[Peace-discuss] the story of Kinda

[Ricky Baldwin]

Chomsky was asked the following question in the Z
Sustainer Forums:

    In organizing, I've noticed among my active
friends and family that when constantly confronting
these crimes, it is very easy to become depressed or
develop all kinds of anxieties. I have seen it happen
to a number of people already, including myself. I
know this question extends into the personal, and for
that reason I hestitate to ask, but it seems you are
able to confront a wide range of serious problems and
yet not get discouraged and maintain a healthy
composure. If that is correct, how do you do it? What
advice would you make to others who might fall victim
to depression/fatalism/etc. when organizing? 

He replied as follows:

REPLY FROM NC: Since it's a personal question, let me
give a personal answer. I was in Lebanon a few months
ago. After one talk in downtown Beirut, there was the
usual crowd raising questions, making comments, asking
for books to be signed, etc. One young woman came over
with a book of mine she wanted me to sign, open to a
certain page, and said, simply, "I am Kinda." It was
one of the most moving moments I can remember -- and
it's a great testimony to Western civilization that
almost no one would know why. The book she had was
from 20 years ago, with a chapter that discussed
Reagan's terrorist bombing of Libya, the first bombing
in history timed precisely for prime-time TV (which
commentators pretended not to notice). One outstanding
journalist, Charles Glass (who happens to be a close
friend), was not content with the usual fare and went
to see what had happened to the victims. He found a
family in a ruined house. The mother showed him a
letter written by her daughter. It said something like
"Dear Mr. Reagan, I am seven years old. Why did you
kill my sister and my best friend and my rag doll? Is
it because we are Palestinians and you don't want us
to go home? Signed Kinda." You can find the exact text
in my book Pirates and Emperors. Charlie managed to
get it published in a right-wing British journal. Alex
Cockburn published it in the US, with a comment to Ron
and Nancy that since they liked to read children's
letters, maybe they could read this one. End of story
in the civilized West.

Not long after meeting Kinda and her mother, I heard
the State Department's David Welch somberly
explaiining in academic tones over CNN that the US had
decided, in its magnanimity, that perhaps Libya had
atoned sufficiently for its terrible crimes against
us, so we might, graciously, allow it back into the
civilized world.

It's not the only case by any means. Just a recent and
unforgettable one. And beyond personal experiences, it
hardly takes any imagination to find innumerable
hideous ones. By looking at this morning's newspaper,
for example.

I don't know if it's obvious that this is a response
to your question, but it's the best one I can think
of.


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