Modern Greece and the Macedonian Heritage – Part 21 – Baiting the Trap
Risto Stefov
May 24, 2009
I am sure by now everyone has heard of Professor Miller´s infamous letter to President Obama signed by more than 200 professors and academics. http://macedonia-evidence.org/obama-letter.html#obamacosigners
But what does it all mean? Does it take 200 professors to sign a letter with such bogus arguments that even a child can tear apart with its eyes closed? But then if you think about it, there maybe a hidden agenda behind the letter! Does it take 200 professors to legitimize, as the Greeks put it, the "well known facts"? If the "facts" are so well known why does one need ALL those professors to "back them up"? Isn´t it "a bit" of overkill?
I know the arguments in the letter can be refuted so easily and I know there are far more capable and convincing "classical students" than Professor Miller so why not go the extra mile and attempt to produce an "iron clad" case before President Obama?
There is but one reason why the Greeks have written this "private" but "purposely leaked" letter to President Obama. I received the letter four days before Obama did, do you think it was by accident? No! I believe the letter was sent to simply attract our attention! A trap to lure the Macedonians away from pursuing their human rights and to focus their energies on what the Greeks want them to focus on; nonsensical issues where there is nothing at stake for Greece.
The so-called Greek "dispute" with Macedonia actually has nothing to do with ancient history, ancient names, flags, or symbols. Greece´s "dispute" with Macedonia is a ruse to cover up human rights abuses perpetrated by Greece against the Macedonian people living inside Greece. The real issue Greece is trying to avoid has a lot to do with confiscated properties and revoked citizenships than with ancient history. The real issue is about Macedonians being exiled from their homeland for just being Macedonian and Macedonians not being able to speak their language freely and practice their customs and culture without persecution.
By writing this letter the Greeks are trying to divert Macedonian and world attention to non consequential and nonsensical issues like "ancient names of regions" and what they were called 2,500 years ago. Issues that nobody cares about and that have no consequences for Greece!
The fact that over 200 professors have signed the letter however, if they indeed have signed it, should be of concern to the institutions where these professors teach. Do parents and students approve of their professors meddling in the politics of foreign states?
It should be of greater concern to the professors as well; especially if they didn´t sign the letter and their names have been forged by the Greeks and dragged through the mud!
Let me explain how Greece plays this game. Greece uses the ancient argument to justify its occupation of Macedonian territories and to claim the Macedonian heritage as its own to the exclusion of the Macedonian people. By arguing that "Macedonians do not exist" Greece is excluding the Macedonian people from their heritage and creating conditions to continue to deny them their human rights. So by helping the Greeks lay claim to the ancient heritage these professors are wittingly or unwittingly aiding and abetting Greece in its quest to deny the Macedonian people their human rights. If this is intentionally done then parents and students do have serious concerns and the right to worry and be upset with these professors. It is important that each co-signing professor think about the implications of his or her signature on this letter and the damage it will do to Macedonian peoples and their human rights!
There is a rumour circulating that Professor Miller has recommended that Greece "invade and annex" the Republic of Macedonia. I am currently looking for a source on this but if it turns out to be true would these professors still support Miller in his quest?
Greece and its Philhellene patrons had over 200 years to re-write history and poison the world with their "awesome" and unbelievable lies. But why are they now resorting to using this fake "ancient history" to solve their modern problems?
When it comes to "modern issues" why are Greeks focusing on the history from 2,500 years ago to solve their current problems instead of focusing on more recent history, like the history of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern Balkans states? Modern Balkan problems, issues, disputes and arguments today stem directly from events that took place in the last 200 years. Today´s problems in the Balkans are a direct result of the formation of the new Balkan states and the conditions under which they were created. So why doesn´t Greece want to talk about or hold debates on issues from this period? Why instead talk about what happened 2,500 years ago?
Since the ancient City States were conquered by the Macedonians 2,300 years ago, the people in the lower Balkans have been subjugated by many conquerors including the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans and the people have lived without borders up until the creation of the Modern Balkan states in the 19th century. Without borders to stop invaders, whoever invaded Macedonia also invaded Greece; whoever settled in Macedonia also settled in Greece. Being in close proximity (neighbours with open borders) for 2,300 years has exposed both Macedonia and Greece to the same demographic conditions. What was there to prevent those who entered Macedonia from entering Greece? The logical answer would be "nothing"!
Wouldn´t one be able to find the same kind of people in Greece as one finds in Macedonia? The logical answer would be "certainly"!
So why should we believe the Greeks when they tell us that they are "pure Greeks", descendents of the Ancient Greeks and that the Macedonians are "Slavs"?
