Labour Trafficking In America

(Part of our ongoing discussion on Human Trafficking)

In Series One, Alders Ledge outlined its working definition of the term “human trafficking” as a reference for future articles in the series, and the discussion now turns to “labor trafficking” in the United States. This is, perhaps, the type of slavery with which most Americans are familiar, as it is studied in U.S. and American History classes. For purposes of our discussion, “labor trafficking” shall mean:

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons; by means of the threat, use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, through abuse of power or exploitation of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another for the purpose of exploiting labor and/or services. (UNODC, 2014)

It is vitally important for Americans, and the world, to understand that slavery NEVER ended in the United States, and history textbooks rarely frame discussions around this fact. Instead they focus on traditional notions of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, which did nothing to actually stop the exploitation of labor and services in the country. We’ll examine the various ways in which exploited labor and/or services continued, post-Proclamation, through today.

 

 

Post-reconstruction saw Black Americans subjugated to slavery via criminalization, through race-based laws known as The Black Codes. Prisoners were subjected to slave labor for profit by companies, prison wardens, and others with stakeholder-status in having a supply of free or nearly-free labor. Sharecropping introduced another form of exploitation. While a study of the history of corrections, Black Codes, and sharecropping are easily identifiable as forms of labor trafficking, as defined by UNODC, many fail to make the connection: slavery did not, literally, end after the Civil War. Laws were specifically written to criminalize only the actions of Black people…laws that were far too easy for any “freed” Black to “break.” Violating such laws landed former slaves in prison, where they were subjected to slave labor, once again. With the decline and eventual eradication of sharecropping by the 1960s, other forms of peonage, slavery, and exploitation gripped the country, and the world.

 

 

When Americans think “slavery,” the images that come to mind are those depicted above. While it is important to note that non-Blacks were also subjected to indentured servitude in the founding of America, historically, the vast majority of slavery centered on Blacks and agriculture. As agriculture declined, new methods of exploitation began to flourish, a much more “inclusive” slavery that sought to take advantage of human bodies, regardless of color. However, the “new” forms of labor trafficking still predominantly exploit minorities, especially immigrants, women, and children. While we observe that some forms of labor trafficking affect legal and illegal immigrant residents, it is important to note that human trafficking affects native-born citizens, as well. This is not an "immigrant" issue. This is a global human rights issue.

 

 

The Modern Face of Labor Trafficking in the USA

 

While 59% of labor trafficking is not found in the agriculture sector, it continues to proliferate in the industry, especially among migrant and seasonal farm workers. Nannies and housekeepers (think: Mammy figures in slave days of the past) and other domestic positions provide a ripe climate for exploitation. While sex trafficking will be highlighted in a future series, it is important to mention here that hostess and strip clubs are also rife with slave labor, outside of the traditional notions of forced prostitution (sex work). The actual performances, duties, and dancing (the labor) can be exploited, with or without forced sexual contact with customers (Alders Ledge does not conflate voluntary sex work with human trafficking, a discussion more appropriate for the upcoming series on sex trafficking).

 

The dining and food service industry provides a haven for traffickers, who force their victims to cook, clean, stock, and wait tables for little or no pay, often while under the complete control of their “handlers,” while living in controlled congregate housing. In addition, the manufacturing of clothing and foodstuffs also provide avenues for forced, coerced, and under/no-paid labor. With over 1.5 million employees in the hospitality industry, the United States has seen a rise in traffickers’ exploitation of room attendants, other hospitality-centered positions, even casino workers. Ever wonder about the knocks on the door by young people selling products, like magazine subscriptions? Many such peddling rings exploit the door-to-door market by denying food and accommodations to those who fail to make their quotas, even abandoning “employees,” leaving them penniless and without transportation in unknown cities. In short, ANY industry with a demand for cheap labor and little-to-no oversight is ripe for labor trafficking, including group care homes, construction, and landscaping.

