[MGSA-L] Celebrate ... not

[Samuel Hassid]

I was not refering to the Cretan uprising, but to
the 1897 war of Greece, which most historians consider a VERY WRONG choice - not of the Cretans, but of the Athens Diligiannis government.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Christos D. Katsetos 
  To: Samuel Hassid 
  Cc: mgsa-l at uci.edu 
  Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 5:17 AM
  Subject: Re: [MGSA-L] Celebrate ... not


  With all due respect, I find Dr. Hassid's reference to the Cretan uprising and the people's virtuous struggle for Union of Crete with Greece as somewhat unfortunate and misplaced. Of course, there will always be those (and I am not referring to Dr. Hassid) who would maintain --on 'dialectic' hindsight-- that even the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and the later rebellions, such as in 1854, 1878 and so forth, were in fact, "wrong choices" by the people. 
  I wonder how would one characterize the choices of the Souliot women at their final Dance of Zalongo in 1803, OR the Vlach Greeks of Koutsoufliani who preferred to burn down their ancestral homes and cross over into Greek-controlled territory after the Greek defeat during the Greco­Turkish War of 1897, OR the defiance and resolve of Grêgoris Afxentiou, Michalakis Karaolis, Evagoras Pallikaridês and numerous other known and unspoken heroes of the 1955-59 era? 

  During these difficult times for Cyprus, let us please respect the memory of Archbishop Makarios AND the people's mandate. 

  C.D.K. 
    

  Samuel Hassid wrote: 

       I do not think Mr. Ioannou wanted to compare Makarios with Stalin or Hitler (none of whom ever enjoyed 75 % support in a free election ...), but that people in democrarcy often make the wrong choice.  He might have tried though a (not) good old greek examples : Aristeidis being osctractacized in ancient Athens , Socrates being sentenced to death in the same Polis, the 1897 "Zitw o Polemos" demonstrations (it was on uniting CRETE with Greece then ..) or the 1920 voting down of Eleytherios Venizelos, which many greeks consider a prelude to the Minor Asia Catastrophe. 
      
        
      Ioannis Ioannou wrote: 
        
        

Finally, the referenda took place today on both sides of the island and as expected, indeed a historical opportunity to solve 
   the Cyprus problem has been missed by the G/c (and with them, the T/c) who voted 75% against the plan, thus declaring 
   their "heroic" "No" and their resistance to the "international conspiracy" against Cyprus. Furthermore, 75% of the G/c 
   declared their unwillingness to support the Anan Plan and the decision of the "mighty people" should be respected by 
   everyone, both within and outside Cyprus. At this point however, we should remind ourselves that even president 
   Makarios was enjoying support that exceeded the levels of 75% (and here I will avoid mentioning Hitler or Stalin again) 
   but, we are all aware of the results of his (their) presidency.
        
      I personally take great offense to the absurd depiction of Archbishop Makarios alongside with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. 

      Whilst Mr. Ioannou has every right to express his dissenting views, his incensed portraying of Archbishop Makarios as a vicious and bloodthirsty tyrant is deplorable and goes beyond sheer indignity and demagogy. 

      Respectfully submitted, 

      Christos D. Katsetos, MD, PhD, MRCPath 
      Research Professor, Department of Pediatrics 
      Drexel University College of Medicine and 
      St. Christopher's Hospital for Children 
      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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