Le jour de notre naissance nous sommes condamnés à mourir. Tel est le temps. Le feu, même le plus sauvage et destructeur, peut être contrôlé et éteint. Mais jamais le temps. Lui, il nous échappe toujours. On n'arrive jamais à l'éteindre, tandis que lui, semble pouvoir tout éteindre.

Mais ce Chronos qui dévore ses enfants n'est pas pour autant un monstre goyesque aussi cruel. Il a le loisir de nous enseigner, si nous avons le désir d'apprendre. Et finalement il nous révèle toujours la vérité, si nous sommes aussi disposés à la connaître.

S'il peut détruire les hommes qui méritaient mieux pendant leurs vies, il peut aussi les élever plus tard au ciel glorieux d'une immortalité relative.

Avec nos vies, nos réussites et nos échecs, nos tribulations et nos jours de bonheur, il nous sculpte inlassablement comme la mer ronge la falaise.
Comme un parfum exquis d'une fleur balayé par le vent d'un instant, même les souvenirs les plus chers deviennent les éclairs du moment d'une vie.
 
Mais il y a une seule chose que le temps insatiable n'arrive pas à prendre. Jamais il ne pourra l'éroder ou l'emporter.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temporate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
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Qui mieux que Shakespeare peut le souligner, peut nous faire sourire à notre réflexion dans le beau miroir du temps, en nous rappelant de ce qui émane aussi de l'art à travers les siècles de la civilisation? L'amour est aussi intouchable que l'éternité.

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Italiano
 
Shakespeare's sonnet  from 'A Lover's Complaint'. Text and Image © Mirino (PW) February, 2009

The Iraqi Dream

Like life itself, nothing good, real and true is born easily. And the birth of the democracy of Iraq was especially difficult and complicated. One closely followed the whole painful process, pacing outside, aware of the dangers, the carcinogenic forces of evil and destruction sapping the strength of a people who had made its choice and was making that infinite sacrifice that life demands of us, when life itself is the creation.

For if life is freedom, then so must also be democracy.

The first election should have been proof enough, but there was scarcely an international nod of approval. Certainly not a European one, with the exception of the courageous few who have always understood that freedom is not necessarily 'made in America'.

As truth is revealed, hypocrisy often accompanies it. When the former Secretary General of the United Nations suggested that Iraq was better off under the Saddam Hussein regime, it was an incredibly thoughtless and revealing declaration for one who is supposed to represent freedom and international law.
Today one still hears the 'concocted for the occasion', contrite, purse-lipped phrase from those who pretend to have so much experience in the matter- that "one cannot export democracy".
As if an entire population is so mentally retarded as to take the trouble to lay the foundation stones of its new democracy just to please the Occident! Surely this enormous engagement entailing so much sacrifice merits a bit more respect and consideration.

One wonders how much courage those who wave away a new democracy with such pompous disdain would have in comparison with the elected representatives of the first newly formed Iraqi government who risked their lives every day for the very sake of their new democracy?

If the first election did not merit the applause of Europeans perhaps spoilt by too many years of freedom, this second one didn't do much better to raise their approval either. Yet it is even more significant. Monitored by almost 300,000 local and international observers it confirms the freedom of Iraq. It confirms the end of the American occupational of security forces, for also on the strength of the results, the state of law has won in all nine southern Shia provinces, thus introducing new power and greater control. Barack Obama should, in principle, be now more able to accelerate the withdrawal of American troops. No one expected such an achievement, especially in Basra, Nassiriya, Kut and Samawa.

In his words of praise, also to Nouri al-Maliki, Barack Obama alluded to it as "a victory for all the Iraqis".

They have every right to be proud of their achievement. And when such a birth is so painfully demanding, in blood, tears and so much sacrifice, then the new born child of freedom can only be all the more cherished, fiercely defended and protected. For whatever the opinions of those who do not wish to see, it represents the realisation of the Iraqi dream.

