As predicted, the Kurds in Iraq are asserting their right to a state. And since the USA has occupied Iraq for six years or so it does rather mean that it is inevitable that they will leave the country with a displaced people, a people who have difficulty or who are conflicted with government that works against their own interests. We hope this is not a recipe for disaster. We hope that the Iraq Kurds gradually increase integration with other peoples peacefully but where religious feudalism seems to define things political pressures build. Cultural blurring requires religious openness. The non-acceptance of the beliefs of the “other” maintains the barriers between communities. Ultimately cultural assimiliation – the continental drift that redefines societies and corrodes empires – will change the boundaries not just of Kurdistan, but of the entire Middle East. So what. It is the lives of the people who live now that are restricted or affected in ways that they can not agree with, how do you solve that? It becomes the same question as any displaced people. It is the sharing of art, aesthetics and stories that ultimately dissolves cultural barriers.

People sharing admiration is like religious belief – it is cohesive. We do not share religious beliefs so there has to be a better common ground as religious sensitivity dictates the maintenance of barriers between people. These barriers do melt ultimately. When political questions are settled by death, it is hard to maintain political objectivity.

The world requires a path for displaced people towards self rule. Persecution due to the barriers between peoples just means that people suffer. The United Nations has been said to lack teeth. That is only because it does not wholeheartedly exist in the minds of the Governments of the largest countries. Kurdistan is an ethnic region rather than a political entity. It covers border areas of Iraq, Iran, plus about a third of Turkey and a little Syria as well and some of Turkmenistan.

In these countries Kurds do not dictate their own destiny. A country of 20 million displaced people that Turkey will not allow to form a political entity. A victim of war.

See NY Times

Kurdistan historical site