National Struggle Research Articles

Abortions From a Clinical Social Aspect - A Historical View: The Case of the Jewish Society in Palestine During the Early 20th Century

The legality of abortions and the decreasing birthrate are topics that regularly emerge on the global public agenda, sparking intense social, legal, and political discussions. In 2019, Israel’s birthrate (the birthrate is defined as the number of births relative to the population) was 3.1 children per woman-the highest among OECD countries and surpassing that of many developing nations (excluding Africa). Several explanations account for this phenomenon, among them - the national ethos and geopolitical status of Israel, which necessitate demographic intensification. However, a historical perspective reveals that the Jewish society in Palestine during the British Mandate (1920- 1948) despite the national struggle that was at its peak, experienced low birthrates due to considerable number of abortions.

Kurdish gender politics: Funeral ceremonies of female fighters

AbstractThe funeral ceremonies of female fighters are a relatively recent phenomenon that gained popularity in Kurdish politics in Turkey in the early 2000s and after the 2011 uprisings in Syria. As a sociocultural rite, these funerals have become a spectacular site, a political means, and a symbolic investment serving an intersectional agenda pursuing Kurdish national and gender‐egalitarian aspirations simultaneously. The funerals provide a ground for mobilizing women to claim symbolic authority in public and inscribe women as nation builders to the notion of nation. Women undertaking this intersectional task through national discourse garnered significant academic interest in the national dimension of the ceremonies. However, the emphasis on the national aspect overshadowed the gendered strategy the ceremonies signify. This article investigates the gender aspect of funerals to draw attention to the use of national discourse to subvert patriarchal dynamics within society, highlighting the role of national struggle in women's pursuit of liberation from social oppression. Therefore, it speaks to the scholarship focused on gender in nationalist endeavors and revisits the discussions on gender‐nation relations by focusing on national discourse instrumentalization serving the gender agenda. The analysis reveals the intricate dynamics between gender and nation and how they intersect in pursuing women's liberation.

Predicting college retention rates from Google Street View images of campuses

Every year, around 40% of undergraduate students in the United States discontinue their studies, resulting in a loss of valuable education for students and a loss of money for colleges. Even so, colleges across the nation struggle to discover the underlying causes of these high dropout rates. In this paper, the authors discuss the use of machine learning to find correlations between the built environment factors and the retention rates of colleges. They hypothesized that one way for colleges to improve their retention rates could be to improve the physical characteristics of their campus to be more pleasing. The authors used image classification techniques to look at images of colleges and correlate certain features like colors, cars, and people to higher or lower retention rates. With three possible options of high, medium, and low retention rates, the probability that their models reached the right conclusion if they simply chose randomly was 33%. After finding that this 33%, or 0.33 mark, always fell outside of the 99% confidence intervals built around their models’ accuracies, the authors concluded that their machine learning techniques can be used to find correlations between certain environmental factors and retention rates.

Auroville, the city of Nature's Yoga: material, spiritual and sustainable architecture and urbanism

This article aims to reflect on ongoing research that investigates cosmopolitical and spiritual practices in Auroville, an urban experience in southern India that emerged from the teachings of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), creator of Integral Yoga, philosopher, yogi, poet and icon of the nationalist struggle. This city adopts sustainable urban planning and architecture techniques that seek to be an example for the creation of a new human being integrated into the cosmos, living a collective life centered on the Yoga of Nature. Auroville aims to be "the city the world needs" and to inspire other cities towards sustainable practices, enabling a transformation in the world. The city center is a temple dedicated to concentration and meditation, but not linked to any religion. Ecological and spiritual practices act as guidelines for a more balanced and natural collective life, enabling an integration of material-spiritual architecture and urbanism with nature. The methodology used included in-depth interviews and participant observation during the field visit. The one-month experience in Auroville showed that, despite its many positive aspects, the contradictions inherent in such an experience are inevitable. The concentration of national and international resources, the recovery of the soil and forest, the solutions to guarantee drinking water supplies, roads, paths and infrastructure in general have changed the entire region. Spiritual tourism and commercial migration have contributed to a process of micro-regional real estate speculation. An internal conflict over the direction of the city and its surroundings, over the very integration of city-nature, is worrying Aurovillians today.

