Monday, December 18, 2006

ADP

The three main aspects behind my proposal regarding the crisis in Sudan.

Aid.

Defend.

Prevent.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Friday, December 8, 2006

Darfur Diaries Chapter Two: "It felt like I lost all the world."

Summary:
The chapter starts off with the main characters/narrators land on a smooth landing strip only to be taken by a CARE driver Yacoub to the area of Iriba. As Adam and Jen arrived at the refugee camp they both were put into a state of un-profound bewilderment, for their eyes had never seen what was happenning right before their eyes. Thousands and thousands of people scampering around like bugs surrounding a nest. After they had established where they are to stay they began to venture further into the camp, always surrounded by the oogling eyes of curious childeren. Adam had stated "It was difficult to be behind the lens of the camera, establishing distance between the students and me. I wanted to be present with the kids, interact with them, appreciate their performance, but I realized it was my job to record".

Soon Adam had begun interviewing various kids about how they came about the refugee camps. At first it was truly striking as to what these kids have endured: bombings, massacres, and the relentless slaughter of their family members. One child had stated "He was responsible for us. He was bombed by Antonov and killed inside his home. His name was Muhammad. We took him to his grave". His steady voiced quivered for a moment, and then continued with determination. The boy had then said a sense of true torment "It felt like I lost all the world".



After reading this striking chapter I truly had been brought to the front line of genocide and its horrendous bi-product. Once again it makes me sick that humans are capable of doing thi to one another, and it makes me even more sick that we can step aside and let it happen.

How can we allow the lives of men, women, and children to be stripped and battered to a state of true sickness and torment?

How...?

"Stand Up! Raise your voice!"

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

A Deadly Pattern


After researching many genocides I had seen a repetative pattern of dehumanization and denail, and had come to the conclusion that only a detached mind could fathom this state of mind.

Holocaust denial, (referred to by its supporters as Holocaust revisionism), is the belief that the Holocaust did not occur, or, more specifically: that far fewer than around six million Jews were killed by the Nazis (numbers below one million, most often around 30,000 are typically cited); that there never was a centrally-planned Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews; and/or that there were not mass killings at the extermination camps. Those who hold this position often further claim that Jews and/or Zionists know that the Holocaust never occurred, yet that they are engaged in a massive conspiracy to maintain the illusion of a Holocaust to further their political agenda. As the Holocaust is generally considered by historians to be one of the most documented events in recent history, these views are not accepted as credible by scholars, with organizations such as the American Historical Association, the largest society of historians in the United States, stating that Holocaust denial is "at best, a form of academic fraud."[48]
Holocaust deniers almost always prefer to be called Holocaust revisionists. Most scholars contend that the latter term is misleading. Historical revisionism, in the original sense of the word, is a well-accepted and mainstream part of the study of history; it is the reexamination of accepted history, with an eye towards updating it with newly discovered, more accurate, and/or less biased information, or viewing known information from a new perspective. In contrast, negationists typically willfully misuse or ignore historical records in order to attempt to prove their conclusions, as Gordon McFee writes:
'Revisionists' depart from the conclusion that the Holocaust did not occur and work backwards through the facts to adapt them to that preordained conclusion. Put another way, they reverse the proper methodology [...], thus turning the proper historical method of investigation and analysis on its head.[49] (www.wikipedia.com)



Entrenched Rwandan Racism
Some argue that the violence in the region is a result of the theories of race developed in Europe that also led to the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. These ideas were started by John Hanning Speke's initial speculations on African races. Unlike the other African states' mixed ethnic groups, Rwandans were considered by Speke and later racial theorists to be divided between sub-Saharan "Blacks" and the favored Hamites. Ostensibly the Tutsi were assigned the role of the "more noble" Hamites and Hutu as inferior Bantu.[citations needed]
During the colonial period, the dominant Tutsis encouraged the racial speculations that justified their rule, but that policy poisoned Rwandan culture with racism that became a danger for the Tutsis once they lost power. The ingrained Rwandan racism was reversed when Rwanda gained independence and majority rule gave political power to the Hutus. The majority Hutus who had previously been oppressed by the Tutsis retained the same ingrained racist beliefs, but now came to view the Tutsis as "foreign invaders" rather than "true Rwandans". Similar ethnic and racial divisions in other parts of Northeastern Africa have led to similar violence.[2]
Many Rwandans claim that there was little inter-ethnic rivalry until it was deliberately encouraged by the Juvénal Habyarimana government as a ploy to counter Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Patriotic Front's (RPF) largely Tutsi invasion on October 1, 1990.[citations needed]
[edit]Psychology
Psychologists have also attempted to explain the genocide that occurred in Rwanda. They have done this by using the available theories. Firstly, the agency theory proposed by Milgram could explain this with strong evidence of the experiments conducted by Milgram. The Charismatic Leadership Theory, Social Identity Theory and Authoritarianism Theory could also be used to explain it. (www.wikipedia.com)



