Atrocity Denial Is (Sadly) The Norm

Credit here.

Holocaust denial is a big issue in some parts of the world. Social and political influences have created a climate in places like France and Iran where it’s very common for people to downplay the Holocaust, claiming that only a few- if any- were killed and that there were never any gas chambers. It’s a stark contrast to the United States where people employ the terms “Hitler” and “Holocaust” on social media when talking about border control and the detention of undocumented immigrants. Canada has passed laws dealing “inciting hatred” that they have used to prosecute a few people who have publicly denied the Holocaust.

My point being that in the US and Canada, most people know the Holocaust happened. Holocaust denial is out of favor or even illegal in some areas. However, these types of denials may be the general rule rather than the exception– even in the United States and Canada which so carefully remember the horrors of the Holocaust.

For example, during the Rwandan genocide, the UN quibbled about whether there was an actual genocide in Rwanda of just “acts of genocide”. President Clinton encouraged Americans to go see Schindler’s List and then refused to take efforts to stop the genocide in Rwanda. In America, denying atrocities can make you a celebrity and get you a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 claimed that Iraqi citizens were living normal, quiet lives prior to the invasion of Iraq, which is untrue. In 1988, thousands of Kurds in Anfal were killed in a genocidal campaign. And Abu Ghraib was a torture chamber long before the Americans ever showed up. It’s not just a small fringe group who support these views. The movie grossed over $200 million and movie review sites show that the vast majority of viewers give it a positive review. 

Vietnam is another situation where Americans misunderstand what was going on before American involvement. I think the former peace protester interviewed on Ken Burns’ documentary of the Vietnam War summed it up in his comments: “These people were living their lives and we came in and told them how to run their country.” No. The people of Vietnam were killing each other in horrendous ways before the Americans showed up. Ngo Dinh Diem, president of Vietnam in the 1950’s had a campaign to imprison, torture and execute Communists while the Communist rebels (Viet Cong) employed a campaign of terrorism and assassination against Vietnamese government officials. But in America, we don’t talk about how Vietnam was already at war with itself in the first place. Whether we showed up or not, Vietnam was going to suffer. Saying that the war was wrong or we never should have gotten involved doesn’t change that suffering.

I once saw Elie Wiesel on Oprah talking about the Rwandan genocide. He was appalled that after the Holocaust the world would allow a slaughter like Rwanda to happen. It’s not enough to remember the Holocaust and look away from the other dark parts of our world. In fact, if we deny the other atrocities in the world, I don’t think we have remembered the Holocaust at all.

 

Imperialism— You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Vizzini: HE DIDN’T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE. 

Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I hear people describing America’s involvement in different conflicts from 1965 on as “American imperialism”.

That’s not imperialism.

Imperialism is defined as: 

“the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.”

This was a policy in America- under Teddy Roosevelt. The US tried to make the Philippines a territory/colony of the US. (Before WWII the plan had been to get the Philippines independent, but then the Japanese Imperial army invaded the Philippines. The ill-equipped American military tried to defend it with Filipino help, but failed. The Americans got the Philippines back during a long fight. After WWII the Philippines gained independence. )

In Vietnam, the objective was to strengthen the South Vietnamese military to fight takeover by the Communist North Vietnamese army and keep the existing democratic government in place.

During the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations appealed to the United Nations for help in getting Iraq out of Kuwait. When Saddam Hussein refused to leave Kuwait by the UN deadline, international forces led by the US intervened to force Iraq out.

In Somalia, the objective was to capture trade routes so that UN food shipments would actually reach the people of Somalia instead of being hijacked by Aidid’s forces to force support or punish dissenters. The UN orders stressed restoring law and order and helping the Somali people set up a democratic government of their own. 

In Afghanistan, the objective was to work with anti-Taliban allies in the Middle Easy to oust the Taliban (which had attacked the US) and help the Aghanis install their own democratic government and train the Afghan army and police to combat insurgents on their own.

In Iraq, the objective was to catch Saddam Hussein, try him for war crimes and execute him if found guilty, then help the Iraqis establish a democratic government and to train their police and military to defend themselves against insurgents.

Why don’t these countries just fend for themselves? They’re impoverished. They don’t have the resources that US does to train and arm their police and military like the US does. We are fortunate to live in a nation that is so abundant.

None of these examples fit the definition of imperialism.

