Hello from the Ukraine!

Greetings Comrades,

I am a 26 year old Ukrainian-Lebanese medical intern currently residing in the former socialist republic of Ukraine. I have known about this site for many years and am very impressed with the in depth knowledge of communist history and ideology that many of it's members have. I have been a communist sympathizer since my teens but have never joined the party. I have a decent collection of soviet era medals, orders, coins, small busts of both Lenin, Stalin and other Soviet era items. My great grandfather Branislav Zagatski died honorably serving the glorious Red Army at the battle of Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War. I have a picture of him from 1933 given to me as a gift from my grandmother; till this very day she tells me of her experiences during and after Nazi occupation of the Ukraine. Nowadays I am troubled by the presence of Neo-Nazi skinhead groups in Ukraine to which many of my foreign friends (especially from Africa, the middle east and Asia) have fallen victim. Nevertheless, I have always been extremely tolerant as well as interested in other people's beliefs, political, religious etc. and am always willing to bring up intelligent, objective discussion on ANY topic, as well as always ready to hear any person's opinion no matter what their beliefs in an effort to find objective truth. Therefore I must ask, according to the rules, are objective discussions on topics such as Nazism and Holocaust Denial forbidden full stop or only as long as they don't promote hate? I'm looking forward to learning a thing or two from fellow communists.

Glory to the SE!
Yeqon M.D.

Welcome to SE. We have a few members here from your part of the world. Feel free to give us the perspective from Ukraine!

Welcome to SE, Yeqon!

chaz171 wrote:

Id like to know more about where you were raised...etc...

I was raised in Western Africa, Nigeria actually...till I was about thirteen years old. Most of my family still live there and I will eventually move back permanently. Then I moved to my father's native country Lebanon for my intermediate and high school years. That's where I first came into contact with communist propaganda. Some students were giving out leaflets with Che Guevara quotes and pictures in them. I started to read up and felt a great empathy for his cause against the injustices of modern capitalism. During my freshman year at the American University of Beirut I frequented communist party meetings, rallies and speeches. I even met some members of the Marxist Group PFLP (popular front for the liberation of Palestine) and befriended some of them, even though my family in Lebanon are Maronite Christians who mostly fought against the presence of the PLO in the country during the Lebanese civil war. It was then I learnt of the beauty of open dialogue and debate among ideologically and politically opposed groups. Then I decided to move to my mother's native land of Ukraine to study medicine in my mother's tongue, Russian. Being in the Ukraine it was easy to meet people who first hand know of the truths of Soviet era life, and in my 8 years in the Ukraine, the political and economic situation has deteriorated year after year, prices go up while wages go down. The rich get richer, the poor poorer. I see no signs of improvement any time soon.

On the topic of growing right wing reaction in your part of the world, you can feel free to discuss it. You can also feel free to bring up the subject of Holocaust Denial, just as long as you aren't promoting it in any way. We had a HUGE problem recently with certain people who did deny that the Holocaust happened, so just be very careful how you present it, because we do have many Jewish members here.

Comrade Gulper wrote:

On the topic of growing right wing reaction in your part of the world, you can feel free to discuss it. You can also feel free to bring up the subject of Holocaust Denial, just as long as you aren't promoting it in any way. We had a HUGE problem recently with certain people who did deny that the Holocaust happened, so just be very careful how you present it, because we do have many Jewish members here.

Just as Stalin would chew on his pipe and choose his words very carefully when in the presence of foreign ministers, I too watch out for what I say. Concerning Holocaust Denial, I just want to say that all of my Ukrainian first cousins are Jews, that speaks for itself. It's not that I will actually bring up these topics or that I'm particularly interested in them, but I felt I should have asked just to understand the rules better. I am very pleased with the positive feedback I received. thanks to all.

Welcome to SE comrade! Is there a large left wing or radical scene at the American University of Beirut?

Red Brigade wrote:

Welcome to SE comrade! Is there a large left wing or radical scene at the American University of Beirut?

well of coarse...student political movement was quite active when I studied there in 2002/2003. On the left there was the Lebanese communist party, the PFLP, progressive socialists, Syrian social nationalists, Bath Arab Socialists and other PLO sympathizers and Nasserists. The most radical of them all were always of coarse Hizbollah and their Shiite counterparts Amal. Then the right was mostly made up of Phalangist Christian groups that oppose Pan-Arabism in general. Violent street fights would occasionally take place. Once I remember the Army had to step in to stop the clashes. It was an exciting time for me back then. I see you use the emblem of The Federation of Arab Republics as your avatar. Have you always been a supporter of Pan-Arabism? Any thoughts on the Arab uprisings?

Hello/Marhaba/Privet and welcome to S-E. I hope that you can contribute to the forum with your experiences from the Ukraine.

Welcome to S-E.

Hello, welcome to SE. That's a very interesting background you have. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Yeqon wrote:

I see you use the emblem of The Federation of Arab Republics as your avatar. Have you always been a supporter of Pan-Arabism? Any thoughts on the Arab uprisings?

Close but actually it's the emblem of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. I'm a supporter of Pan-Arab movements because they usually are progressive or socialist like Nasserism, and to an extent Ba'athism. On the Arab uprisings i am supportive of most of them except the Libyan and Syrian uprisings. In Lebanon are Hezbollah and the Amal Movement considered left-wing or does the left ally with them? Also who is in you're avatar?

Close but actually it's the emblem of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. I'm a supporter of Pan-Arab movements because they usually are progressive or socialist like Nasserism, and to an extent Ba'athism. On the Arab uprisings i am supportive of most of them except the Libyan and Syrian uprisings. In Lebanon are Hezbollah and the Amal Movement considered left-wing or does the left ally with them? Also who is in you're avatar?[/quote]

Oh I see, I literally translated the words from Arabic but I did know it was connected to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. I had a lot of Libyan and Syrian friends who studied medicine here in Kiev with me only to graduate in 2010 and return to a country besieged by chaos and war. They used to tell me that one of the reasons they support the Colonel is because they have always lived in peace as opposed to other Arab countries like Lebanon. Ironic how things turned out. My Maronite people in Lebanon including my family are also mostly against the Syrian uprisings, but Syrian people I know tell me that the situation has calmed down drastically since the peak of the uprisings. Hezbollah and Amal are Radical Islamist Shiite Parties, so they're not exactly considered left-wing but have always given and received support from the left especially during war time due to their opposition to the West and their allies in Israel.

Komissar_KW wrote:

who is in you're avatar?

I used to think it was a painting by my favorite artist "Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa"...but it turns out it's a painting imitating his style of a woman at the Moulin Rouge by modern day painter Cris Acqua. I know it doesn't have anything to do with the SE site but till I find something original that fits...it'll have to do.

Thanks for the info, but I didn't ask that... Red Brigade did...

It's a conspiracy!

Komissar_KW wrote:

Thanks for the info, but I didn't ask that... Red Brigade did...

It's a conspiracy!

oops sorry about that...I accidentally pushed the your quote button...

Welcome aboard comrade