On Genocide
There’s something peculiarly chilling about the fact that Germany, by reneging on its funding of UNRWA[1], is directly involved in genocide once more and something more than surreal in the fact that Secretary Blinken condemns the Holocaust while repeating it in a more severe, intense yet equally brutal form. What is one to make of this? To put it another way: what has gone wrong? What has gone wrong with us and how are we responsible?
It’s ironic that not too long ago there was talk of “R2P” and curious that only Norman Finkelstein has mentioned it (perhaps others have done so but he’s the only one I’ve heard doing so).
To recap, and for all those too young to remember:
“In 2004, the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, set up by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, endorsed the emerging norm of a responsibility to protect – often called ‘R2P’ – stating that there is a collective international responsibility, ‘exercisable by the Security Council authorizing military intervention as a last resort, in the event of genocide and other large-scale killing, ethnic cleansing and serious violations of humanitarian law which sovereign governments have proved powerless or unwilling to prevent.’ The panel proposed basic criteria that would legitimize the authorization of the use of force by the UN Security Council, including the seriousness of the threat, the fact that it must be a last resort, and the proportionality of the response.”[2]
If one is to follow this “norm” then a military intervention against the nuclear power of Israel is needed. This is obviously, and thankfully, not going to happen. That anyone ever took R2P seriously to begin with is astonishing (and shaming too).
It might be a good idea to return to the basics, or at least the basics of the theories on genocide. What is it and why does it occur?
Staub asserts that: “Certain characteristics of a culture and the structure of a society, combined with great difficulties or hardships of life and social disorganization, are the starting point for genocide or mass killing. The resulting material and psychological needs lead the society to turn against a subgroup in it. Gradually increasing mistreatment of this subgroup ends in genocide or mass killing.”
Can the “difficulties or hardships of life and social disorganization” in Israel and Germany (one has to add America too) be deemed the root cause of the ongoing genocide? Obviously, Palestinians don’t constitute a “subgroup” within these countries and for this reason alone we need to call into question Staub. Something is lacking (the Global Deep State) to this theory.
“Under extremely difficult life conditions” he continues “certain motives dominate: protecting the physical well-being of oneself and one’s family and preserving one’s psychological self, including self-concept and values; making sense of life’s problems and social disorganization and gaining a new comprehension of the world, among others. It is difficult, usually, to fulfill these aims by improving the conditions of life. Instead, people often respond with thoughts, feelings, and actions that do not change real conditions but at least help them cope with their psychological consequences. These include devaluing other groups, scapegoating, joining new groups, and adopting ideologies – all of which may give rise to the motivation for, and diminish inhibition against, harming others.”
“What motives arise and how they are fulfilled depend on the characteristics of the culture and society. For example, a society that has long devalued a group and discriminated against its members, has strong respect for authority, and has an overly superior and/or vulnerable self-concept is more likely to turn against a subgroup.”
“Genocide does not result directly. There is usually a progression of actions. Earlier, less harmful acts cause changes in individual perpetrators, bystanders, and the whole group that make more harmful acts possible. The victims are further devalued. The self-concept of the perpetrators changes and allows them to inflict greater harm – for ‘justifiable’ reasons. Ultimately there is a commitment to genocide or mass killing or to ideological goals that require mass killing or genocide. This motivation and the psychological possibility evolve gradually.”[3]
About this a couple of things need to be said. Revisionist Zionism always argued for violence and de facto genocide, so there should be nothing surprising about a Revisionist Zionist Prime Minister conducting it. It was always part of the program. There was nothing “gradual” about it. The minute Revisionist Zionists were able to do so, they started murdering Palestinians. What is interesting is the fact that the collective West has always turned a blind eye to this fact.
According to Gregory H. Stanton: “Genocide is a process that develops in ten stages that are predictable but not inexorable.” The first stage is classification: “All cultures have categories to distinguish people into ‘us and them’ by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi.’ The second is symbolization: “We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people ‘Jews’ or ‘Gypsies,’ or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of groups.” The third is discrimination: “A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny the rights of other groups.” The fourth step is dehumanization: “One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. The majority group is taught to regard the other group as less than human, and even alien to their society. They are indoctrinated to believe that ‘We are better off without them.’” Fifthly: Organization: “Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, often using militias to provide deniability of state responsibility.” The sixth stage is polarization: “Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Motivations for targeting a group are indoctrinated through mass media. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction.” The seventh stage is preparation: “Plans are made for genocidal killings. National or perpetrator group leaders plan the ‘Final Solution’ to the Jewish, Armenian, Tutsi or other targeted group ‘question.’ They often use euphemisms to cloak their intentions, such as referring to their goals as ‘ethnic cleansing,’ ‘purification,’ or ‘counter-terrorism.’ They build armies, buy weapons and train their troops and militias. They indoctrinate the populace with fear of the victim group. Leaders often claim that ‘if we don’t kill them, they will kill us,’ disguising genocide as self-defense.’” The eighth stage is persecution: “Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. In state sponsored genocide, members of victim groups may be forced to wear identifying symbols. Their property is often expropriated. Sometimes they are even segregated into ghettoes, deported into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. They are deliberately deprived of resources such as water or food in order to slowly destroy them. Programs are implemented to prevent procreation through forced sterilization or abortions. Children are forcibly taken from their parents. The victim group’s basic human rights become systematically abused through extrajudicial killings, torture and forced displacement. Genocidal massacres begin. They are acts of genocide because they intentionally destroy part of a group. The perpetrators watch for whether such massacres meet any international reaction. If not, they realize that that the international community will again be bystanders and permit another genocide.” The ninth stage is extermination: “It is ‘extermination’ to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing.” The last stage is denial. “The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes…”[4]
In the case of Gaza, one can argue that the Israelis sincerely believe (have been induced and tricked into believing) that genocide is a justified form of self-defense.
R. J. Rummel argues that more people were killed by their own governments in the Twentieth Century, in what he terms “democide”, than in wars. Alone the Communists killed c.170m people. He concludes: “The more power a government has to impose the beliefs of an ideological or religious elite or decree the whims of a dictator, the more likely human lives and welfare will be sacrificed.”[5]
Sadly, Tolstoy seems to have been right once again: Government is indeed violence because it’s too corrupt.
[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/28/which-countries-have-cut-funding-to-unrwa-and-why?fbclid=IwAR2Xu06ksTnU2P6x0dVSoNokv1XFT9cnQFYcfbwyCs4q0inr9FMcQEBl56A#:~:text=The%20wave%20of%20suspensions%20of,in%20the%20last%20two%20days
[2] The Responsibility to Protect UN Published by the Department of Public Information, March 2012
[3] pp.4-5 The roots of evil, Erwin Staub
[4] The Ten Stages of Genocide, Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, 2016
[5] pp. 193-194 Never Again, R.J. Rummel
Isn’t the better question: “Why is the West committing suicide?” ?
Lots of parallels with the situation faced by the unvaxxed.
That was looking deadly for a long while.