JOURNALISM OF MYRON КORDUBA ON PAGES OF «HROMADSKA DUMKA»

The purpose of the article is to analyze the journalism of M. Korduba on the pages of the Lviv newspaper «Hromadska Dumka». The research methodology is based on a combination of principles (historicism and objectivity) and methods (general scientific and special-historical) of scientific work. The scientific novelty of the article consists in an attempt to comprehend the phenomenon of historian’s journalistic heritage in «Hromadska Dumka» («Public Opinion»).Conclusions. The journalism of M. Korduba on the pages of «Hromadska Dumka» was devoted to the comprehensive analysis of the most important issues for Ukrainians of national life during the early 1920s. First of all, it was a difficult problem to overcome a wide range of consequences of the defeat of the national struggle in the Galician and Transdniestrian lands. The historian urges against national self-humiliation, showing the subjective and objective reasons for Ukrainians to lose their own statehood. He proposes to make the right conclusions from defeat and move further to gaining independence. M. Korduba convinces that Ukrainians have the fate of their own hands, soberly assess the unfavorable foreign political situation, and urges to step aside from internal conflicts and to give a clear signal to the western countries about the presence of a consolidated vision of the national perspective. As M. Korduba claims, only unity of the Ukrainian nation will gain the respect of European partners and will establish constructive relations. This optimism also marked articles on the relations of Ukrainians with their eternal rivals – the Polish and Russians. He stresses at the need to seek consensus with the neighbors by establishing an equitable national dialogue and rejecting the policy of escalating national atrocities. In general, the analyses of M. Korduba‘s writings prove him to be a talented publicist, who was able to diagnose the problems of Ukrainians of his times and offer effective recipes for national recovery.

Law Enforcement for Violence against Children

As the next generation of the nation, children should get their rights and needs adequately. On the other hand, they are not objects (targets) of acts of arbitrariness and inhumane treatment from anyone or any party. Children who are considered vulnerable to acts of violence and abuse, should be cared for, cared for, educated as well as possible, so that they grow and develop in a healthy and normal manner. That alone needs to be done, so that in the future there will not be a lost generation. Criminal law enforcement regulations for perpetrators of violence against children in Indonesia are not based on the value of justice because of the perpetrators of violence against children themselves, where the perpetrators are does not see the law as a law that will bind an action that he has committed but only as an ordinary rule that can be deceived by perpetrators of violence, it is evident that in recent years in Indonesia and in neighboring countries violence against children is still relatively high, This proves that criminal law regulations for perpetrators of violence against children are still considered small, and even more so if there is peace between the parents of the victim and the perpetrator, peace here is in the form of compensation or restitution which does not create a sense of the value of justice for victims of violence, which is essentially considered to have no deterrent effect on perpetrators of violence against children. The focused data is from the Province of North Sumatra, where for some time this area has always received public attention regarding violence against children. In North Sumatra in 2018 there were 1,030 cases recorded with Medan City being the highest, in 2019 there were 705 cases, in 2020 there were 641 cases, in 2021 there were 994 cases with Langkat Regency being the highest, and in 2022 there were 962 cases the highest. It should be noted from the data obtained, from 2018 to 2022 the age of children as victims is between the ages of 13-17 and sexual violence is the highest type of violence, and ranks number two in types of physical violence weak law enforcement in the process of not being able to make legal wishes come true. These legal regulations will also determine how law enforcement will be carried out. As is the case in Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Child Protection where prosecution is lighter than the threat of punishment stipulated by law so that the judge's decision is considered relatively light in cases of violence against children. Reconstruction of criminal law regulations for victims of violence against children in the application of a statutory regulation must look at all elements of life in society, especially if it concerns law in the public sphere. Children as shoots, potentials and the younger generation to continue the ideals of the nation's struggle have a strategic role, special characteristics as well, so they must be protected from all forms of inhumane treatment that can result in violations of human rights.

Reinterpretacja poetyki węgierskiej powieści historycznej w utworach najnowszych

The main idea of the article is the description of selected works which belong to the latest Hungarian historical novels. They are surprising for readers and at the same time constitute a polemic with the genre classics. The best‑known historical novelists ate the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Hungary are: Géza Gárdonyi and Maurycy Jókai. One of the reasons for their popularity is the fact that in their works they mentioned well‑known and at the same time painful events from the history of Hungary. It was the era of Turkish rule and the period of theHungarian Spring of Nations. Other events included the Trianon case, which wasn’t discussed between 1945–1989, the Second World War, and the Hungarian October. The mythic image of national struggle and the fighting Hungarian, which was shaped by Romantic writers, was preserved for a long time in the collective memory of Hungarians. It seemed to have become an indispensable element of national mythology. However, new authors appeared in contemporary Hungarian culture, who made an attempt at the demythification of events that were important for the Hungarian people. Such an attempt seems very interesting and controversial. It is a litmus test for the current state of the collective historical awareness of the nation. New literary works take a different approach to those events which are well‑known to several generations of Hungarians from classical literature. They ask questions about the borders concerning rooted axiological categories and the flexibility of historical thinking. They are also an attempt at a timeless reflection connecting different periods. In Béla Fehér’s book, which was written in the spirit of magical realism, the most popular leader of the Hungarian Spring of Nations – Lajos Kossuth (1802–1894) – quotes the words of Prime Minister Imre Nagy (1896–1958) from the days of the Hungarian October. As for the works which deal with the topic of the two World Wars, they pose questions about the moral value of struggles run on the wrong side in the interest of foreign powers.