Armenian Dehumanization
In May 1915, Talaat requested that government's cabinet and grand vizier pass and enact a law which would legitimize the deportations of Armenians living both near the Russian front and interior. On May 29, 1915, the CUP Central Committee passed the Temporary Law of Deportation, giving the Ottoman government and military authorization to deport anyone it "sensed" as a threat to national security.[9] Several months later, the Temporary Law of Expropriation and Confiscation was passed, stating that all property, including land, livestock and homes, belonging to Armenians was to be confiscated by the authorities. Only one politician in the Ottoman parliament, Senator Ahmed Riza, an initial member of the Liberal Union, protested against the legislation:

It is unlawful to designate the Armenian assets as “abandoned goods” for the Armenians, the proprietors, did not abandon their properties voluntarily; they were forcibly, compulsively removed from their domiciles and exiled. Now the government through its efforts is selling their goods...Nobody can sell my property if I am unwilling to sell it....If we are a constitutional regime functioning in accordance with constitutional law we can’t do this. This is atrocious. Grab my arm, eject me from my village, then sell my goods and properties, such a thing can never be permissible. Neither the conscience of the Ottomans nor the law can allow it.[10]

At the same time, Enver ordered that all Armenians in the Ottoman forces, some as old as forty-five to sixty, to be disarmed, demobilized and assigned to labor battalion units (in Turkish, amele taburlari). Many of the Armenian recruits were taken and executed by Turkish soldiers and armed squads known as chetes (groups whose roles were similar to Nazi Germany's Einsatzgruppen) in remote areas.[11] Those who initially survived were turned into road laborers (hamals) and construction mules but were eventually killed thereafter.[12] The Ottoman government also created a bureaucratic administration divided into three levels that were permitted to act freely from the governing establishment, similar to the Sonderkommandos formed by the Nazis during World War II. They were the Katibi Mesul, "Responsible Secretaries", Murrahas, "Delegates" and Umumi Müfettish, "General Inspectors". The administration's purpose was to ensure that the orders by the government were "implemented strictly." [13] (www.wikipedia.com)

As seen above most genocides require the perpetrators to have a detached mind set. This total aloofness is only possible through the complete dehumanization of the victims; they are not seen as human, only objects. I had also seen a pattern of frequent denial. The denial is often so outrageous that it makes me wonder how contorted the minds of those committing the genocide really are, for guilt always previals in the mind of a concious man.

"Do not become an empty mind, overwhelmed by the ease of apathy."

Monday, December 4, 2006

A Shattered Slate


Apparently humans are free, but we still can not live as one...

John Locke's philosophy of empiricism saw human nature as a tabula rasa. In this view, the mind is at birth a "blank slate" without rules, and data is added and rules for processing it are formed solely by our sensory experiences.

I just thought it was interesting...

Working As One.


Think Think Think...

On Tuesday November 28 my grade 12 class had embarked on a massive collaboration event. Throughout the day the class had read many articles, and began analyzing various genocides that shook the world. After our reading session the class was asked to gather all our ideas regarding the similarities and differences the genocides we had been researching. The class had discovered many peculiar traits in genocide, and the pattern in which it is committed. Overall the day was a great success, and had sparked the desire to grow knowledge against the tyrant known as genocide.

"All humanity can do is try and prevent history from repeating itself..."

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Differences Make Us One.



All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (UN).

After reading through the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights", I had discovered a blatant contrast between the motives of "genocide" and that of "human rights". As stated in the quote above humanity is meant to embrace brotherhood; humans are equal. Every human has the right life. I could go on forever, yet the world still allows the cruel intentions of genocide to roam in the corners of the world that many chose to ignore. Genocide directly violates almost all of what "human rights" entitle, but in today's world justice still remains hidden. One may ask the question; who is hidding it? Ironically the answer is as simple as looking in the mirror...