 

 

Most Americans directly benefit from modern-slavery. Everyone eats, and most do not grow their own food. Many people dine out and stay in hotels, and we all live in, or travel to, various constructed buildings. Trafficking touches our lives in ways we may not have considered before. Anti-immigrant adherents may not care about the abuses of immigrant populations, rationalizing that “they ought not to be here, in the first place.” Hostess/stripper clubs are rife with “slut-shaming” and “victim-blaming,” and the voices of the exploited, the trafficked, are often silenced under the belief that these women and girls actively choose to earn a living “on their backs” and should “know the consequences” of their profession. When presented with evidence of force, victim-blaming still occurs: “They were stupid if they couldn’t see it;” “Why didn’t they just runaway or call police?” These judgments do not address the criminals who force and/or kidnap their way into exploiting human bodies. Finally, notice the eerie silence about slavery in these arguments. There is no acknowledgment that slavery still exists, and it resolves the cognitive dissonance felt when one realizes the benefits they unwittingly receive via trafficking. 

 

  

 

 

Obviously, a single blog post cannot provide the space for nuance on such a large, complex topic. Our purpose is to bring awareness and empower you to take action. Below are suggested readings for those interested in a deeper understanding of modern labor trafficking in the United States.

 

• Life Interrupted: Trafficking into Forced Labor in the United States (2014). See on Amazon.

 

• Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy (2008) See on Amazon.

 

• The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (2010). See on Amazon.

 

• The Coercion of Trafficked Workers (2011). See Online.

Willful Ignorance

Turning A Blind Eye To Religious Savagery
(part of the PLUCK series)

(Joseph Goebbels and Wilhelm Frick with Catholic clergy)

There are few things that modern society leaves off-limits when it comes to polite conversation. For the most part, however, religion happens to be one of those last topics for debate that we tend to shy away from. It is, for lack of a better analogy, the sacred cow even when it comes to human rights. We are supposed to accept that religion is a sensitive subject and that all of mankind is entitled to their own views on it. As a society we tend to even take this view to the most obscene stance so as to ignore religion when it is the root of some of the worst atrocities in history. Thus allowing ourselves the opportunity to overlook it's ongoing role in such crimes as genocide.

It is no secret that some of the worst genocides in history were driven by the hatred that organized religion can be used to manufacture within a society. The Ottoman Turks capitulated to the aggressive abuse of Islam under The Young Turks during the genocides of the Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians. 60 million Germans permitted their government to hijack their churches during the Nazi's genocidal effort to annihilate Judaism across Europe. And yet we as a society still tiptoe around the issue of religious fervor when it comes to genocide?

Was it not Christianity that was abused when the Europeans set out to make the Native Americans "civilized"? And yet we still celebrate the colonization of America under the justification of religious zealotry (example: Columbus Day)?

If ever we are to make any ground in combating genocide then we must first recognize one of the roots from which it has historically arose. And that is the willingness of the pious to turn a blind eye to the dramatic misuse of their faith in attempts to destroy members of another race, religion, or ethnicity.

Mixing Islam And Nationalism

"Turkey belongs only to the Turks."
~ Talat Pasha

For almost 100 years the "best and brightest" minds have tried to explain the rise of the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire by linking their violence to blind patriotism. While the explanation of radical nationalism may be accurate to an extent, it is woefully inadequate to explain how the Young Turks targeted their victims. The very core of their battle cry, that of an Islamic state, points not toward a secular version of nationalism but rather religious pandering for political gain.

The main area in which the Young Turk's "revolution" promoted religious bigotry was the it's insistence upon the implementing of "Ottomanism" across Turkey. This process readily classified members of society into "millets", or classes based upon religion and race. The process also, though argued to create unity and equality, allowed a for radical leaders within the Young Turks to selfishly promote their given religion as superior. Therefore, Ottomanism permitted the three Pashas the power to lift Islam above all other religions and create the possibility to force out other faiths from the Ottoman Empire and all it's territories.

Many Muslims did oppose Ottomanism. But by the time they dared to make their voices heard it was already too late. The Young Turks had been given power by pandering to the religious and nationalistic fervor that they themselves helped to cultivate. In areas the Young Turks didn't have popular support they manufactured it with propaganda. And when that didn't work... muscle always did.


Where Ottomanism, in it's original political packaging, had be presented to promote equality amongst Muslims and non-Muslims alike the implementing of it was drastically different. Young Turk members readily gave into corruption from their own making and from social influences. Their treatment of the non-Muslims across the empire never seemed to truly reflect the ideas they promoted in Istanbul. And for the non-Muslims across the empire, the changing of power in Istanbul often appeared to be the swapping of one evil for another. The lives of these less fortunate subjects of the Ottomans never really changed... or at least until the Pashas' next stage of "Turkification".

