THE WAY THINGS ARE

Tributes following the death of Katie Cleridou showed respect and affection for her strong character, her honesty and sincerity. How many political figures in the world deserve that kind of legacy? In last Sunday’s election, Turkish Cypriots courageously showed the world they want to belong to Europe. Let’s hope leaders make the most of this last chance to unshackle a stalemate.

The latest season of The Diplomat sees a deadly, divisive incident between Britain and the USA causes complicated fallout. I won’t plot spoil other than to say when the US ambassador isn’t busy having sex with hunky British men, to the chagrin of her hunky husband who has agreed to private separation while in public they are the perfect couple, she’s in the middle of the resulting diplomatic cover-ups and patch-ups.

Cinema and television have, with cleverly crafted scripts, related how insider politics differ vastly from concocted rhetoric served to the public. Both American and British creatives have been fearless in depicting the weird and warped world of politics, sometimes wall-papered over by obfuscating deceit.

These twisty tales could possibly have started what became conspiracy theories. The buzz around Prince Andrew (why only him, there are other names?) and Jeffrey Epstein is a good example. The honesty of films such as Oliver Stone’s Platoon framing the horrors of the Vietnam war he fought in (Bronze Star, Purple Heart), did not allow for convenient historic amnesia.

Most countries have some shameful history they would rather forget or bury, that has been brought back to life onscreen. Violent actions caught on journalists’ cameras all over the world, and pictures of damaged or dead children linger with the greatest impact, there forever in stasis or movement, but more so in the psychologically wounded minds and broken bodies of surviving victims.

Facing the truth about ourselves takes courage and honesty, cover ups later revealed turn into bigger scandals. In September, Irish columnist Fintan O’Toole wrote about such amnesia. Speaking of Ari Folman’s documentary Waltz with Bashir, he said, ‘One of the most remarkable films of the 21st century…’ and ‘…how is it possible to live with the knowledge that you have engaged in or facilitated mass murder?’

O’Toole says it is autobiographical, based when Folman was a 19-year-old conscript in the Israeli army. The article refers to the massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps, sealed off by Israeli troops, carried out by proxy Christian paramilitaries, with the IDF firing flares so the killing could be done by night. Women were raped, before being killed, men castrated, babies had their throats cut. The total, around 2,000 souls.

Folman, O’ Toole continues, wiped it from his mind; his psychiatrist gave him terms for his detachment, the Mayo Clinic has others: foggy, dreamlike, unrealistic. Let’s checklist international amnesia on Palestinians: Deir Yassin, Irgun, April 1948 killed 254 unarmed men, women and children. October 14, 1953 Quibya in the West Bank, an Israeli force attacked at night leaving 66 dead, 75 maimed, 45 homes demolished. In 1956 Khan Younis, summary execution of 275 civilians. On October 29, 1956 returning home under a 5 0’ clock curfew they had not been informed of, 45 men, women, children were shot dead in Kfar Qassem.

Ariel Sharon admitted financing, arming and training Lebanese militia who carried out the Tel al-Zaatar massacre 2,000 dead. Even then, Palestinians spoke of their attempted extermination, but Sabra and Shatila had survivors who did not suffer from amnesia.

O’Toole says he watched the film a second time, and an acronym from a different script came to his mind, Succession – NRPI. Logan Roy’s term for unimportant people like women or migrant workers who suffer injury or abuse – No Real Person Involved.

There you go Palestine, that’s how the elites see you. Only real Israelis suffer actual atrocities and only Palestinians are terrorists.