If the Modern Greeks are the descendants of the ancient Greeks then the Modern Macedonians are the descendents of the Ancient Macedonians! Conversely, if the Modern Macedonians are "Slavs" then so are the Modern Greeks!
Before determining "who the ancients were and were not", would it not be logical to ask the question "who are and who are not the moderns"?
Let us start with the Modern Greeks since they came into the 19th century scene first.
Who are the Modern Greeks?
Here is what Edmund About has to say in his book "Greece and the Greeks of the Present day". On page 160 we read: "The Turkish village which formerly clustered around the base of the Acropolis had not disappeared: it forms a whole quarter of the town. There are narrow alleys, huts of the height of a man, yards in which chickens, children and pigs crawl pell-mell between a dunghill and a heap of fagots. An immense of the majority of the population of this quarter is composed of Albanians."
Here is what Alexandra Halkias has to say in her book "The Empty Cradle of Democracy". On page 59 we read: "Through the end of the revolution in 1830, Greeks, including most of the nineteenth century nationalists, seemed to have had a vague but firm sense of continuity from ancient to modern Greece, though this was not articulated in racial terms but on the basis of a common language, history, and consciousness. In effect, at this time, whoever called themselves a Greek was a Greek. It is because of this that many Greek-speaking Albanians, Slavs, Romanians, and Vlachs were easily assimilated and indeed became important players in Greek patriotism at the time.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the average inhabitant of Greece called himself or herself a Roman (Romios), and the (Greek) language Romeika.
To some extent – the consciousness of the modern Greek of his classical ancestry is a product of Western Scholarship."
Here is what Michael Herzfeld has to say in his book "Anthropology". On page 67 we read: "The example of modern Greece provides a useful key to historicizing those who Eric Wolf has ironically dubbed ´the people without history´ (Wolf 1982). For the modern Greeks - a people arguably plagued by an excess of history, but of a kind invented for them by more powerful others."
Here is what Appleton had to say in his 1901 "Annual Encyclopedia" third series volume VI. On page 113 we read: "The first Greek who had a plan for insurrection and for a liberated Greece was Rhigas of Valestino, a Thessalian who served in high posts in Wallachia, spent some years in Vienna, and was handed over by the Austrians to the Turks in Trieste in 1798 as a revolutionary conspirator, and hanged in Belgrade. Rhigas was the author of poems, revolutionary proclamations and a constitution, closely modeled on the French constitution of 1793 and 1795. In this document he spoke of the sovereign people of the proposed state as including ´without distinction of religion or language – Greeks, Albanians, Vlachs, Armenians, Turks and every other race´."
Here is what we read on page 42 of the "Insight Guides Athens Greece Series". "Because of numerous and protracted foreign occupations, true Athenians were a relatively small minority even in the age of Pericles. In later periods, the city was suffering from severe depopulation and re-stocked with Albanians. At the time of Greek independence in 1834, Athens was a miserable village with a population of only 6,000."
In the "Atlantic Monthly" of January 1882 volume XLIX we read: "It is one of a group made famous in the Greek revolution of 1821 by the bravery of its Albanian settlers, in defense of a country which they had never adopted for their own till this moment of danger came."
On page 109 of the book "Entangled Identities" edited by Atsuko Ichijo and Willfried Spohn we read: "It should be strongly emphasized, however, this image of classical Greece was constructed in Europe and was imported to the newborn Greek state. (Tsoukalas 2002)"
After reading the above quotes, there is but one logical conclusion that can be reached and that is "the Modern Greeks are the direct descendants of the Slavs, Albanians and Vlachs" and have nothing to do with the so-called "ancient Greeks".
Unfortunately Greeks don´t want to talk about their "recent history" because they don´t want it to be discovered that they are frauds and charlatans.
Let us not allow the Greeks to fool the world that their dispute with the Macedonian people is anything but a ruse to sidestep the real issue, the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece. The so-called Greek dispute with Macedonia is not about "names" or "history"! How can it be when the Modern Greeks are neither Greeks nor Macedonians? Why would a people who are neither Greeks nor Macedonians care about "Macedonia´s name" or "Macedonia´s history"? The ONLY concern the so-called Modern Greeks have is "how to continue to hang on to Macedonian lands and to the Macedonian heritage" as long as they can.
For those who are still not convinced that the Modern Greek identity is an artificial creation, please continue to read this series of articles.
Author´s note:
Dear Macedonians, one way to defend ourselves from the Greek onslaught and gain back our identity and dignity is to fight back to the level to which the Greeks have reduced us; that is to attack their identity as they have attacked ours. We need prove nothing to them except to expose them as the artificial identity they truly are and to uncover their design to wipe us out in order to usurp our Macedonian heritage.