By 1914 the Three Pashas had found their opportunity to begin what would later go on to be named genocide. In their time these acts were labeled as massacres, pogroms, deportations, and often just called "unfortunate consequences of war". When the Pashas ordered the outright slaughter of Assyrians and Greeks the Muslim populace of Turkey appeared to accept the culling of Turkey's population based upon religion. When the Turkish military was presented with the opportunity to punish Muslim citizens for looting and killing of Assyrians and Greeks the government readily looked the other way. For the Pashas it was their way of declaring it legal for "true Turks" to reclaim Turkey.

In 1915 Talat Pasha got his chance to go after the Armenians as well. The man who would become known to many as "the Turkish Hitler" readily began deportations of Armenians. During this drastic abuse of even the most basic of human rights, Talat Pasha rewarded Muslims with stolen Armenian goods and land. Talat went as far as to permit his military, along with local Muslim volunteers, the "right" to rape, pillage, and kill Armenians as the Ottoman Empire carried out the deportations. Rape camps and sexual slavery became a common way for the Turks to suppress Armenian society and target the women within it. Thus giving Talat his end goal of destroying Armenian culture by removing half it's population with rape and killing the other half outright.

Throughout the Armenian Genocide, as well as during the Greek and Assyrian genocides, the Pashas made a point of labeling the targeted communities as "indigenous Christians". Their goal of distinguishing between Muslims and Christians was a clear attempt at classification, the first stage of genocide, through which they could isolate the targeted victims. When this was accomplished the Young Turks went to the third stage of genocide (dehumanization) by characterizing Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians as traitors to the Ottoman Empire. In carrying out these two stages of genocide the Young Turks were able to mobilize an entire nation behind religious and nationalistic motives for the ultimate goal of annihilating the victims.

Had the world responded to the use of religion and nationalism to commit such horrific crimes it is plausible that Germany would have been more hesitant to recreate the Pashas' crimes on an even larger scale.

Industrialized Murder And The Church

“What we have to fight for…is the freedom and independence of the
fatherland, so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission
assigned to it by the Creator.”

~ Adolf Hitler, 'Mein Kampf'

The connection between the church, both the Protestant and Catholic, and the Nazi party in Germany is one that was at times rocky... to say the least. Yet the willingness on behalf of Germany's Christians to accept the antisemitism within Hitler's message cannot be ignored. Like the Turkish Muslims, the Christians in Europe were sold a message that lifted them above an enemy they were far too willing to accept. Though there was no real reason to hate their Jewish neighbors, the Christians of Germany collectively can be seen as giving into social pressure to do just that. It became far too easy for the church in Europe to accept the hatred of a few over the love they claimed to have for the many.

One of the main reasons given for the acceptance of the Nazi's politically backed persecution of Europe's Jews is that of well ingrained antisemitism in Europe at the time. Christians in Europe had been raised with interpretations of the Bible that depicted the Jews as the "killers of Christ". Their hatred was further spurned on by the continual preaching that came from Europe's pulpits. When the Great Depression spread across the globe it was the Jewish population that was demonized for causing it. And the church, or a large portion of it, was far too willing to preach this exact message from their position of religious authority.

"The Church has realized that anything and everything can be
built up on a document of that sort, no matter how contradictory or
irreconcilable with it. The faithful will swallow it whole, so long
as logical reasoning is never allowed to be brought to bear on it."

~ Adolf Hitler

In 1920 the Nazi Party's platform reflected this antisemitism as it promised Germany that it; "upholds the point of view of a positive Christianity without tying itself confessionally to any one confession. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit..." This pandering to an antisemitic culture already well established allowed for the Nazis to get the "faithful" to swallow what Hitler had in store for Germany next.

When Hitler started the Holocaust with the euthanizing of "socially undesirables" and the "non-productive elements" of German society it was the Church's first chance to speak up. Yet the German people accepted that the mentally handicapped, the antisocial, and the repeat criminals were a "burden upon the state". This was once again also presented to the Church in the Nazi's 1920 platform when the Nazis stated, "a permanent recovery of our people can only be achieved from within on the basis of the common good before individual good." It was a decree that gave the state the authority to decide who lived and who died. Yet the Church was willing to "swallow it whole".