Instilling Nationalist Values from an Early Age Through the History of the Struggle of Indonesian Heroes

Introducing the history of Indonesian independence to children is not an easy matter, considering that if you talk about history, what you definitely know is the long plot and events. Introduction to the history of Indonesian independence, in a fun way to foster good nationalist values in children from an early age. The aim is for young children to feel the meaning of struggle from simple actions. We know that children's learning methods must be adapted to their characteristics. The aim of the research will be to briefly describe how the introduction of stories of struggle increases the value of nationalism in children. The research design will use narrative/historical qualitative research, namely trying to find and describe narratively the activities carried out and the impact of the actions taken. This research will be carried out at the ABA VII Kindergarten, Kediri City with research subjects of 30 children aged 4-6 years. Collection techniques are observation, interviews and document analysis. Meanwhile, in analyzing the data, data triangulation, member checking and auditing techniques were used, as well as data analysis techniques according to Miles & Huberman, namely data reduction, data display and conclusions. The research results show that instilling nationalist values based on the story of the nation's struggle can be done through planning play activities starting from playing learning videos, designing Heroes' Day project activities and telling stories from books/pictures about the names of heroes as well as direct practice of visiting heroes' graves. Recommendations from research results should be developed other than during Heroes' Day so that we can see the continuity of children's understanding through activities to foster nationalism.

And Now the Poets Do Not Speak: The Politics of Representation in Zimbabwean Writing in Shona and English (1954–2023)

The article analyses the politics of representation in Zimbabwean literature written in Shona and English, particularly exploring the policing of creative writing from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. We argue that the position of the Zimbabwean writer portends a dilemma that amounts to being gagged from depicting certain truths about the nation or not speaking at all. In Rhodesia, the black writer was under surveillance by the Rhodesia Literature Bureau, which forced the writer to focus on issues that were considered apolitical. Those who wanted to confront colonialism head-on published outside Rhodesia, but at a time when the nationalist struggle was gaining momentum, these writers were expected to demonise colonialism while praising the nationalist movement regardless of existing evidence of its leaders becoming tyrants in the independent nation. The same dilemmas afflict the new crop of Zimbabwe’s writers who feel the need to depict the ills of Zimbabwe as they are, while at the same time exposing themselves to the nationalist and Afropolitan critic’s accusations of churning out poverty porn. Our central argument is that regardless of these accusations from certain sections of their readers, writers are free to depict what they see in society, whether good or bad. In our exploration of these dilemmas, we refer to notable works by writers and critics from Zimbabwe. We also give attention to relevant critical works and reviews and critically analyse the perspectives that animate such critical works and reviews. The researchers only speak Shona and English, which has necessitated the scope of the research to be limited to writings in Shona and English only.

Milli Mücadele’de Amasya’nın Tercih Edilme Nedenleri ve Amasya Tamimine Giden Süreç

On October 30, 1918, after the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, many parts of Anatolia, especially Istanbul, were occupied by the Allied Powers. The Turkish people, who remained silent about the occupations for a while, threw off the dead soil with the occupation of Izmir by Greece and participated in rallies protesting these occupations in various parts of the country. In the meantime, there were ideas among the Ottoman bureaucrats and intellectuals who accepted the vassalage of various big countries. However, patriotic officers such as Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Kazım Karabekir, Fethi Okyar, Ali Fuat Cebesoy Pasha, and Kazım Karabekir sought ways to start the National Struggle by moving to Anatolia. They were not sure from which province in Anatolia the National Struggle should start. Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Kazım Karabekir Pasha and other patriotic Turkish officers saw Amasya as the place to start the National Struggle. The aim of the study is to reveal the process leading to the Amasya Declaration in the National Struggle, the importance of this declaration and the reasons why Amasya was preferred. In order to convey the information in the article, a literature review was conducted and books, articles and scientific theses on this subject were read and tried to be conveyed to the reader. The aim of the study is to present to the reader the patriotic and common sense approach of the people of Amasya towards the problems of the country in the process leading to the Amasya Declaration.

