The Falklands Island War 25 Years on...
Yesterday, Britain and Argentina both commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 1982 war over the Falklands/Malvinas. Memory on both sides appears to remain highly politicized.
Argentinian president Kirchner had been scheduled to speak at the official ceremony, but remained absent. His vice president addressed the 5,000 attendees in the southern city of Ushuaia, near the islands. Vice president Scioli re-asserted Argentina's uncompromising claim to the Malvinas and called on Great Britain to comply with UN resolution 2065 and negotiate over the islands. The Argentine leadership who led the country into the war a quarter century ago were referred to as a "criminal and incompentent dictatorship." It is unclear whether the military occupation of the islands or the failure to do so successfully is what is being condemned as "criminal." See the Buenos Aires Herald and the Guardian.
In Britain, the Independent used the anniversary to compare that war with the current British involvement in Iraq. Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher attended a quiet remembrance ceremony in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Both sides are planning their own separate, official commemorations of the end of the war in June. The London ceremony will include a veterans' march down the mall in the center of the city. Argentina is boycotting the Stanley (Falkland Islands) and London ceremonies, but family members are being invited to a private ceremony at the Argentine military cemetery in Darwin.
Update: CNN International TV is now (very early on the 4th) showing images of Argentine youth burning British flags. That kind of image might be said to mark the transition from the war as the collective experience of a generation to the collective memory of a society over time. The generation that wasn't even alive during the war has accepted the war as part of their memory and are demonstrating their emotional participation in it. But it seems to me in this case that the war is simply the marker in the calendar, the day used to remember and act. Sentiment is being mobilized by the issue of territory and less by the concrete events of 1982. The war failed to resolve that issue and it is being kept alive on purpose. Falestin Naili noted today in the h-memory discussion that "collective memory is ... a way to deal with contemporary stakes....Collective memory is meant to create shared meanings and contribute to the force of a collective identity." Although she was referring to her work on a Palestinian village, the phenomenon is similar here. Collective memory is an ongoing political work. Each new generation signs on to part of it.
Call for photos: Pictures of memorials to this war or the Argentine military cemetery would make very interesting additions to sites-of-memory.de.
Argentinian president Kirchner had been scheduled to speak at the official ceremony, but remained absent. His vice president addressed the 5,000 attendees in the southern city of Ushuaia, near the islands. Vice president Scioli re-asserted Argentina's uncompromising claim to the Malvinas and called on Great Britain to comply with UN resolution 2065 and negotiate over the islands. The Argentine leadership who led the country into the war a quarter century ago were referred to as a "criminal and incompentent dictatorship." It is unclear whether the military occupation of the islands or the failure to do so successfully is what is being condemned as "criminal." See the Buenos Aires Herald and the Guardian.
In Britain, the Independent used the anniversary to compare that war with the current British involvement in Iraq. Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher attended a quiet remembrance ceremony in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Both sides are planning their own separate, official commemorations of the end of the war in June. The London ceremony will include a veterans' march down the mall in the center of the city. Argentina is boycotting the Stanley (Falkland Islands) and London ceremonies, but family members are being invited to a private ceremony at the Argentine military cemetery in Darwin.
Update: CNN International TV is now (very early on the 4th) showing images of Argentine youth burning British flags. That kind of image might be said to mark the transition from the war as the collective experience of a generation to the collective memory of a society over time. The generation that wasn't even alive during the war has accepted the war as part of their memory and are demonstrating their emotional participation in it. But it seems to me in this case that the war is simply the marker in the calendar, the day used to remember and act. Sentiment is being mobilized by the issue of territory and less by the concrete events of 1982. The war failed to resolve that issue and it is being kept alive on purpose. Falestin Naili noted today in the h-memory discussion that "collective memory is ... a way to deal with contemporary stakes....Collective memory is meant to create shared meanings and contribute to the force of a collective identity." Although she was referring to her work on a Palestinian village, the phenomenon is similar here. Collective memory is an ongoing political work. Each new generation signs on to part of it.
Call for photos: Pictures of memorials to this war or the Argentine military cemetery would make very interesting additions to sites-of-memory.de.
mhatlie - Tue Apr 3, 23:30 Topic: Falkland Islands