Some have depicted this willingness by the Church to appease Hitler's genocidal ambitions as a mere survival method. And it is true that this strategy of following closely behind party ideology did permit the German Church the ability to survive in a state that officially did not recognize any given faith. By cooperating with the Nazis the Church was able to keep it's infrastructure largely intact throughout Nazi rule. Yet the goal of appeasement cannot be written off by merely depicting it as a survival strategy alone.

During Hitler's rule of Germany there were large chunks of the Evangelical Christians who willingly set out to achieve the Nazi goal of creating a "Judenrein" Europe. The Deutsche Christen movement within the Evangelical Church went as far as to push for the "nazification" of the Church itself. Their willingness to cooperate in Hitler's "final solution" to the "Jewish question" could be seen in their willingness to fight for the Nazi ideology itself. Many of these radicalized Christians went as far as to rat out other Christians who dared to stand up against the Nazi party (even those who just tried to be pacifist).

“I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty
Creator. By warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord’s work.”

~ Adolf Hitler, Speaking at the Reichstag in 1936

This willingness on the part of the Church to help fuel Hitler's industrialized slaughter of Europe's Jews, Romani, homosexuals, and other socially undesirables can also be seen in areas like Croatia.

On the 10th of April, 1941 the Ustase proclaimed Croatia to be an independent state with the protection of Nazi Germany. These radical supporters of a fascist state, one centered around Catholicism, had almost overnight made a lasting split with the rest of Yugoslavia. Their hatred for Serbs, Bosniaks, and Jews had given them a bond with Hitler's race based state. Yet it was that hatred for Judaism that proved to be the strongest bond between the Ustase and Adolf Hitler (also a Catholic).

During the Holocaust in Croatia the Germans were relieved that they would not have to commit troops to the Ustase cause. Instead the Croatian fascist, acting upon the common religion of their supporters, were able to rally an unbelievable amount of support for their genocidal ambitions. This led to the creation of some of the largest concentration camps in all of Europe, some of the largest death tolls in all of the Holocaust, and a lasting legacy of genocide in the Balkans. Croatia's genocidal efforts would leave wounds that would later create fertile ground for the Bosnian Genocide. And all of this was done through Croat loyalty to the religious hatred found in Nazi ideology.

Ironically, and rather tellingly, Adolf Hitler would go on to depict his devotion to the wholesale slaughter of entire races as something of a "commandment of God's will". In his book, Mein Kampf, Hitler made it clear that he believed God had dictated to the "Aryan" race (Germans in his mind) to kill off the Jews and create God's kingdom upon the earth. Of course this was heavily mixed with political philosophy and tainted ideology that was flaunted as "science". But it was clear from Hitler's own words that he believed his actions as leader of Germany were in line with his god's will.

"For God’s will gave men their form,
their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is
declaring war on the Lord’s creation, the divine will.”

~ Adolf Hitler, in one of his more ironic quotes.

This embrace by the Church of the Nazi philosophy raises the question of whether or not Europe's church had already been on that path before Hitler or if Hitler had put it on that path when he arrived? It is clear that Hitler had gained much of his religious views from the Church in his upbringing. And it is clear that Hitler had used the teachings of the Church to formulate his genocidal ambitions. But it is up to the reader to decide if organized religion in Europe had been the source or just a pawn in the Nazis' crimes against all of humanity.

The Promised Land

 

“It would be my greatest sadness to see Zionists do to Palestinian Arabs much of what Nazis did to Jews.” 

~ Albert Einstein

And this, my friends, is where we fast forward to religion's role in the genocides of our time. 

In Israel there are many reasons to claim that the brutal repression of indigenous peoples for the political advancement of a religiously based state warrants the label of genocide. It is arguable that the creation of a Palestinian controlled territory (complete with walls to divide the areas) in and of itself could directly reflect the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto. It is arguable that the race based segregation that occurs within Israel (both legally and willfully by Israeli society itself) could directly reflect the race laws imposed by the Nazis. It is arguable that the exiling of Palestinians upon the creation of Israel itself could be directly reminiscent of the deportations of Jews from their homes in Nazi occupied Europe. Yet none of these are considered viable arguments due to the insulating layers that Israel's defenders have wrapped themselves in... the blood of my ancestors and the religion of my forefathers. 

I may not be a "good Jew". Hell, I may not be a very good anything. But like Albert Einstein, it is with great sorrow that I watch bigots and supporters of genocide use my faith, my heritage, and my ancestor's plight for their defense. 