The Symbols That Failed: The Formation and Promotion of Czechoslovak State Symbolism after 1918

This article presents selected symbols that were adopted, either through official legislation or through political and social negotiations, as symbols of the state after the fall of the Habsburg Empire and the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic. Their main weakness was their strong association with Czech identity. The symbols of the new state came from the period of mutual national struggles and identity affirmation in the last decades of the monarchy, but they were only significant for the modern Czech nation. This was the reason why they never became a unifying element of the democratic and multinational Czechoslovak state, nor did they appeal to most of its Slovak inhabitants, whose historical traditions and symbols were virtually ignored. What is more, they were even perceived as provocative and hostile by the German, Hungarian, Ruthenian and Polish populations of the interwar Czechoslovak Republic.

Ambivalence, division, and critique: The collaborator in British Palestinian political thrillers

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of the collaborator as a literary figure and a critical tool in Mischa Hiller’s Shake Off and Ahmed Masoud’s Vanished: The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda. I argue that Hiller’s and Masoud’s political thrillers reclaim the collaborator as a figure of division and ambivalence, which facilitates engagement with local subtleties. These include the issue of collaboration and its implications for individuals as well as the Palestinian national struggle; the straightforward path from resistance to liberation and statehood; and the idea of a unified Palestinian ideology to which Palestinians, including Palestinian authors in the diaspora, need to be loyal. In this sense, Hiller’s and Masoud’s works offer important insights into wider trends in Palestinian writing, including an emphasis on non-heroic and ordinary characters, while using the political thriller, as a popular anglophone genre, to bring awareness of the Palestinian cause, in all its ambivalence and complexity.

The Response to the Croatian National Struggle in 1848-1849 in the Western Armenian Periodical Press

Key words: Austrian Empire, Hungary, Croatia, national struggle, autonomy, I. Jelacic, “The Arshaluys Araratyan’’, “Hayastan’’ “The Arshaluys Araratyan’’ of Smyrna and “Hayastan’’ of Constantinople, the ideologues of the Armenian national conservative current, commented broadly on the revolutionary and national-liberation struggle taken place in the Austrian Empire in 1848-1849. On the base of the European press news, the Armenian periodicals presented the entire course of the national struggle of the oppressed peoples in the Austrian multinational Empire, as well as the Croats’ struggle. They realized that the national struggle of the Hungarians was directed against the Vienna royal court and aimed to restore their lost state. At the same time the Turkish-Armenian periodicals correctly noticed that the armed Croats were struggling against the Hungarian authorities, desired to be freed from their rule and gain national autonomy within the Austrian Empire. The newspapers “Arshaluys Araratyan’’ and “Hayastan’’ didn’t show any emphatic attitude towards the national struggle of the Croats and presented it mainly from an impartial perspective. Hovhannes Chamurchyan Teroyents, the leader of the Western-Armenian extreme conservatives and editor of “The Hayastan’’, was against any revolutionary movement naming its participants the rioters. He presented the struggle of the Croats simply as a “historiographer”.

Warrior Women: Indigenous Women, Gender Relations, and Sexual Politics within the American Indian Movement and at Wounded Knee

The main purpose of this article is to describe and analyze Indigenous women’sparticipation in the prolonged takeover of Wounded Knee in 1973. Indigenouswomen’s grassroots activism was fundamental for sustaining and keeping the occu-pation alive, yet their contributions were largely eclipsed by the actions of theirmedia-savvy, male comrades-in-arms. What is more important, Indigenous women inthe American Indian Movement (AIM) frequently claimed that they were in a state of“double oppression” or “double colonization”—first, through colonial domination andracial inequality, and second, through male privilege and female subordination—itself,part of the legacy of colonization and the imposition of dominant white patriarchalmasculinity.2 Nationalist struggles such as that of the anticolonial AIM tend to repli-cate the very structures of male dominance that they struggle against. While womenhave been included in public discourse, they have been largely left out of politicaldecision-making.3At Wounded Knee, Indigenous women took on a series of interrelated roles andresponsibilities that kept the occupation alive. Indigenous women skillfully renegoti-ated their gendered position of power within the masculinist organization, constructingfemininities that shifted between domesticated motherhood and female comrades-in-arms. In so doing, they both reaffirmed and challenged sexist and chauvinist attitudes within AIM. They were well known as long-standing community organizers, andtheir active participation at the Wounded Knee takeover was an indication of female empowerment. 