To be continued.
Many thanks to TrueMacedonian from www.maknews.com for his contribution to this article.
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
But what does it all mean? Does it take 200 professors to sign a letter with such bogus arguments that even a child can tear apart with its eyes closed? But then if you think about it, there maybe a hidden agenda behind the letter! Does it take 200 professors to legitimize, as the Greeks put it, the "well known facts"? If the "facts" are so well known why does one need ALL those professors to "back them up"? Isn´t it "a bit" of overkill?
I know the arguments in the letter can be refuted so easily and I know there are far more capable and convincing "classical students" than Professor Miller so why not go the extra mile and attempt to produce an "iron clad" case before President Obama?
There is but one reason why the Greeks have written this "private" but "purposely leaked" letter to President Obama. I received the letter four days before Obama did, do you think it was by accident? No! I believe the letter was sent to simply attract our attention! A trap to lure the Macedonians away from pursuing their human rights and to focus their energies on what the Greeks want them to focus on; nonsensical issues where there is nothing at stake for Greece.
The so-called Greek "dispute" with Macedonia actually has nothing to do with ancient history, ancient names, flags, or symbols. Greece´s "dispute" with Macedonia is a ruse to cover up human rights abuses perpetrated by Greece against the Macedonian people living inside Greece. The real issue Greece is trying to avoid has a lot to do with confiscated properties and revoked citizenships than with ancient history. The real issue is about Macedonians being exiled from their homeland for just being Macedonian and Macedonians not being able to speak their language freely and practice their customs and culture without persecution.
By writing this letter the Greeks are trying to divert Macedonian and world attention to non consequential and nonsensical issues like "ancient names of regions" and what they were called 2,500 years ago. Issues that nobody cares about and that have no consequences for Greece!
The fact that over 200 professors have signed the letter however, if they indeed have signed it, should be of concern to the institutions where these professors teach. Do parents and students approve of their professors meddling in the politics of foreign states?
It should be of greater concern to the professors as well; especially if they didn´t sign the letter and their names have been forged by the Greeks and dragged through the mud!
Let me explain how Greece plays this game. Greece uses the ancient argument to justify its occupation of Macedonian territories and to claim the Macedonian heritage as its own to the exclusion of the Macedonian people. By arguing that "Macedonians do not exist" Greece is excluding the Macedonian people from their heritage and creating conditions to continue to deny them their human rights. So by helping the Greeks lay claim to the ancient heritage these professors are wittingly or unwittingly aiding and abetting Greece in its quest to deny the Macedonian people their human rights. If this is intentionally done then parents and students do have serious concerns and the right to worry and be upset with these professors. It is important that each co-signing professor think about the implications of his or her signature on this letter and the damage it will do to Macedonian peoples and their human rights!
There is a rumour circulating that Professor Miller has recommended that Greece "invade and annex" the Republic of Macedonia. I am currently looking for a source on this but if it turns out to be true would these professors still support Miller in his quest?
Greece and its Philhellene patrons had over 200 years to re-write history and poison the world with their "awesome" and unbelievable lies. But why are they now resorting to using this fake "ancient history" to solve their modern problems?
When it comes to "modern issues" why are Greeks focusing on the history from 2,500 years ago to solve their current problems instead of focusing on more recent history, like the history of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern Balkans states? Modern Balkan problems, issues, disputes and arguments today stem directly from events that took place in the last 200 years. Today´s problems in the Balkans are a direct result of the formation of the new Balkan states and the conditions under which they were created. So why doesn´t Greece want to talk about or hold debates on issues from this period? Why instead talk about what happened 2,500 years ago?
Since the ancient City States were conquered by the Macedonians 2,300 years ago, the people in the lower Balkans have been subjugated by many conquerors including the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans and the people have lived without borders up until the creation of the Modern Balkan states in the 19th century. Without borders to stop invaders, whoever invaded Macedonia also invaded Greece; whoever settled in Macedonia also settled in Greece. Being in close proximity (neighbours with open borders) for 2,300 years has exposed both Macedonia and Greece to the same demographic conditions. What was there to prevent those who entered Macedonia from entering Greece? The logical answer would be "nothing"!
Wouldn´t one be able to find the same kind of people in Greece as one finds in Macedonia? The logical answer would be "certainly"!
So why should we believe the Greeks when they tell us that they are "pure Greeks", descendents of the Ancient Greeks and that the Macedonians are "Slavs"?
If the Modern Greeks are the descendants of the ancient Greeks then the Modern Macedonians are the descendents of the Ancient Macedonians! Conversely, if the Modern Macedonians are "Slavs" then so are the Modern Greeks!
