
Because we know that the national divisions are imposed by the political, economic and religious authority. Because we know that in reality we have nothing to divide us with Turkish Cypriot students. Because we know that the divisions which carve the borders and the national hatred are fake and the only thing they do is cover up the unequal, hierarchical structure of this world. The national ideals attempt to hide what emerges more and more clearly: the enemy everywhere and always is the same: the state, capital and all authority. Because we recognize our roles as workers of tomorrow, at the twilight of a future without aspirations, shaping us as disposable and easily manipulated labor force, drowned in subjection and convicted to uphold the capitalist pyramid of oppression alive. Because we militantly deny the imposition of “national consensus” and stand consciously on the side of the scorched- outlining potentialities and paths of action of class resistance. We will not become food for the beasts! That’s why we deny any national fairytale and every nationalist feeling. We propose the creation of a self-organised student community of struggle, organizing and acting beyond national divisions and retrenchments. To fight actively the subjection imposed by national unity, facing the normativity of nationalism and counter-pose dignity and resistance…
Sidet buyuleyijidir sidet umutur
Umut suz ve sesiz bir
Sesiz bir dunada
Violent resistance is the only hope
In a country without hope and voice
Every homeland is a prison
Sabotage parades and every national celebration
Student Group Skapoula skapoula.espivblogs.net
For those who want to contact us there is the site skapoula.espivblogs.net and the email skapoula@espiv.net. You can also find us in the self-organized student café which will open every Friday, starting from april, at the space of the Occupy Buffer Zone.