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Text © Mirino (PW) February, 2009
(With grateful thanks to the AP for the use of the image)

'Là, où les rêves deviennent réalité'..

Conclusion..

On suit de près les événements du monde, surtout ceux du Proche-Orient, puis un jour, on part au Pays des Merveilles, 'là, où les rêves deviennent réalité'..

Pour une toute petite période de temps néanmoins infinie, on redevient enfant et là, comme un enfant, on voit tout.
Le meilleur du monde entier est mis en valeur. C'est le monde où l'amour vainc toujours la haine, où il y a toujours 'happy endings' et tout est donc possible. C'est le monde où, non seulement on a bien quelque chose de beau, de créatif et de vrai à raconter, mais où l'on trouve- comme par magie- la meilleure manière de l'exprimer, surtout avec amour, et sans trop se soucier non plus de moyens et de limites. Telle est cette volonté de transmettre aussi bien que possible ce beau message, de réaliser ces rêves fabuleux.

Mais lorsqu'on revient sur terre, aux autres réalités plus ternes, quotidiennes, là on se rend compte d'autant plus du triste ampleur des sentiments négatifs qui s'y trouvent. La mauvaise volonté, la haine, l'esprit quasi vide de tout ce qui est beau, profond et positif. Le contraste en est si frappant que l'on se demande plus que jamais, comment peut-on être aussi médiocre? Comment peut-on vivre et être à ce point aussi vide d'amour, d'imagination, de tout ce qui contribue à rendre le monde meilleur?

Les pays arabes ont le droit d'être fiers du fait qu'une fois dans leur histoire ils rayonnaient d'une culture des connaissances la plus dynamique du monde. Mais peut-être ces pays ont bien moins le droit d'être fiers de ne plus la représenter aujourd'hui.
Depuis cette époque rayonnante du moyen âge, les exigences rigides de l'Islam semble avoir coupé les ailes de ce peuple davantage. Au lieu de regarder les étoiles comme l'avaient fait certains de leurs grands ancêtres astrologues, ils ne semblent que regarder par terre, comme s'ils n'ont plus le droit de lever la tête, d'être inspirés, ou d'avoir de telles aspirations personnelles.

Si une religion n'évolue pas avec la civilisation, éventuellement il y aura une crise, un choc culturel. Les exigences rigides et dépassées freinent un peuple à évoluer et peuvent aussi le contraindre à se diviser. Elles peuvent également l'inciter à créer des monstres programmés à utiliser la force pour essayer de satisfaire des anciennes revendications.
Pendant que telles revendications pour certains pays puissent devenir relativement moins importantes, les monstres par contre, risquent de devenir quasi incontrôlables. C'est alors le moment de la vérité, où l'hypocrisie se révèle, et peut-être un jour ces monstres seront capables de se retourner contre leurs propres créateurs, justement comme dans les contes de fées.

Même si on trouve de tels monstres un peu partout, en règle générale ils sont plutôt l'exception. Nous pouvons par contre affirmer qu'en règle générale certains peuples sont plus créatifs, entreprenants et positifs que d'autres. Naturellement ces peuples contribuent davantage au bien du monde.

L'ironie c'est qu'un tel peuple créatif et entreprenant vit dans un pays très petit par rapport à ses voisins. Mais malgré cette différence, y compris le manque de ressources naturelles, jamais ce peuple troquerait son pays avec l'un de ses grands voisins, malgré tous les avantages qu'un tel échange lui apporterait. Et jamais un de ses grands voisins abandonneraient les richesses naturelles qui vont de pair avec son grand pays, en échange pour ce petit pays, malgré tout ce qu'il représente d'autre.

Dans telles circonstances, ne serait-il pas mieux de laisser ce peuple continuer à y vivre en paix? Car c'est justement ce peuple là qui est capable de contribuer à rendre le monde meilleur. Et parmi ce peuple il y en a certains capables de nous faire rêver, capables même de transformer les rêves en réalité.

