Up here on the globe we just killed as many Serbs as we could because they
took their land back by force (does this alter the rights of the issue, if
it is armed struggle?). Removing the colonists was described as "ethnic
cleansing", and indeed the take over of land and the dispossession involved
was a bitter cruel struggle, a struggle now lost. Whilst one cannot deny the
historical fact that Kosovo was a holy part of Serbia, we cannot sanction
the invasion of a country. I recall the battle for the Maldives. A colonial
war.
Something similar is happening in Africa of course where white-owned farm
land is being seized by Government militias. I can't imagine how one
compromises with an oppressor. Look at the fight in Palestine to set up a
Jewish state, and the historic imperative for such a nation. The issues
always seem to be who is deciding where the borders should be drawn. When
Canada recently created a homeland for the Inuit, it was the oppressor who
defined the territory. One is reminded of the reservations.
Are borders and ownership clearer/simpler in Oz? I wonder how one shares out
what was once all someone else's. Do we repatriate the colonists? Can a
colonist never belong to the land their forefather's conquered, are we all
tainted with blood until we move back to some primal territories, primal
borders?
If I've stolen your cake how generous am I in offering you a slice?
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