Whitewashing crimes and the “Great Idea”

Article by Yiannakis Colocasides, member of the C.C. of AKEL

23 December 2018, “Haravgi” daily newspaper

Joy and elation was emanting from the meeting held in the city of Beersheba in Israel. The President of the Republic, his Ministers and politicians from both the “realistic” and “combative” school of thought, various schools of analysts and, of course, many journalists are rejoicing and celebrating. However, the only one who has real reasons to celebrate is Netanyahu himself because through the tripartite meetings (between Israel, Greece and Cyprus), which with the high-level presence – if not guidance too – of the United States evolved into four-party meetings, the white-washing and exoneration of Israel is being promoted.

As we say, it’s like the laundering of ‘dirty money’. The fact that Israel is an occupying power, a terrorist state, a state imposing the mass colonialisation of the occupied Palestinian territories, a state with thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in its jails, but Israeli civilians as well because they are struggling for peace, a murder state which every Friday kills unarmed protesters, a state which has nuclear weapons, even though everyone keeps it a secret, has been forgotten.

All of this has been forgotten. Israel, the leaders of the four-party meeting assure us, is working to promote peace, democracy, security and development! The Americans aren’t wrong when they tell us that we share the same principles and values – among them the principle of double standards and the value of hypocrisy. President Anastasiades and his associates/circle denounce on a day-to-day basis the occupying power of Turkey and colonisation of the occupied territories of Cyprus as constituting a war crime, but they turn a blind eye to Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine.

No one is suggesting Cyprus shouldn’t have good relations with Israel. But good relations are one thing and the whitewashing and exoneration of Israel is completely different. There is a huge difference.

Beersheba projected the splendor of the “Great Idea” in all its magnitude, which emerged during the Anastasiades-DISY administration. If I am not mistaken it was Niki Koulermou the journalist who was the first to write about this “Great Idea” in “Haravgi” newspaper. And quite right too. Now that Cyprus is sitting at the same table with the world superpower, which indeed calls Cyprus a “strategic partner” and Cyprus signs a Memorandum of intent with it; now that we are sitting at the same table with the regional superpower of our own neighborhood, regardless of the fact that both the US and Israel have their hands drenched in blood; now that Europe’s energy security depends on us as well, Turkey is supposedly trembling. It’s as if tiny Cyprus, to put it more correctly half of Cyprus, has become if not a superpower, at least a big power!

Does Anastasiades’ erratic inconsistent policy on the Cyprus problem also perhaps stem from this “Great Idealism”? According to this logic, what need do we have of bi-communal talks and federations now that we have forged an alliance with the big powers and mighty of the world? Now Cyprus will make Turkey yield!

Of course, the notions of “Great Idealism” as a rule ultimately result in a very heavy price being paid. And the heavy toll is not paid by those who make them up. The price is paid by the naïve who applaud them (for example their mouthpieces in the mass media) and by the peoples who are driven to suffer disasters and tragedies. Let us remember the destruction of Smyrna and Asia Minor catastrophe. The supporters of Venizelos and the King were competing with each other as to who will get to Ankara first because they had strong allies. And when these allies abandoned them, the destruction followed. The Greek people of Asia Minor did indeed pay a heavy price since it was uprooted as refugees, with blood and pain.

We should also remember the “Great Idealism” of the Greek junta, the actions and ideas of Grivas and EOKA B, which the Cypriot people to this day is still paying a heavy price with its ongoing uprooting as refugees, with blood and pain.

The new “Great Idealism” will at some point burst like a bubble. The US will work things out and reach an agreement with Turkey. They already appear to be doing so. Israel will come to an understanding with Turkey to continue playing the role of imperialism’s police officer in the region. And the notorious EastMed pipeline, about which this whole carnival is happening, will probably be in name only because, as those experts who don’t think themselves as being high and mighty tell us, the cost of transporting natural gas with the EastMed pipeline will be so expensive that it won’t be able to compete with the Russian gas. Given that capitalism constructs “Great Idealisms” for the naive, but it itself believes in one god only, that is to say the maximization of profit, it will prefer the gas of the “enemy” from the gas of the four-party allies.

And we will be left with nothing and our “Great Idealism”. Let’s hope when this “Great Idealism” will collapse into pieces we won’t suffer any new national “tsunami”, as DISY President Averof Neophytou would also say.