According
to Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations (1948)…
“Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about physical
destruction in whole or in part
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
(e) Forcible transferring children of the group to another group
… Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts shall be punished, whether
they are constitutionally responsible rules, public officials or private individuals.”
What
has happened to this word, its meaning and its actions? It has been transformed
into something else, ignored by politicians, people and the whole world. Has
it become something (I dare say) acceptable?! History has shown us cases where
such acts have occurred while the world stood by and watched, doing absolutely nothing… until it was too late.
The Armenian Genocide where there was a forced mass evacuation and related deaths of hundreds of thousands (maybe
even over a million) Armenians, during the government of the Young Turks from 1915 to 1917 in the Ottoman Empire.
The Rwandan Genocide, where it was estimated that 800,000 to 1,071,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda were
massacred by two extremist Hutu militia groups, the Interhamwe and the Impuzamugambi, during a period of 100 days from April
6th to mid-July 1994.
The Bosnian Genocide where the conflict between the three main ethnic groups, the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, resulted
in genocide committed by the Serbs against the Muslims in Bosnia. The Bosnian Serbs, lead by Milosevic, not only attacked
the Safe Havens but also attacked the U.N peacekeepers as well, resulting in over 200,000 Muslim civilians being systematically
murdered while 2,000,000 had become refugees.
The Darfur Genocide is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed,
a militia group recruited from local Baggara tribes, and the non-Baggara people (mostly tribes of small farmers) of the region.
The Sudanese government while publicly denying that it supported the Janjaweed, provided arms and assistance and has participated
in joint attacks with the group. The conflict began in February 2003, and has been described as an “ethnic cleansing”
with over 400,000 deaths.
The Lebanese Genocide where, in the span of one month, the Israeli government and the IDF conducted massive air strikes
all over Lebanon killing over 1,400 and wounding thousands more (mostly civilians), including 4 U.N officials. Hezbollah,
the Lebanese Militia killed around 170 people (117 of them were soldiers).
What
kind of a world is this?! Where Third World nations and their people are victimized by terrible dictators
who value the lives of their people as if they were nothing…
What
kind of a world is this?! Where babies (2 year old babies!!!) get their heads
blown off by rockets, watch their parents get murdered, die of starvation or die from a CURABLE disease because of lack of
medication!!?...
What
kind of a world is this?! Where people are able to watch these evil leaders and
factions commit such disgusting, incomprehensible actions and DO NOTHING?! Murder
thousands of people (buried mass graves) – people just like you and me – human beings with human rights?! And we do nothing!!
How
can we put up with such atrocities? Leaders that inflict such heinous crimes… They should be punished and should never have been in such a position in the first
place. Surely it is true that people learn from their mistakes… but as
a human race, have we learnt? I don’t think so... In the past century we have witnessed many atrocities where thousands of people have died. Nobody has learnt, especially not our leaders.
Let
us take a quick glimpse at these leaders… Saddam Hussein, where between 60,000 and 150,000 Iraqi dissidents and Shia
Muslims were estimated to have been killed, and over 100,000 Kurds “disappeared” during his reign. Slobadon Milosovic who left behind a legacy of more than 200,000 dead in Bosnia and 2 million people homeless,
including the “ethnic cleansing” of 800,000 Albanians from their homes in Kosovo… Adolf Hitler… George
Bush… Tony Blair… Mohammed Ahmadinejad… Hafez Al Assad… Kim Jong II… Bashar Al Assad…
Gaddafi… Ehud Olmert?
One
could argue that violence is part of human nature, and I don’t disagree. I
believe violence stems from hatred and the environment we live in. It stems from
the media, politicians and the spread of propaganda. Our leaders and politicians
are abusing their power, creating illusions for people to believe in since most of us don’t even know what to believe. A classic example is in the UK, where Muslims are being singled out by the media with programs
like “What Muslims Want?” and incidents like that of Forrest Gate (East London). They are being portrayed
as fanatical people with extraordinary ideologies and beliefs. The uneducated British public is not able to understand these
people and when they see what is happening in the world, they will automatically be fearful of them.
So
I ask the question: Are we destined to continuously live in a cycle of violence
and hatred? What kind of a prospect is that for the generations to come? There
must be a way, there must be hope…
So
what can you do? You could teach people to be better than this...to understand
different cultures...to understand history and how there are different solutions to a problem, and violence should NEVER be
one of them. Teach ignorant bastards that everyone is the same...a person right
now in the middle of Beirut, Darfur or Bosnia is the same as me...a human being...with human rights...with the right to live....not
a number...a statistic of war...a nobody...someone you don't even think exists...because they do... and you could be that
person.
People
that abuse their power because of money, greed and fear deserve to die and got to hell.
These are the people that are OBLIGATED to help the needy, help the poor, help the dying, NOT just to help themselves. I call on our politicians, rulers and leaders to do their jobs and provide for the
people that cannot do it for themselves…the countries that require support, guidance and change…I call on the
Imams to educate these poor, innocent Muslims and teach them the good things about life and religion...teach them to educate
the ignorant…because I believe that every religion is a beautiful thing that should be understood, cherished and respected
by everyone.
In
democracy, using free elections, the leaders are selected by the people and serve the people… but are they doing so? I don’t think so. The sad thing
is that it is only these leaders who can make this change, but at this rate, the change is very far away.
So
I say sorry to the Third
World, sorry for the
current and historical tragedies faced by so many innocent civilians…sorry for not understanding…sorry to be living
outside that world, that life…because it’s easy to continue without a thought to those who live in different worlds.
