Cyprus-Forum.com

[cypezokyli]

today i participated in a game done by a student. he created a phantastic scenario presenting a typical intercultural problem. for him it was perhaps a science fiction..
there were the bramen (75%) and the samnesen (16%). the bramen used to have their own king and (ofcource) were oppressing the minority. then a colonial power captured Boronia. the samnesen (ofcource) joined and helped the conquerors and enjoyed privilages (more educated more gov. jobs). after decolonisation the bramen decided to get their blood back (ofource). they started oppresing the samnesen even to the point they did not allow them to use their language. as a concequence (ofcource) the samnesen started fighting for their independance and there was a civil war lasting for 20 years.
the story was (ofcource) much longer (4 pages long with all kinds of spicy details). the participants were then devided randomly to represent 4 groups (the bramen, the samnesen, the UN and an NGO...i was a samnesian:) ). the purpose was to reach an agreement on the topic education.

my god. u should have seen them how fast the whole thing turned into a fight. people that were never minority or majority, that they didnt loose relatives or their hauses , that were just playing a game, soon became as aggresive as we are!!! ofcource they got out of topic, and everything came up to democracy , and who oppressed who and who started first. it was amazing but in a way their arguments were the same one as we use!!!

when i was looking at the representative of the bramens (who was quite aggresive by the way) i was thinking...my god is that the way we sound (the gc i mean)? our guy (the samnesian i mean ) gave ofcource the necesary replies and the UN was just standing in the middle having no idea what to do

up to now i thought we are just stupid thats why we cant find a solution. now i believe that we are just humans. in a way its forgivable.
it is important that our group wins.

stupid games, but one can learn a couple of things.

[Piratis]

Interesting story. However I hope you understand that there are some significant differences in our case.
For example before the arrival of the colonialists, the minority was the one who was oppressing the majority for centuries in our case.

The example you give is actually more of a typical power straggle between majority/minority as it happened in many parts of the world. Our case is very different, reversed in many cases, since the oppressors for most part of our history were the minority and not the other way around.

Why is it different? Because while in those cases the main problem and conflict is between the two communities (and this is why the oppressors are mostly the majority since they are the strongest side), in our case the problem is mostly between 2 separate countries - the weak Cyprus and the strong Turkey(or Ottomans before), with the Turks oppressing the people of Cyprus and denying them their human and democratic rights.

[cypezokyli]

ofcource the story is different. there are also no protector states and and...
the point was not to solve the cyprus problem.
the point was that the NGO wanted to make a comittee to rewrite the history books, and for the majority it was important that they are democratically represented. the point was that none was able to forget the past. none was able to apologise. the point is that even though the game was different in so many aspects from our case, the arguments were really the same. the point, is that the representative of the majority in that game (so much in favor of democracy), if it happened to be on the side of the minority he would aggresively demand 50-50.

[Piratis]

if it happened to be on the side of the minority he would aggresively demand 50-50.

Then the game would be unrealistic since there is no minority in the world with 50% power. Boosted representation for minority yes, but 50% power for a minority of 16% or 18% is something that exists nowhere in the world since it is obviously undemocratic.

[BirKibrisli]

cypezokyli,

Your game reminds me a game I once played as part of my job to sensitize prison guards towards cultural differences. The guards were split into two groups according to their eye colour.Blue eyes on one side and brown or dark eyes on the other.They took turns to play the oppressor and the oppressed,and we had different scenarios involving racism,discrimination and prejudice cases.By the end of the game,there were few eyes without tears in them,as they experienced what it was really like to have the shoe on the other foot.What they learned was empathy.
Empathy is what is missing in most cases where oppression exists.Human beings find it very difficult to put themselves in"the other's" place and feel how they feel."Do onto others as you'd have them do unto you" is the most important and often most ingored lesson in the testements.(My apologies if I got the saying wrong,but you know what I mean).

[Maria28]

Birkibrisli, are you a psychologist? You sound like a psychologist with a mediation experience.

[BirKibrisli]

Birkibrisli, are you a psychologist? You sound like a psychologist with a mediation experience.

No,Maria.I am now a TV journalist/producer who was a linguist in another life.
But psychology is my lifelong passion,and you are right, I used to work part-time as a counsellor/mediator in neighbourhood dispute resolution centres, in yet another life.

[Sotos]

Birkibrisli has more lifes than a cat

[BirKibrisli]

Birkibrisli has more lifes than a cat

I forgot to mention that I started my working life as an electrical engineer.
And I am now trying to become a writer.So, 5 down and 4 to go,Sotos

[Sotos]

What is the name of your book? Anything to do with Cyprus?