Turco-Greek Battles in 1921 in The British Press

This paper examines the Turkish-Greek War on the Western Front during the National Struggle period of 1921 by analyzing British press coverage. The study aims to unveil how the Turkish-Greek fronts were portrayed in the British press. The research employs a comparative analysis method, assessing news and articles in the British press by comparing them with local sources. The study primarily focuses on news from Reuters, Associated Press, Havas agencies, as well as articles authored by newspaper reporters and war correspondents. The British press extensively covered the Greek occupation in Western Anatolia, which received strong support from the Allied forces, particularly the British. Initially, the Greek invasions were lauded, but starting in September 1921, the British press began reporting more negative developments regarding the Greek invasions and expressed admiration for Turkish progress. It is important to note that the British press did not maintain a consistent attitude throughout the Turco-Greek War. Furthermore, the stance of the British press significantly differed from the policy of the British government, indicating that the British press aligned its coverage with the evolving dynamics of the war. The British press predominantly featured news and statements from the victorious advancing side, while rarely including perspectives from the defeated and retreating side in the Turkish-Greek War.

Armistice of Moudros, Occupations and the Idea of Political Solution in the Turkish National Struggle on the Road to the Republic of Türkiye

Osmanlı Devleti’ni diriltme, yaşatma, hatta büyütme özlemleriyle girilen Birinci Dünya Savaşı, 30 Ekim 1918’de imzalanan ve İtilaf Devletleri kontrolünde bir işgal dönemine girilmesine neden olan Mondros Mütarekesi ile sonuçlanmıştır. Böylelikle, Avrupa Devletleri’ne göre Osmanlı Devleti’ni nüfuz altına almak veya parçalamak yönündeki emeller için son darbeyi vurma noktasına gelinmiştir. Bu çalışmada, Mütareke döneminde hem İstanbul hem de Ankara tarafından takip edilen siyasi çözüm düşüncelerine odaklanılmış, siyasi açılımlardan elde edilenler ve edilemeyenlerin neticelerinin işgallere olan tepkiyle birlikte Millî Mücadele’ye ve sonrasında yeni bir Türk Devleti olarak Cumhuriyet’e dönüşüm süreci incelenmiştir. Amaç, Millî Mücadele ele alınırken sadece bir savaşın yapıldığı, zaferin kazanıldığı ve cumhuriyetin kurulduğu gibi klasik bir anlatımından ziyade Mütareke’nin akdinden Lozan Barış Antlaşması’nın imzalanmasına kadar her safhada ve her fırsatta savaşsız bir çözüm arayışının diplomasi yoluyla Türk tarafınca kovalanıp kovalanmadığını, savaştan çok barış için gayret gösterilip gösterilmediğini ortaya koymaktır. Çalışma; Ekim 1918-Mayıs 1919 döneminde İstanbul’daki gelişmeler, Millî Mücadele’yi ateşleyen İzmir’in işgali, Mustafa Kemal Paşa’nın Samsun’a çıkışı, Dünya’ya, İtilaf Devletleri’ne ve Payitaht’a ilk mesajların verildiği Havza ve Amasya Genelgeleri, tam bağımsızlık yolunda kararlı adımları gösteren Erzurum ve Sivas Kongreleri, son Osmanlı Mebusan Meclisi, Kurucu Meclis ve Misak-ı Millî, Sevr, Millî Mücadele ve diplomasi, Lozan Barış Antlaşması, kan, acı, fedakârlık, kahramanlık ve savaşların eseri Cumhuriyet başlıkları altında ele alınmıştır. Bu plan kapsamında genel anlamda kronolojik bir sıra takip edilmekle birlikte bazı alt başlıklarda ve özellikle savaş ve diploması alt başlığında içerik itibarıyla siyasi çözüm düşüncesine odaklanılması maksadıyla zaman zaman geri dönüşler yapılmıştır.