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Text and Image © Mirino (PW) January, 2009

Consequences (suite)

 

The Palestinian Plight

And 'Palestine' ?
Apart from several other names given to this area (including Canaan, Israel, the Holy land, Kingdom of Jerusalem etc.) 'Palaestina' was the Latin name that the Roman emperor Hadrian gave to the region after the Bar Kokhba revolt was crushed (132-135). It was assumed that this would also help quash the national sentiments of the expelled Jews. The name derives from 'Philistine'.
At the latter part of the Bronze Age, 'Philistia' was believe to be where the present Gaza strip is situated. Philistia consisted of five states each with it's own central city: coastal Gaza, Ashdod and Ashkelon and inland Ekron and Gath.

Certain scholars maintain that the ethnic origin of the Philistines have links with Southern Greece from the Mycenaean civilisation but this has not been clearly established.

The name 'Palestine' remained, as did many of Roman Empire origin, and as did the countless generations of people known as the Palestinians.
Yet whether a people aspire to build fabulous cities for posterity, or is content to continue to nurse old olive groves and orange orchards, they are still in their own home-land as were their ancestors and as are their children. No one can assume the right, even divine, to deny a people such a fundamental easement, and this, whatever history, including what might be considered the most sacred, might otherwise decree.

But history can never essentially be 'individual', although even today each nation's version of history, depending also on the historian, would never entirely correspond with that of their neighbour nation. Often this difference increases and is embellished through time, space, culture and religion. Yet the essential ancestral birth right, whatever one's religious convictions, is undeniably sacred.

By defending this, by extension, one cannot deny the ancestral birth right of one's neighbours. One cannot deny or disprove the facts of history in this regard, or deform them to suit one's purpose or cause.

What applies to Jerusalem must apply to the 'Holy Land'. The 'Children of Abraham' represent the three monotheist religions, Muslim, Hebrew and Christian. Thus no single child should inherit everything that would create an interminable family conflict.

'The Children of Abraham', and of Israel should again be able to live together in peace as they once did for thousands of years. Why do the futile claims caused by war and religion, especially religion, make this so difficult? If in the final analysis of historical fact, it is unanimously agreed that no single, Abrahamic religion can claim the 'monopoly' of the 'Holy Land', why continue such a useless dispute?

The flames of this furnace are not rekindled and continually fed by moderate Palestinians and Israelis. They have been fanned by neighbouring States and nations for at least a generation, without considering more ancient history. These States have contributed to foster conditioned movements capable of indoctrinating their own children with racist hate. They seem inclined to maintain intolerable conditions in order to perpetuate the idea of representing a people who are constantly oppressed by their 'tyrannical' neighbours.

But surely the majority of Palestinians and Israelis wish to live together in peace.
Would not those states and nations who use the Palestinians to defend an unjustified cause do better by first improving their own standards and sweeping clean their own front doors?

The choice the Palestinians opted for in Gaza will never lead them to Paradise, and it is another, terrible, modern day tragedy that they seem to have to find this out in the worst possible way in order to perhaps understand.

There is no hope for those who are obsessed with hate. Nothing positive has ever been its effect. Hate is a living death.

The Palestinians deserve their State. It is essential that they have the peace and freedom to be able to properly negotiate and agree to acceptable bilaterally terms covering all concerns.

Ironically, but also understandably, Israel was more intent on their obtaining such conditions to finally permit them to establish their State, than perhaps any other country or international institution in the world.

Sometimes, it only takes the right amount of good will to realise dreams.

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Satellite image of Israel, by kind courtesy of Nasa.
Text © Mirino (PW) January, 2009

Consequences...

 

.. The will to survive and succeed as a nation, and to be refused that right.

Still bearing the load of its economical crisis, the world turns to greet a new year, and the beginnings of what could develop into yet another, serious and drawn out conflict in the Middle East.