Before determining "who the ancients were and were not", would it not be logical to ask the question "who are and who are not the moderns"?
Let us start with the Modern Greeks since they came into the 19th century scene first.
Who are the Modern Greeks?
Here is what Edmund About has to say in his book "Greece and the Greeks of the Present day". On page 160 we read: "The Turkish village which formerly clustered around the base of the Acropolis had not disappeared: it forms a whole quarter of the town. There are narrow alleys, huts of the height of a man, yards in which chickens, children and pigs crawl pell-mell between a dunghill and a heap of fagots. An immense of the majority of the population of this quarter is composed of Albanians."
Here is what Alexandra Halkias has to say in her book "The Empty Cradle of Democracy". On page 59 we read: "Through the end of the revolution in 1830, Greeks, including most of the nineteenth century nationalists, seemed to have had a vague but firm sense of continuity from ancient to modern Greece, though this was not articulated in racial terms but on the basis of a common language, history, and consciousness. In effect, at this time, whoever called themselves a Greek was a Greek. It is because of this that many Greek-speaking Albanians, Slavs, Romanians, and Vlachs were easily assimilated and indeed became important players in Greek patriotism at the time.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the average inhabitant of Greece called himself or herself a Roman (Romios), and the (Greek) language Romeika.
To some extent – the consciousness of the modern Greek of his classical ancestry is a product of Western Scholarship."
Here is what Michael Herzfeld has to say in his book "Anthropology". On page 67 we read: "The example of modern Greece provides a useful key to historicizing those who Eric Wolf has ironically dubbed ´the people without history´ (Wolf 1982). For the modern Greeks - a people arguably plagued by an excess of history, but of a kind invented for them by more powerful others."
Here is what Appleton had to say in his 1901 "Annual Encyclopedia" third series volume VI. On page 113 we read: "The first Greek who had a plan for insurrection and for a liberated Greece was Rhigas of Valestino, a Thessalian who served in high posts in Wallachia, spent some years in Vienna, and was handed over by the Austrians to the Turks in Trieste in 1798 as a revolutionary conspirator, and hanged in Belgrade. Rhigas was the author of poems, revolutionary proclamations and a constitution, closely modeled on the French constitution of 1793 and 1795. In this document he spoke of the sovereign people of the proposed state as including ´without distinction of religion or language – Greeks, Albanians, Vlachs, Armenians, Turks and every other race´."
Here is what we read on page 42 of the "Insight Guides Athens Greece Series". "Because of numerous and protracted foreign occupations, true Athenians were a relatively small minority even in the age of Pericles. In later periods, the city was suffering from severe depopulation and re-stocked with Albanians. At the time of Greek independence in 1834, Athens was a miserable village with a population of only 6,000."
In the "Atlantic Monthly" of January 1882 volume XLIX we read: "It is one of a group made famous in the Greek revolution of 1821 by the bravery of its Albanian settlers, in defense of a country which they had never adopted for their own till this moment of danger came."
On page 109 of the book "Entangled Identities" edited by Atsuko Ichijo and Willfried Spohn we read: "It should be strongly emphasized, however, this image of classical Greece was constructed in Europe and was imported to the newborn Greek state. (Tsoukalas 2002)"
After reading the above quotes, there is but one logical conclusion that can be reached and that is "the Modern Greeks are the direct descendants of the Slavs, Albanians and Vlachs" and have nothing to do with the so-called "ancient Greeks".
Unfortunately Greeks don´t want to talk about their "recent history" because they don´t want it to be discovered that they are frauds and charlatans.
Let us not allow the Greeks to fool the world that their dispute with the Macedonian people is anything but a ruse to sidestep the real issue, the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece. The so-called Greek dispute with Macedonia is not about "names" or "history"! How can it be when the Modern Greeks are neither Greeks nor Macedonians? Why would a people who are neither Greeks nor Macedonians care about "Macedonia´s name" or "Macedonia´s history"? The ONLY concern the so-called Modern Greeks have is "how to continue to hang on to Macedonian lands and to the Macedonian heritage" as long as they can.
For those who are still not convinced that the Modern Greek identity is an artificial creation, please continue to read this series of articles.
Author´s note:
Dear Macedonians, one way to defend ourselves from the Greek onslaught and gain back our identity and dignity is to fight back to the level to which the Greeks have reduced us; that is to attack their identity as they have attacked ours. We need prove nothing to them except to expose them as the artificial identity they truly are and to uncover their design to wipe us out in order to usurp our Macedonian heritage.
To be continued.
Many thanks to TrueMacedonian from www.maknews.com for his contribution to this article.
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com