In the first part of this series I performed a preliminary investigation of the organizations who were dubbing the conflict in Sudan genocide and calling for foreign military intervention. In this article I will explore the possible motives driving their conclusions.
- First off we have the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Some of their publications include “Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Drawing Honey from the Rock”, “Identity Politics in the Age of Genocide: The Holocaust and Historical Representation”, “Resolution condemning Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s statements regarding Israel and the Holocaust”, and of course their “Resolution on Darfur”. Founded in 1994, the IAGS appears to pick and choose which events can be considered genocide, part of their criteria seems to be that the ethnic group in peril must be either of the Jewish or Christian faith.
- The Committee on Conscience of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, is a governmental and privately funded ‘think tank’.
- The Genocide Intervention Network is an organization that was founded by two college students in response to the conflict in Sudan.
- Africa Confidential is a newsletter that covers African politics and economics, founded in 1960 by a group of British individuals. In 1994 in went under the ownership of Blackwell Publishing.
- Genocide Watch is an international organization based in the U.S., their mission statement is to predict, prevent, limit, eliminate, and punish genocides throughout the world. It’s founder, Gregory Staton, is also president of the previously mentioned IAGS.
These groups, despite their overarching mission statement of ‘genocide prevention’, fail to do any reporting on the plight of the Iraqi people since the U.S. led invasion of 2002 or the continual oppression of the Palestinians. One of these groups defines the Armenian Genocide as a prototype of ethnic cleansing but fails to mention the wholesale and ongoing massacre of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
I am all for bringing atrocities into the light so they may be prevented; but when you pick and choose what to deem a ‘genocide’ based on ethnicity, religion, or social status you are simply perpetuating the cycle of violence.
Perhaps if we take a stand against murder, in general, we can forge some common ground and prevent future atrocities. The public relations apparatus of the government stands in the way of this perspective. In order to maintain a sense of nationalism in the inhabitants of a given country the government must instill a sense of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. The greater the stratification the more control you posses over a populous. If the people of one region did not fear invasion by another then what would the motivation be for military spending?
If gangs were not feuding over territory what would be the motivation for massive police funding? Perhaps if we explored why the gangs exist we could eliminate them. Here’s some information from the U.S. Department of Justice:
Street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), and prison gangs are the primary distributors of illegal drugs on the streets of the United States. Gangs also smuggle drugs into the United States and produce and transport drugs within the country.
Perhaps if we decriminalized drugs and tackled the reasons why people use drugs we could eliminate gangs and drug abuse. Why don’t we take this approach? Because it is not profitable and it reduces governmental control over the people. In the city of Los Angeles, almost 70% of the budget goes to the police force. A whole multi-billion dollar industry has developed to imprison primarily drug users and sellers. In the United States as of year-end 2007, a record 7.2 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. The U.S. now has more people imprisioned than any other nation, including China.
What prevents the people of the U.S., who traditionally claim to cherish freedom and liberty, from breaking this cycle of violence and suffering? Ignorance and dogma. Most Americans are not aware of the shear number of people in prison and they are unaware of the true cost of the situation. Those who are aware of the situation cannot link cause and effect, typically because they posses a negative stereotype of a drug user. Indoctrination systems such as the media, education, and religious institutions build a concept of the drug user as an evil degenerate; an enemy of society. They fail to explore the complexity of the situation, of how one may be driven into drug abuse, and how responsible drug use can have positive effects. Instead of building compassion towards others, they alienate and villify the weakest members of society.
This process of division and exploitation is used over and over again. Every time we fall for it we become more isolated and in that isolation we become that much weaker, more suseptable to manipulation and control.
Everyone has heard of Darfur and there is no doubt that the people there are suffering. The U.S. has declared the situation genocide, but neither the U.N. or other nations have. In a move that can only be detrimental to the situation the U.S. has just issued sanctions against the nation of Sudan. This is a move that will only serve to destabilize the situation further by weakening the government.