There are accounts of history that do little credit to the United Nations, even when it was newly created. Yet the UN Partition Plan (UN General Assembly Resolution 181, November 29, 1947) dividing 'Palestine' into two States, Arab and Jewish, and designating Jerusalem as an international city under the administration of the UN, was indeed accepted by the Jewish community but categorically rejected by the Arab League and their Higher Committee.

On the day prior to that ending the British mandate, May 14th, 1948, the Jewish Agency declared independence, and the country was renamed Israel. This sparked off the first Arab-Israeli war when the following day Israel was invaded by five Arabian countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq) also militarily supported by Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan.

It was generally believed that Israel, isolated, and without any external help, would have no chance against such odds, yet there was no Arab victory, and a year of conflict finally led to a ceasefire and the establishment of new, temporary (Green Line) borders.
On May 11, 1949, Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations.

This first of seven Arab-Israeli wars was the most significant and costly in human life. It determined the exodus of over 700,000 refugees. Many of these Palestinians were also admitted into Lebanon where they contributed into radically changing the multicultural nature of the country introducing ethnical disputes which developed into serious internal conflicts. It is also the tragic fate of the Palestinian refugees that has always been the subject, if not an additional pretext, of the continual contention between the Arabs and the Jews.

The facts of history are there to refer to, including those of biblical history. The results of seven wars, assassinations and counter assassinations, the continual thwarted efforts to establish a bilateral, peaceful solution, and the malignant growth and menace of terrorist organisations are all part of the exorbitant price the region and the world continually has to pay. Yet to commemorate its 60th anniversary, Israel still exists.

And one wonders if all this had to be, for Israel simply to exist..

Had the Arab League and their Higher Committee accepted the UN Resolution N° 181 on November 29, 1947, history would surely have been vastly different.
There would have been no Arab-Israeli wars to win or lose. The Palestinians would already have established their State, Lebanon might still have been the multicultural pearl of the Middle East. International terrorism would, at least in this area, have had little impact or reason of being. The sacred city of Jerusalem under the UN protectorate would also have been the international symbol of peace and good will, accessable to all cultures and religions of the world.

If such a refusal was considered absolutely essential, the interminable, negative consequences amount to a monstrous and fatal responsibility for any nation, league, committee, or individual to assume.
Yet with history as with life, one is obliged to conclude that there is always a reason for everything, and dreams rarely correspond with reality. 

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Satellite image of Israel, by kind courtesy of Israel Science and Technology Directory
© 1999-2008.
Text © Mirino (PW) December, 2008

The Garden

 

Memories of the garden, of fruit trees one grew up with, climbed and marked. The old Bramley (cooking apple) and the Cox's-Orange Pipin. They seemed so big and resistant then, like one's parents. With time they appear to be so much smaller, like little old, smiling ladies. Then the memories seem more remote and aerial, as if one were a giant looking down nostalgically on what would be its miniature, where everything is seen with one, sweeping glance.

But when you are small, it's the whole world. Each corner is a vast jungle where ants patrol like countless soldiers and where you can almost shelter under the rhubarb leaves. Small stones are boulders and the tiny, neat areas of moss in shady nooks, are opulent, miniature lawns.
And the little flag stone walls made for the flower beds, built with such love and patience, would then be great ramparts of endless, winding fortifications.

One especially remembers the sweet smell of the lawn freshly cut, the perfume of the peaches then the apples ripening in the sun, as well as the odour of those with maggots. The early morning song of the blackbirds, thrushes and the wood-pigeons on the roof, and the sight of grey squirrels sneaking across the dewy grass. The friendly winter robin that always appeared as though it had something important it wanted to convey to you.

The opulent, pink Rhododendron that seemed to smile in the circular bed around which we would run to avoid an angry mother wielding 'the wooden spoon', until she too would start to laugh.

Sweet memories that represent such precious, timeless and secure periods of one's life. A garden cultivated with care and devotion that is indeed part of our identity and history. A special place that remains within us all our lives, in a perfumed corner of our minds. It blossoms on, an immutable, heavenly haven.

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Text and image © Mirino (PW) December, 2008