> PVOPOD VOU UUW UU UU Never Again? Wien author Elie Wiesel exclaimed “Never again!” he was proclaiming tthe ‘world that we must stand together to end genocide. “Wherever men and women are persecuted because oftheir race religion, or political views, tht place must at that proment.-become the center of the universe.” Because the Jewish people were neatly wiped off the face of the Earth as a result of Adolph Hitler's Final Solution, ‘Wiesel believes that his first priority is to the state of Isracl. However, his sincere conviction is that the world must intervene when acts of genocide amywhere are imminent. “Wiesel’s rallying cry is a credible voice because he was a survivor of the German concentration camps during World War II, where he lost his parents and siblings and vas a witness to the extermination of thousands of prisoners whose only crime was that they were Jewish. Recollecting memories of his lost youth and the nightmares he Cadured in the death camps, he recorded them in his widely-acclaimed memoir Night, Gphich has sold millions of copies and is read in classrooms in the United States and ground the world. ‘With Wiesel leading the charge to eliminate what many believe is the “ultimate crime against humanity,” the natural question one could ask is how successfil has he ‘world been in preventing and ‘ending genocides since the end of World War II While ‘we would like to believe that mass murder ‘belongs only to the past, ‘unfortunately, history has a way of repeating itself. Some Americans believe that the Jewish Holocaust was the last act of genocide that ovomed in the modern world. Regrettably, this is imcorrect. Since World War TL historians have argued that there have becn around 37 acts of genocide, depending onhow one defines the word. What were the causes of these crimes against Rumenity? ‘They were based on differences in the areas Wiesel spoke of in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: race, religion, and politics. One genocide that grabbed the world’s atention began in Cambodia a the end of the Vietnam War; over 1.7 million innocent Cambodians lost their lives. In 1975, @ ‘Communist dictator named Pol Pot, who was supported by the Communist Chinese, Ted the Khmer Rouge in their victory over the Lon Nol government soldiers, taking over the capital city Phnom Phen as well as the rest of the country. ‘The Khmer Rouge quickly enacted brutal policies that would lead to what some observers referred to as the “Killing fields.” Now voiceless and powerless, urban Cambodinns found themselves exported to the countryside, where the Communists tortured, starved, and executed anyone they deemed a threat to their agricultural revolution and their political beliefs. Photographs of piled skulls on tables with ‘Khmer Rouge soldiers wielding automatic weapons striking ster poses sent shock waves around the world. By 1979, the “killing fields” ended when the Vieinamese 62010 by Avoid Pracioe, Lid, Dallas, TX. Al ights reserved “s4 10 dd invaded Cambodia and dethroned Pol Pot. However, the genocide has left a black mark on the history of a proud people. Identified as a case of “ethnic cleansing” by much of the international community, another modern-day genocide that horrified television audiences from 1992-1995 was the massacre of Muslims living in Bosnia. Ancient grudges between Christians and ‘Muslims that had been buried for centuries exploded when the Soviet Union lost control of the region after its political downfall. Bosnian Serbs, vying for a national identity, became enraged when Muslims sought their own independence. As a result, Bosnian Serbs set out on their campaign to “cleanse” the land of Muslims, whom they deemed a threat to their burgeoning national identity. ‘The Serbs’ murderous plan to rid the land of their archenemy by massacring ‘Muslims would reach its peak in Srebrenica, where more than eight thousand Muslim men and boys were mercilessly cut down while UN peacekeeping forces sent to end the conilict did nothing to stop the killings. In 1995, the United Nations was able to broker a peace treaty ending the ethnic slaughter, but in the end more than 200,000 Muslim civilians were murdered, and at least two million became refugees. By all accounts, the genocide represented the international community's failure to act decisively to end yet another unnecessary crime against humanity. At some point, one would think that the intemational community would take to heart Elie Wiesel’s lesson about the inhumanity of genocide, but as the world was slow to react to the massacre of Muslims in Bosnia, they also failed to intervene quickly enough to stop the slaughter of over 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. The evil of genocide still continues today, most notably beginning in 2004 in Sudan, where at least 70,000 non-Arab citizens have been killed by a militia group called the Janjaweed, which is supported by the Sudanese government. ‘The catastrophe in Sudan stemmed from the same cause that led to genocide in ‘Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda: political meltdown. In the case of Sudan, non-Arab militias attempted to overthrow a goverment that gave preferential treatment toward ‘Arab citizens and disenfranchised non-Arabs socially, politically, culturally, end economically. The Sudanese government quashed the rebellion, but their anger spilled over to non-Arab civilians, who were deemed a security threat even though a majority of them did not support the militias. Inflamed political hysteria and several years of ethnic bias led to bodies littering the ground and fires set in an attempt to cover up the bloody crimes of the Janjaweed. How has the world responded to the genocide in Sudan? Countries have condemned the violence, but some are hesitant to consider the crimes acts of genocide, China, for example, has not said anything about the killings since it has ‘such lucrative business interests in the country’s oil fields and rich natural resources. ‘The United States has criticized the Sudanese government for nurturing ethnic hostility, but itrefuses to intervene since many military experts believe it would only make the situation worse rather than better. The United Nations has joined the ranks (©2010 by Apple’ Practice, Lt, Dallas, TX. Al ight reserved LAA ARS A 4VU st rui et FU VUUE UU UY 2 of Attican countries in trying to bring peace to the region, but the president of Sudan Slat rehues tole inspectors into the parts of Sudan where a majority ofthe atrocities have occurred. FHotred is a powerful weapon, especially in the hands of political leaders, Adolph “Hitler and the Nazis demonstrated this truth when they plotted fo anniilate Baropezn Jove nd ended up killing more than six million of them, Prior to Word War It Germany suffered from a depressed economy, politcal instability, and public Giexatsfuction in general. Hitler seized upon his country’s angst by Blaming all of {heir hardship and suffering on the Jows, which made the thought of genocide more palatable to many Germans, ‘The same kind of scapegoating ‘occurred in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. If genocide is a consequence ‘of a country’s political problems, then our priority should be to assist at-risk countries in ‘building responsible Zovernments, Failure to do so will only doom us to repeat the past ‘We must heed aoe Wiese’s cal so that one day we can proudly proclaim that genocide occurred only in the distant past. c2010 by Appied Practice, Ls, Dalla, TX. Arias reseed. aGone Tomorrow! Here today. Do you See the “writing on the wall”? Together we can build a peaceful world, aac Join United Against Intolerance ‘ome listen t0| ‘ Inaugural Event Food will Dr. Greg update Friday, May 7, 2010 te us on Suan! \b Son Suse 6-9 p.m. Student Gymnasium provided! “8 62010 by Apple Practice, id, Dail, TX. All ihts reserved