So why does this fashionable use of “American imperialism” persist?

Because it allows for a very comforting illusion: 

That the US government and military is the main source of evil in the world. Since protests and votes have the potential to influence the use of the US military forces, the concept of “American imperialism” supports the belief that evil can be contained and doesn’t truly exist on a massive scale in the world. If left to themselves, people will treat each other kindly is the wish that the myth of “American imperialism” is built on. Ironically, people who are upset about “American imperialism” typically claim that they care about human rights, yet they ignore murder, rape and torture and that takes place when the US fails to intervene. We have seen that a lack of US intervention as nations invaded other nations led to World War II and to civil conflicts like the Bosnian War, the Rawndan genocide, and the rise of ISIS.

Truthfully, the people who say they are against “American imperialism” fit the definition of isolationists.

Could You Identify Another Holocaust?

Lately I see a lot of people on Facebook comparing the treatment of illegal immigrants to the concentration camps of the Nazis and saying that this is how the Holocaust started. These arguments are based on two ideas: 1) That problems with immigration are unique to the Trump presidency and 2) That the treatment of undocumented immigrants at detainment centers is similar to that of prisoners in concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Neither of those ideas is accurate:

Timeline for Immigration Issues In the US Since the end of World War II

• 1952- McCarran Walter Act (immigration quota system upheld). This dictated how many immigrants from different parts of the world the US would accept, favoring some ethnicities over others. President Truman vetoes the bill calling it both absurd and cruel, but Congress overrules him.
• 1954- Eisenhower launches a nationwide sweep of undocumented immigrants.
• 1956- The Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet Union fails and Eisenhower uses a provision in the McCarran-Walter Act to provide emergency admission for aliens to allow increased admission of Hungarian immigrants. This is later used by other presidents to allow admissions for other refugees seeking political asylum.
• 1959- Castro takes over Cuba and thousands of Cubans flee to Florida. In response, the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act is passed to allow permanent resident status to Cuban refugees who arrive in the US after 1959.
• 1964- The Bracero program is ended under mounting pressure from labor activists over the abuse of Bracero workers. The Bracero program was instituted by the Mexican and American governments in 1942 to provide temporary work to Mexican citizens and resolve the labor shortage in the US created by World War II. The Bracero program contained stipulations for the protection of workers—protection from harm, free housing, affordable meals, and insurance. But the rules are broken by many employers. Illegal immigration from Mexico increases dramatically.
• 1965- Lyndon B. Johnson overturns the McCarran Walter Act and enacts the the Immigration and Naturalization Act which focuses on family reunification rather than maintaining ethnic quotas.
• 1974- In response to the human rights abuses of Soviet Jews, the US adds the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to its trade act which basically required Communist nations to allow free emigration of people wanting to leave a Workers’ Paradise if the Communist nation wanted to continue to trade with the US. Half a million Soviet Jews and Christians emigrate to the US.
• 1975- The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act is passed to help refugees from the political turmoil of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
• 1980- Refugee Act broadens the scope of the definition of refugee and and allows for an almost threefold increase in visas.
• 1986- Regan enacts the Immigration Reform and Control Act which requires employers to ensure that their employees are not undocumented immigrants.
• 1990- President Bush signs the Immigration Act of 1990 which increases the number of visas again and adds highly skilled workers to a list of preferences for immigration. It also set a cap on the number of unskilled workers allowed and created a diversity lottery to distribute visas among immigrants in underrepresented countries.
• 1994- Operation Gatekeeper. President Clinton authorizes $50 billion to build a 14 mile security fence around the Tijuana border crossing. (Hhhhmmm… this sounds a little familiar.) Clinton also doubles the number of border patrol agents.
• 1995- Frustrated with the United States’ lax approach to Cuban immigration, Castro threatens to allow a mass exodus if the US does not take action against illegal boat departures from Cuba. Both countries sign an agreement stating that the US Coast Guard will no longer accept Cuban immigrants intercepted at sea without credible asylum claims, but those who make it to land will be allowed a path to citizenship.
• 2001- The DREAM Act is introduced to allow undocumented children to gain a clearer path to citizenship if they meet certain requirements like graduating from high school or serving two years in the military. The bill get through several revisions, but ultimately languishes. Obama vows to make it part of his comprehensive immigration reform in 2012.
• September 11- After the 9/11 attacks, Department of Homeland Security is created, dissolving the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Airport screenings are enacted and border patrol is strengthened. Men from predominantly Muslim nations are required to undergo additional screenings.
• 2008- George W. Bush initiates the Secure Communities program which allows local law enforcement to share data with Immigration and Customs Agency to target and deport undocumented immigrants who commit crimes. Barack Obama expands the program during his presidency.
• 2010- Arizona governor Jan Brewer signs SB 1070 into law that makes it illegal to transport, hire, or house undocumented immigrants and allows police to check immigration status during routine traffic stops (“papers please”). The federal government files suit over the bill and ultimately the Supreme Court strikes down several measures in the bill, but keeps the controversial “papers please”.
• 2012- Obama defers the deportation of undocumented immigrants who were childhood arrivals
• 2013- Obama introduces a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would allow a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. It passes in the Senate but fails to clear the Republican led House.
• 2014-  More than two dozen states, mostly led by Republican governors, sue the Obama administration for failing to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Also this year, some children who arrived as undocumented immigrants were released from the foster care system to sex traffickers.
• 2015- The US increases the number of refugees admitted in response to conflicts in several parts of the world. Also this year, Obama administration is criticized for allowing senior US diplomats to water down the data on human trafficking reports to give certain countries better rankings than were recommended.
• 2017- Trump signs in a travel ban that suspends the refugee program for 120 days, bans Syrian refugees indefinitely, and decreases the cap on refugee admissions to fifty thousand. It also bans nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from traveling to the United States for ninety days. In response to a restraining order on the ban from a federal judge, Trump makes modifications, like allowing Iraqi citizens back in. After Supreme Court review, the travel ban is revised to permit close family members of immigrants from the banned countries to travel to the US. (I just have to ask, “Why even bother if you’re concerned about terrorism and certain people are only banned for a few months? A terrorist could come in after the travel ban is over.)  Also, Trump’s funding proposal for a border wall are repeatedly turned down.