"Stand Up! Raise Your Voice!".

Saturday, November 25, 2006

The Eight Stages Of Hell.


After reading Gregory H. Stanton's decomposition of genocide I had instantly thought to various events in previous genocides that line up perfectly with the eight steps Stanton describes. Stanton breaks up genocide into eight basic steps: classification, symbolization, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, extermination, and denial. After looking specifically at the motives behind each of these steps I had realized that the result was more than just genocide; it was hell. What had struck me the most was the step "dehumanization". The thought of removing purpose, presence, and meaning from individuals made me sick to my stomach. Humans are not animals, dirt, or objects, thus their slaughter is a horrendous crime that should never occur. The true evil behind genocide spawns from the demolition of human value. Clearly humanity is blind. Blind to the slow demise that will one day consume the world to a point where dehumanization flows in the blood of man, woman, and child.

"Humanity needs to stand up! Humanity needs to change! Humanity needs to become human..."

Friday, November 24, 2006

We Are All Human...


Clearly committing genocide is an action that in every case should be regarded as a crime. A crime against humanity. The entire world should look upon the actions of those who commit genocide as actions of hate; hate which should never be ignored!

"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic" (Stalin). This paradox exploits the twisted view of humanity, for it seems that as a human race we chose to strike down on those who commit one murder much harder than that of who commits millions. If one takes the time to realize the true corruption in Stalin's view of death, he or she will realize the true evil behind genocide. It would be naive of humanity to let those who kill the innocent in search of achieving a goal focused at the extermination of an entire race of people. Anyone who supports or acts in the name of genocide should be punished. This punishment should be created with intent to prevent further genocide from happening. It would be bleek of man to punish death with more death, instead the punishment of those guilty of genocide should involve bettering the worlds situation. Putting those who have created hell on earth a chance to witness and experience what they have infected into far too many lives.

"In many cases death is the easiest way out"

A Word Beyond Murder...




"Humanity has dug a hole in which only cooperation wards a solution"

As written in my previous blog I had considered the actions and meaning behind "genocide" to atrocious for words, then I was posed with the question is "genocide" comparable with "mass murder"? After looking at both of the words meanings it was clear to me that these words are only connected through "killing". In most cases a mass murder is aimless, killing once again has no purpose. "Genocide" on the other has a purpose, a purpose so horrendous that it is beyond the comprehension of many people. "Genos" meaning race or clan and "cide" meaning killing are two powerful statements and when combined create a situation that never should occur. Evidently "genocide" is focused on the destruction of a single race, thus adding to the scorn behind the crime. The sickness that feeds the desire to commit genocide, is what darkens the world almost to a point of complete blindness.

One must regard his neighbours as one race; "the human race". Why the world still remains in a state where the death of a culture or race is only glanced at and simply ignored is beyond me! As a human race we must stand up and promote love, not hate. Deep down our souls cry for harmony to be shared througout the world.

A Crime Without A Name: No Purpose.



WWII was a time of dead time in which reality was so harsh that realization of life was non-existent to those caught in the firey grip of hatred. Germany had practiced horrendous actions in order to retain control of Europe, by imposing policies and decrees which lead to genocide. The extermination of the Jews was Hitler's scapegoat concentrating blame into one group. The result of this scornful perspective lead to the death of around six million Jewish people, something which sane humans should never have the mental capacity to execute.

Other events such as the destruction of the Carthage, the Crusades, and the Armenians all fall into the catagory of a crime without a name. When one looks at the heart and soul of exterminating an entire race there is an incredible lack of reason and humanity. Not in any scenario does one person or group of people have the right to determine whether a race should remain on the face of the earth. This type of butchery is not even seen in the wild, one must evaluate worldly events and situations and ask themself; is this right? The answer is clear, yet millions of people still fall victim to what we call "a crime without a name".

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

No More Blood



The world is in a state of hatred, violence, and apathy. Each second that passes more men, women, and children are falling victim to the corruption that has consumed the world on many levels. The purpose of my blog is to spread knowledge into to those who aspire to make a change, those who have a voice!

My Voice


See through the eyes of reality...

A reality in which words cannot be spoken...

A reality in which the only reality is pain and suffering...

See through the eyes of those crushed by "genocide"...