In her influential essay “Genocidal Language Games,” philosopher Lynne Tirrell details several instances of rhetoric used prior to and during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Everywhere in the world people are disgusted by this language, and losing any respect they once had for Israel and its backers.
Israel can say what it wants, but it has lost its standing in the world, as has the USA and friends who are funding and arming Israel. And, when this is all over, they will be pariahs.
The world is changing, and I think the genocide in Gaza will be a major pivot in the way westerners see ourselves, and will change our values.
I think it's safe to say that October 7th changed everything. I believe you are entirely correct that there will be a huge realignment -- it's going on as we speak.
Some countries, such as Canada, have restored funding to UNRWA and have begun restricting arms sales to Israel in an attempt to recover their standing. But the United States has pissed away its reputation as a moral authority. That's absolutely sunk. Who knows how long it may take to re-establish that, if ever. And for what -- to back a genocide? Utterly unbelievable.
Excellent, I’m glad journalists are starting to make this connection. Also I have argued that we should include media personalities in western countries such Douglas Murray, Bari Weiss and Bill Maher as part of the same group that will be remembered in the same way as the Hutu radio announcers who fanned the flames of the Rwandan genocide.
I hope I have not given you a mistaken impression! The Washington Post article quoting an Israeli stating that yesterday's children committed October 7th did not, unfortunately, make a connection between that statement and those of genocidaires of Rwanda. That's my contribution to the conversation. I do hope that the thread is picked up in other outlets and corners.
Yes I agree. As I mentioned I think it is important to link the incitement by members of the Israeli political and media classes, as well as incitement by supporters of the Israeli State in western countries, with the incitement campaigns which drove other recent genocides specifically Bosnia and Rwanda. I don’t have any hope that mainstream media will do this though. However independent outlets like Electronic Intifada are making this link. Also it is significant that three prominent Israeli Holocaust scholars - Raz Segal, Omar Bartok and Daniel Blatman - have commented on how the current assault on Gaza by the Israeli State fits the classic definition of genocide.
Thank goodness for what independent media we have left -- so much of our media has been homogenized over the last half century. Here's hoping we have time to change the trajectory of the conversation; I see so many warning signs of impending suppression of dissident viewpoints that I foresee something worse than what the U.S. knew under McCarthyism. In Israel, you have opposition parties outlawed altogether, unable to organize or operate an apparatus of mass communication; in Germany, you see a literal police crackdown; in the UK, they are redefining what qualifies as extremism and deliberating outlawing forms of public expression. We are racing the clock.
Thank you for mentioning those scholars of genocide. I follow Segal and Bartok closely on these matters, after seeing them both included in a segment of Jewish Currents back in November. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ3-k2l6JIA
Raz Segal has my utmost respect, as he came out very early on the subject, describing the situation precisely as a genocide back in October (whereas I believe Bartok is still hedging this as ethnic cleansing, not quite at the same level). I had not encountered Blatman's view, so I appreciate you bringing him into the conversation.
Dirk Moses, too, has offered his measured opinion: he is not strident, but he has underlined how what we see in Gaza qualifies as "permanent security" under his own rubric. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3OC7MhTXSg
Everywhere in the world people are disgusted by this language, and losing any respect they once had for Israel and its backers.
Israel can say what it wants, but it has lost its standing in the world, as has the USA and friends who are funding and arming Israel. And, when this is all over, they will be pariahs.
The world is changing, and I think the genocide in Gaza will be a major pivot in the way westerners see ourselves, and will change our values.
I think it's safe to say that October 7th changed everything. I believe you are entirely correct that there will be a huge realignment -- it's going on as we speak.
Some countries, such as Canada, have restored funding to UNRWA and have begun restricting arms sales to Israel in an attempt to recover their standing. But the United States has pissed away its reputation as a moral authority. That's absolutely sunk. Who knows how long it may take to re-establish that, if ever. And for what -- to back a genocide? Utterly unbelievable.
Excellent, I’m glad journalists are starting to make this connection. Also I have argued that we should include media personalities in western countries such Douglas Murray, Bari Weiss and Bill Maher as part of the same group that will be remembered in the same way as the Hutu radio announcers who fanned the flames of the Rwandan genocide.
I hope I have not given you a mistaken impression! The Washington Post article quoting an Israeli stating that yesterday's children committed October 7th did not, unfortunately, make a connection between that statement and those of genocidaires of Rwanda. That's my contribution to the conversation. I do hope that the thread is picked up in other outlets and corners.
Yes I agree. As I mentioned I think it is important to link the incitement by members of the Israeli political and media classes, as well as incitement by supporters of the Israeli State in western countries, with the incitement campaigns which drove other recent genocides specifically Bosnia and Rwanda. I don’t have any hope that mainstream media will do this though. However independent outlets like Electronic Intifada are making this link. Also it is significant that three prominent Israeli Holocaust scholars - Raz Segal, Omar Bartok and Daniel Blatman - have commented on how the current assault on Gaza by the Israeli State fits the classic definition of genocide.
Thank goodness for what independent media we have left -- so much of our media has been homogenized over the last half century. Here's hoping we have time to change the trajectory of the conversation; I see so many warning signs of impending suppression of dissident viewpoints that I foresee something worse than what the U.S. knew under McCarthyism. In Israel, you have opposition parties outlawed altogether, unable to organize or operate an apparatus of mass communication; in Germany, you see a literal police crackdown; in the UK, they are redefining what qualifies as extremism and deliberating outlawing forms of public expression. We are racing the clock.
Thank you for mentioning those scholars of genocide. I follow Segal and Bartok closely on these matters, after seeing them both included in a segment of Jewish Currents back in November. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ3-k2l6JIA
Raz Segal has my utmost respect, as he came out very early on the subject, describing the situation precisely as a genocide back in October (whereas I believe Bartok is still hedging this as ethnic cleansing, not quite at the same level). I had not encountered Blatman's view, so I appreciate you bringing him into the conversation.
Dirk Moses, too, has offered his measured opinion: he is not strident, but he has underlined how what we see in Gaza qualifies as "permanent security" under his own rubric. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3OC7MhTXSg
Certainly hope the thread is picked up, too.