The descent of humanity
Genocides remembered, but not ended
AS the genocide of the Palestinians by the Israelis continues, another was marked on June 29 to remember the expulsion and killing of Albanians by Greek extremists 80 years ago. Surprised we must be, for extremists — a modern-day coinage — to have existed then. And in all places, in Hellas, the acme of Western civilisation and birthplace of philosophy, aka the soother of human souls. Neither civilisation nor philosophy seemed to have helped. Just three years earlier, Germany was the scene of the Holocaust — the world’s most remembered genocide. For sure, genocide isn’t something that happens only in the West. The East — liberally so-called — has at least three shameful examples. In Myanmar, which is home to 135 ethnic groups, the Bamar — who make up almost 70 per cent of the population — have been “othering” the rest, especially the Rohingya, for the longest time. What is worse, expulsion and extermination are carried out with the help of the army there. As if this isn’t enough, the use of the word “Rohingya” is decreed to be illegal. If Myanmar is an Asian shame, Rwanda is Africa’s. There, in a 100-day genocide in 1994, armed Hutu militias slaughtered 800,000 Rwandans, mostly the Tutsi minority. An estimated two million Rwandans were said to have fled the country. Our third example is in the Middle East, where for more than 100 years the Zionists have been slaughtering the Palestinians. There, too, it is a case of expulsion and extermination. But the irony is, the genocide is being perpetrated by European Holocaust survivors and their descendants. How low can humans go? Very low, it seems.
But a question needs to be asked. Why do genocides keep happening? The root cause is that humans see other humans as not humans. This is why even those who are Holocaust survivors and their descendants commit genocide against the Palestinians. These humans, bereft of their humanity, see others who are not of their kind as less of humans. No doubt their eyes see these others as humans, but their hearts with blinded inner eyes refuse to acknowledge them as such. If the heart was a piece of linen it could be laundered clean of its inhumanity. But being a lump of flesh within the human body, there isn’t a detergent worthy of such a solution. The solution lies within the people who are the cause of the genocide. Mending a tainted soul will take time. A quicker route is for others who are complicit in the genocide to stop being so. This isn’t just a crime committed by the West. Countries in the East, too, are guilty of complicity. Myanmar is a case in point.
In the meantime, the cessation of othering will help. But the picture around the world isn’t pretty. Look at Europe where others-hating far-right politicians are making headway. The bromides of hate there are mind-boggling. They know that the Earth is a shared planet. The borders of their nations is an acknowledgment of this. But hate that originates from the heart distorts their way of seeing. Yes, the international community must stop wars, but more importantly it must end hate for another. Live and let live isn’t possible any other way. Nations that hawk human rights owe a duty to lead by example.
Why do genocides keep happening? The root cause is that humans see other humans as not humans.