{"id":5350,"date":"2021-02-17T10:31:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T15:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=5350"},"modified":"2021-02-17T10:31:04","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T15:31:04","slug":"an-address-to-the-international-from-a-concerned-citizen-by-dr-jacques-raphael-georges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=5350","title":{"rendered":"An Address to the International from a concerned citizen by Dr. Jacques-Rapha\u00ebl Georges"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Address to the International from a concerned citizen<\/strong> by Dr. Jacques-Rapha\u00ebl Georges<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

” \u2026 If you do not make any distinction between slaves, you condemn yourself to have only a theoretical sympathy for them… Particularly as it often happens that the “slave” is the ally of those you call the Masters.” (Jean-Paul Sartre) ============ =========<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

IN THE NAME OF THE HAITIAN PEOPLE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

An Open Letter from Dr. Jacques-Rapha\u00ebl Georges to the Women and Men of Good Conscience of the International Community.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ladies and Gentlemen of the International Community, how often have I not heard the following question or read it in the eyes of those who dared not to ask it: \u201cAnd you continue to defend these people<\/em>?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My answer has always been an emphatic Yes! Yes, a thousand times, and in all cases. Yes, because that is the sacrosanct mission of those of us who work in Academia, this noble fringe of human activities which draws its existence from the Garden of Academos, in ancient Greece, in the fourth century, BC, with Plato. Indeed, this mission is our raison d’\u00eatre and our badge of honor. Yes, because what will re – main of us when our civilization is gone is what survives in every culture buried under the ashes of History: the idea it has entertained of mankind and of justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gone are diplomats, gone are emperors, gone are presidents, gone are generals and merchants. Alas! They are gone without leaving any descendants, and sometimes without leaving a twinkle of their passage on our galaxy. Yet, we cannot afford the luxury of forgetting that moment when Jewish morality substituted \u201cla loi du Talion,\u201d the law of Talion<\/em>\u201d of an eye for an eye, superseded by the concept of equity and fairness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judging crimes as well as those who commit them has been essential to the Star of Bethel since time immemorial, through a select constellation of women and men who oppose tyranny, especially the tyranny of impunity! Those who withhold support from the people of Haiti are in – deed trampling on Humanism that, against all odds, has painfully defied the test of times. Yet, paradoxically, they are the same who, shamelessly, boast of being members of the Human Race!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen of the International Community, it is customary to say that there are two kinds of testimony: one that is true and another that is false. I confess that this is a simplistic manner of viewing things. Nevertheless, I must argue also that often we choose to believe certain testimonies because they alleviate our conscience and keep us in our comfort zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen of the International Community it\u2019s obvious, that knowingly and deliberately, some testimonies are brushed aside because they would likely offset our entire being, our center of gravity, or what I would preferably call our psyche.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo govern is to apply the law. And the law is related to justice.\u201d I have asked myself, and I am now asking you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the International Community, is it justice that the Permanent Electoral Council, emanation of the will of the sovereign people be set aside in imposing the cohort of Aristide, Pr\u00e9val, Privert, Martelly, and Mo\u00efse, without omitting the eternal political opposition, this moral and intellectual aberration? What relationship exists between the International Community and the assassins of the Haitian Constitutional order?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cErrare Humanum est, Perseverare Diabolicum est!\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Errare Humanum Est, Perseverare Diabolicum Est! That was a favorite phrase of my Latin instructor, the Sorbonne Gradua te, Dr. Joseph Saint-Vil, at Lyc\u00e9e Tous saint Louverture, in Port-au-Prince. Indeed, he never failed to remind us then: \u201cIl n\u2019y a en Ha\u00efti que deux Docteurs \u00c8s-Lettres: le Docteur Ghislain Gouraige et moi\u201d there are only two Es-Lettres Doctors in Haiti, Dr. Ghislain Gouraige and I!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen of the International Community, these poseurs, so many imposters of freedom, were imposed only by the sheer force of the unconstitutional Provisional Electoral Coun cil, and their action on the population has been almost null and void. The duvalierists remain duvalierists, the lavalassiens remain lavalassiens, the mulattoes remain mulattoes, the thieves remain thieves, the assassins remain assassins, the poor remain poor, the fools remain fools. There have been no profound changes– politically. socially, intellectually, even emotionally! Despite gigantic efforts of international missions, rare cases of conversions are reported. It is doubtful that they are sincere, unless one is simple-minded.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Bluebeard\u2019s Portrayal in Perrault\u2019s Works is far from being the same in Bartok\u2019s Masterpiece . . .\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen of the International Community, indeed, the politicians in Port-au-Prince have brought something to the people of Haiti, it is the worst Nessus\u2019 tunic they could hand to them during the famous \u201cReturn to constitutional order\u201d of Aristide. It has been the plague of banditry, fanaticism, alcoholism, nepotism, impunity, and a sear materialism. For the rest, what personal possession the poor people of Haiti had of their own was greater than what the fake gods of this permanent coup d’\u00e9tat could ever give them, that is the will to remain true to themselves. What was attempted through demagogic constraints has spawn worse results than expected. Ladies and Gentlemen of the International Community, wisdom would dictate to refrain from such efforts, when it is known that they are vain. To the credit of the most repugnant clan in the world, they have succeeded in instilling hatred everywhere. Somehow that hatred has awaken the Haitian people from their sleep and now they are intent on driving out their tormentors. Indeed, an indirect — and unexpected bonus of the hatred.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn February 7, We are All President (s)!\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen of the In ter national Community, have you heard the recent rallying cries of the Haitian people: \u201cOn February 7, p\u00e8p la prezidan<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d Yes, you are not victims of any visual or auditory hallucination. I am only giving you their own words in their good old Creole. \u201cSpeak to me in the language of civilized people,\u201d<\/em> you would, no doubt, say to me. Well, you are served: \u201cOn February 7, We, the people are The President.\u201d<\/strong> That is the meaning of what the angry crowds have been chanting in the streets of Port-au-Prince. No longer is there any question of sterilizing these people. On the contrary, good reasoning would suggest that their rights be recognized, conferred upon them from their fecundity, attested to by their proliferation. Thank goodness, these undernourished Black masses have been spared any Tuskegee experiment! Yet, in some neighborhoods and certain countries around the world, Blacks still are treated as less than human.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above all, do not let go of the \u201cdemocratic\u201d schoolteacher in the working-class neighborhoods! For that would be a sure way to lose both the students in their care, as well as their parents. The ideal solution would be to teach these people elementary mimic. We would ask them to be less than deaf-mutes. No print words conceived for them. Radio stations would be bribed to distill fake news<\/em> in Creole and play music not really intended for their consumption. Radio Cara\u00efbes and Radio Kiskeya, broadcasting in Creole, would be sufficient for essential \u201cinformation,\u201d and as much music as they want. We are also advised not to saddle them with any type of work that requires the least mental effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

The face of Bluebeard is not similar in Charles Perrault and in Bela Bartok. In addition, in a century there would be a new Bartok to affirm that behind the door at Berchtesgaden, the Hitler fortified fortress, he alone had the key to it, stretched as it was under a stormy sky and an ocean filled with tears.<\/span><\/p>\n