OK, let’s look at the first year that Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, 1933:

• January 30-Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany

• March 22- Dachau concentration camp opens
• April 1- Boycott of Jewish shops and businesses

• April 7-Laws for Reestablishment of the Civil Service barred Jews from holding civil service, university, and state positions

• April 26- Gestapo established

• May 10- Public burning of books written by Jews, political dissidents, and others not approved by the state

• July 14- Law stripping East European Jewish immigrants of German citizenship

So just to review, we have decades of immigration policy that has been welcoming or prejudiced to certain groups based on politics. And Hitler’s rise to power looks like nothing like the state of affairs in the US. We have no state mandated boycott of immigrant shops and businesses, immigrants are not barred from the civil service, we have no secret police, no public book burnings and no immigrants who have citizenship have been stripped of their citizenship. And no, we don’t have concentration camps. Detention centers for undocumented immigrants who are apprehended trying to enter the country bear very little resemblance to the places where undocumented immigrants are held:

Living conditions in detention centers for undocumented immigrants:

• Must provide food, clothing, some basic medical care in a relatively clean facility that has indoor plumbing
• Detain people who have legal citizenship elsewhere but have come to the United States without documents- which is illegal (not necessarily immoral, but illegal)
• Can not legally torture or abuse detainees; detainees can work with charitable organizations if they have complaints 
• Allow access to legal resources for asylum or immigration 

Living conditions in concentration camps (from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning):

• Provided one extremely meager meal, one set of ragged clothes and no little to no medical care with no sanitation.
• Prisoners were stripped of their citizenship because their ethnicity or because they disagree with the government 
• Torture, medical experimentation, beatings and starvation were encouraged 
• Prisoners had no rights, legal or human

The need for immigration form is legitimate, but using the Holocaust as a comparison is not only illogical, but denies the suffering of the millions of people who experienced one of the world’s worst atrocities:

 

Detainees at a detention center for undocumented immigrants

Prisoners liberated from Ebensee concentration camp

 

But then, if Americans think that another Holocaust would look like the detention of undocumented immigrants, maybe that’s why we have missed so many genocides before:

Memorial for the victims of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 under Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing campaign. 

Memorial at the Genocide Memorial Center in Kigali, Rwanda. Photos are of people killed in the genocide of 1994. 

Shoes exhumed from a mass grave of the victims killed in the 1988 Anfal genocide in Iraq