A History Lesson Designed with the Digital Storytelling Method: Kara Fatma Example

Due to the reflections of the changes and developments in science and technology in the field of education, students need educational opportunities that can meet their changing learning needs. Based on this need, the main purpose of this study is to evaluate the digital storytelling process in history teaching and the contribution of this method to history teaching through the views of students. To achieve this goal, a history lesson about “Kara Fatma”, one of the heroines of the National Struggle in the 12th Grade Turkish Republic History of Revolution and Kemalism course, was designed using the digital storytelling method. A seven-week-long study was planned. The qualitative research method was used in the study. The study group consisted of 15 volunteer 12th-grade students. A semi-structured interview form was used to determine the evaluations of the students about the digital storytelling process, and a checklist was employed to evaluate students’ digital stories. The study data were analyzed with content analysis. As a result, it was found that students only used internet sources during the evidence search process, their knowledge of history was enriched with digital storytelling, and that they had difficulty eliciting material for their stories from a huge stack of information. It was concluded that this application contributed to making history lessons fun and could contribute to the presentation of brief and concise, but not long and boring, information and the use of critical thinking skills in lessons. Thus, it has been understood that digital storytelling may contribute to the development of historical literacy in students.

Cosmopolitan Discourse in Amin Maalouf’s Les Échelles du Levant

ABSTRACT This article investigates the cosmopolitan discourse of Amin Maalouf’s novel Les Échelles du Levant, published in English in 1996 as Ports of Call. Centered on Ossyane Ketabdar’s memories, the novel reconstructs the history of the Levant from the viewpoint of the oppressed and portrays the devastating effects of nationalism and national struggles on the Levantine cultures and societies. Born to a Turkish father and Armenian mother, Ossyane grows up in the cosmopolitan and multicultural atmosphere of Beirut, where he learns to question parochialisms. His cosmopolitan agency is based on the moral principle of recognition and respect for the other. Centered on an uprooted and liminal protagonist with a mixed identity, Les Échelles du Levant explores cosmopolitan agency as a form of resistance against homogenized and consolidated subject positions produced by the modern nation-states.

KEGIATAN FUN KEMERDEKAAN 17 AGUSTUS BAGI ANAK-ANAK PANTI ASUHAN GRAHA YATIM DAN DHU'AFA (GRAY) YAYASAN HARAPAN ROBBANI


 
 
 
 The activity "Fun Independence Day on August 17 for Children of Graha Yatim and Dhu'afa Orphanage (GRAY) under the Hope Robbani Foundation" is a community service program aimed at providing valuable and festive experiences in celebrating Indonesia's Independence Day for children residing at the Graha Yatim and Dhu'afa Orphanage managed by the Hope Robbani Foundation. This activity is held to instill a sense of nationalism and love for the homeland from a young age, and to create memorable moments for children who may not have had the opportunity to fully celebrate independence. The event will involve the Association of Information Systems Student (Himasi) and several lecturers. The planned series of activities include various enjoyable and educational events, such as marbles competitions, cracker-eating contests, balloon-blowing, traditional Indonesian games, as well as the distribution of small prizes to children as a token of appreciation for their participation. In addition to the celebratory activities, this event will also encompass educational sessions with the aim of enhancing the children's understanding of the significance of Indonesia's Independence Day on August 17 and the nation's struggle to attain freedom. Through storytelling, presentations, and interactive games, the children will be introduced to national hero figures and pivotal moments in Indonesia's history. This initiative serves as a small yet meaningful step in building a foundation of patriotism and communal values among the young generation of Indonesia, and actively contributes to fostering positive community development through dedicated service.
 
 
 

From Nazism to Pro‐Kurdish Activism: The International Society Kurdistan, Silvio van Rooy and the struggle against communism in the 1960s and 1970s

AbstractKurdish studies was born as a field of study in imperial Russia, and for much of the twentieth century, the Soviet Union remained the centre of ‘Kurdology’. With the foundation of the International Society Kurdistan (ISK) in Amsterdam in 1960, however, this centre started to move westwards. Officially established as a non‐party democratic action group helping the Kurdish nation in its struggle for democratic independence, the ISK’s unwritten aim was to support national struggles as a means to prevent communism, particularly the Soviet Union, from expanding its sphere of influence. Silvio van Rooy, who had been an active collaborator with the Nazi occupying forces in the Netherlands, devoted a decade of his life to what he considered an experiment in psychological warfare to influence the Kurdish intelligentsia, and for this he made every effort to establish a centre for Kurdish studies in the West that could develop a political programme around anti‐communist ethno‐nationalism. Yet Van Rooy’s involvement with the Kurds was intense, but also passing. In the second half of the 1970s his loyalty to anti‐communism took a new turn as he drew close to the Iraqi nationalist Ba’ath regime. The research data employed here has primarily been obtained through archival work. Based on an analysis of these primary documents and augmented by personal recollections, this study thus contextualises the work of the ISK through the political trajectory and views of Silvio van Rooy, the society’s founder and president.