Today we remember them all

I would much like this thread to remain respectful and no political baiting, or debating the meaning of the word "genocide". It's in memory of everyone who has died during times of genocides. Don't start saying "OMG!! you haven't mention them!!"

Thank you




Today is national holocaust day in the UK.

It's a time we remember not just the Jews, Catholics, Freemasons, gypsy's, homosexuals and others that were massacred by the Nazi's. But we remember others.

We remember the Rape of Nanking, in wich 300,000 Chinese were butchered by the Japanese during World War II.

We remember the hundreds and thousands of Armenian's and Assyrian's who died under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

We remember those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, in the Former Yugoslavia.

The mass starvation in Ukraine by the Soviet Union.

The Croatian people in 1941-44.

The 200,000 people who were killed during the Guatemalan civil war.

The Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982.

We don't remember some, we don't remember a few, but we remember all at ATS.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

At risk of being controversial, though it is seriously not my intent, I would also like to suggest that we remember the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

And those in Darfur currently being eliminated.

And Burma....and Myanmar.

And those we really don't know the fate of in North Korea.



[edit on 1-27-2008 by Valhall]

reply to post by infinite


This is a sobering reminder to everyone in the world that HATE should never be an accepted part of everyday life.

Hate is a very strong emotion and it takes a very STRONG will to keep from falling into the HATE trap.

It matters not, your race, religion, gender, intelligence, culture, language,

It is a scar on EVERY human being on the entire globe that we as inhabitants of the same earth cannot learn from the past and stop these atrocities from happening.

Murder, massacre, extermination, final solution, genocide, ethnic-cleansing, even the word to describe this has been sterilized.

It is MURDER, what needs to be cleansed is the HATE that fosters these acts.

Shame on us for allowing this to happen.

i salute you all.. thank you.

Yes, lets remember them all. Lets remember them because doing something about it takes effort and remembering is free and easy. We shall remember the once proud ethnic group that no longer exists because our fathers did nothing to help them. We choose to remember because remembering does not interfere with our modern comfortable lives.

What we really are celebrating in this thread is how easy it is for people to simply look at history and say "Wow, that was bad! We should remember that." and forget that the same thing is HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

If you really cared you would be doing something - anything - to help stop genocide. If you really cared you would think of ways to get your governments to use their military might for good instead of simply securing more power and natural resource.

But you don't CARE
You only REMEMBER

Jon

Originally posted by infinite
It's a time we remember not just the Jews, Catholics, Freemasons, gypsy's, homosexuals and others that were massacred by the Nazi's. But we remember others.

Of course, Slavs [Russians, Ukrainians, White Russians, Poles, Serbs and etc] are forgotten in WWII.

Originally posted by infinite
We remember the hundreds and thousands of Armenian's and Assyrian's who died under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

Greeks, too.

Originally posted by infinite
The Croatian people in 1941-44.

What's that bs?!



[edit on 27-1-2008 by Vojvoda]

To all those who have suffered, or fallen, at the hands of injustice.

...and to the rest of us who hope to make a world a better place for all of our children.

reply to post by infinite


Remembering..

It is the only way to truly honor the dead.. those caught in turmoils they had nothing to do with, could not prevent, or could have and lacked the courage. If we forget the most horrific aspects of humanity and history, there is nothing left to prevent the same from happening again. And it will happen again. Because people do not think of their nation, country, people as being in the same situation as those in the past. It should be apparent that all people are ignorant of their own situation.. it is these people not only forgeting the faces of the dead, the names of their nations and tribes, the aspects of their forgoten culture.. but also what brought about their demise. What lead to their destruction. This above all else, along with the faces of the dead should be remembered. It should serve as a guide, as a warning and as a hope - knowledge is the greatest enemy to a tyrant.

But as we throw out names of those massacred, and worship some above others.. it should also not be forgotten that no country or people has lived without being a victim. Not such Jews, Catholics, Muslims and so forth.. Germans were victims of genocide at one time.. so where Romans, so were Americans, so were the British, the French, the Chinese, the Russians, the Spanish, even the strongest empire, kingdoms and nations on the Earth suffer the consequences of their actions, and their forgetting. But it is these people above all others in the world who should NOT forget their own violent past and victimization, because they are the ones far more inclined to repeat the offenses onto another.. and they have.. but humanity is a tug of power, no one people holding it for to long.. those on top will be on the bottom, and it will be their faces we add to the long list of nameless casualties.. a figure in the history books.. and we will wonder to our selves "how did they not see that coming" ..

So instead of naming off your favored victims, remember humanity.. and remember when humanity fails and barbarous force takes the forefront of power.. no Human can escape the ravages of its force. Remember what Humans do to Humans, what the powerful did and do to the weak, and what the weak did to the powerful when the tides turn. Every genocide, war, ethnic cleansing, imperialistic expansion.. is a tragedy for the entire human race, because history is not written on the wonders and goodness of life, but the tails of those who died by the sword, gun, bombs and in mass graves. Not a violent species by nature, but an ignorant one who simply can never remember, and understand, why the same events happened in the past, and will happen in the future.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by infinite

 

So instead of naming off your favored victims, remember humanity.. and remember when humanity fails and barbarous force takes the forefront of power.. no Human can escape the ravages of its force. Remember what Humans do to Humans, what the powerful did and do to the weak, and what the weak did to the powerful when the tides turn. Every genocide, war, ethnic cleansing, imperialistic expansion.. is a tragedy for the entire human race, because history is not written on the wonders and goodness of life, but the tails of those who died by the sword, gun, bombs and in mass graves. Not a violent species by nature, but an ignorant one who simply can never remember, and understand, why the same events happened in the past, and will happen in the future.

Excellent post. Tragically profound truth and a beautiful summation. Thanks

reply to post by Rockpuck


This is absolutely one of the most meaningful posts I've ever read on ATS.

Dont forget the rape and pillage of the American Indians.
Grim reminders of what happens when a more advanced society meets up with a simpler people.
All ATS'rs who wish for alien contact should remember that

This is all I have for now;



Give what you can to dependable charities, and please, voice the truth for those that can't!
Most importantly,
"Pray for those that are in bonds as bound with them."



[edit on 27-1-2008 by Clearskies]

I just want to say that what is imporatnt is not who have suffered but WHY.

I hope one day see the hate get out of our life.

I'd like to add the Aboriginal people of Australia to the list who were strategically separated and slowly eliminated by the early colony.

I truly hope that the world will not only REMEMBER the horrors of the past and the victims of such events, but LEARN from them so history doesn't repeat itself.

Do you even remember all of the so-called, "genocides" that have happened since man began sinning, and destroying tribes?

[edit on 27-1-2008 by ahuman]

I was not there.

I did not share the mental walk
from disbelief to palpable despair.

I did not bear the loss of home and freedom,
Hunted, herded, forced behind
the ghetto walls.

I did not wear the yellow star.
I did not see the synagogues destroyed
Nor watch the ghetto burned,
turned into ashes as I fled.

For me, no journey crammed with others
in cattle cars,
No camp with barracks, guards and barbed wire bars,

No rattling guns and pits, no chambers,
gas and fire at life's end.

I was not there.

Why do I -- MUST I -- care?

OUTSTANDING post!!!!

I would like to remember all the Israeli citizens that have been massacred by terrorists.

And also to remember that "we" can not always "do" something as some of the other posters have mentioned, not physical actions anyway. We can pray and work politically to effect change, but we have lives as well and we have every right to live those lives.

I believe that we are doing something by remembering those that have suffered and died at the hands of such deviant persons and beliefs...

Threads such as this are a great tribute and example of the membership here at ATS.

I salute you OP...

Semper

I wonder what Jon is doing to prevent these sorts of actions.

I am taking this opportunity to have a moment of silence and think/ pray for those who have fallen this way.

There were so many atrocities that have been committed to mankind. Most cases, it was done in secrecy.

Aside from different forms of genocides. We also have witnessed murders against helpless, innocent & regular human beings. Adults & Children alike.

And unfortunately, in most cases, they perished without the world even knowing. Some died in some horrifying & unimaginable type of deaths. Some were tortured. We may never know the pain & horror they have experienced.

This does not choose race, country or religion. It happened. Who knows what will happen next?

I hope & pray that someday there will be only love & peace and no more killings.



[edit on 27-1-2008 by searching_for_truth]