The Christians who took part in the Holocaust killed their Christ six million times over when they committed themselves to their "holy deeds". I'll be damned if I would turn my faith over to the crucifying of another soul in that same perverted manner. 

Judaism, and those who truly follow it, cannot be permit such atrocities as those committed by those who would pursue land over the service to their fellow man. After all, wasn't that what our prophets (of all three faiths) were preaching all along? Or should we follow in the footsteps of the Turks, the Nazis, and the Church by picking the verses we want and applying them the way we see fit? 

But Israel is far from the only place we can find religion being used to either justify or encourage genocide today.

Religion Of Peace?

"Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.”

~Buddhist Quote

Myanmar is, and for the foreseeable future will remain, a Buddhist country. It has a long history of diversity and more races and cultures wrapped up under one flag than most it's neighbors. Yet the majority have one thing in common and that is their common faith. It is for this reason that the government has largely been composed of men and women who claim to be faithful practitioners of the Buddhist teachings. So with that being said, one is left to wonder just how Burma became one of the worst offenders of human rights in our time?

 

Religion has played a very vital role in Myanmar's development. Some of its largest monuments and national treasures focus around it's rich heritage of Buddhist beliefs. However, outside the heart of Myanmar, almost forming a ring around the country's edges, are cultures that have rich histories of Christianity, Islam, and indigenous beliefs. These cultures have often been excluded, persecuted, and even driven out of Burma by those who claim to practice the peaceful teachings of Buddha. And it is for this reason that religion so often plays a central role to the conflicts that plague Myanmar. 

The leaders of Myanmar (the old junta) have often rallied their support through force. This muscle has been made more tolerable by their willingness to mask their atrocities with the guise of protecting Burma's Buddhist heritage. When the government targets groups like the Rohingya they are often seen to be readily playing upon the image of fending off Islamic invaders. Through the use of religiously based, and heavily nationalistic, propaganda the state is able to offer some form of rationalization for it's atrocities.

As with all other genocides where religion has been used to support the murderous ambitions of the perpetrators, Burma's Buddhists hold much of the responsibility. Their faith is often used as a tool both for and against them. And in this case it is used to offer them a reason to support that which they have often feared their government could or would do to them. While there is room to claim they are doing what they are told or fearing what will happen if the don't, there is no justification for this cowardice (just as with Germany's Christians). 

When one's religion teaches them to value every life it should be clear that it also is teaching them to cherish those their government tries to depict as their enemy. The individual can not be permitted the right to hide behind their faith. The individual can not permitted to hide behind the fear of persecution for their faith. And the individual can not be permitted to tolerate the abuse of their faith. All of which is far too often offered as a defense for members of societies like that of Myanmar's. 

"The tongue like a sharp knife … Kills without drawing blood.”

~ Buddhist Quote 

In The Service Of Others

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.”

~17th Dalai Lama 

As screamers, those who witness genocide and refuse to be silent, we also believe that when it comes to genocide it doesn't matter what your faith is. If you are to be in the service of those who have been made voiceless then you have to be willing to help all mankind. That means reaching beyond those within your own faith or a faith to which you feel some kindred spirit with. It means that you come alongside the downtrodden of this world and partner with them. It means that you make whatever sacrifice you have to to make sure that the less fortunate are, at the very least, given back their voice. 

Your words have more power than you might give them credit for. When you speak on behalf of those the world has turned it's back upon you are telling their story, their plight, and their hopes. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience the essence of what it means to be human. It is also an opportunity that should never be taken lightly. For it is you chance to put their lives ahead of your own. 

Religion, the spiritual life of man, is something that should be personal to each of us. It is a part of us that nobody else will ever experience in the way you do. It is a part of you that the world, no matter how hard it tries, should ever be allowed to take away. It's this part of you that we wish to appeal to. For we believe that faith, no matter which one you choose, teaches us to show compassion and love for those around us. So if you believe... believe that you have the power to make a change for the better in this dreary little world of ours. 

Recognize the power of your faith. 

Recognize the power of your voice. 

Scream.

Source Documents
(note: not all are listed)

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005206

Rutgers University
http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/center-study-genocide-conflict-resolution-and-human-rights/genocide-ottoman-greeks-1914-1923
http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/center-study-genocide-conflict-resolution-and-human-rights/assyrian-genocide-1914-1923-and-1933-pres

Behind The Pink Triangle

Lessons For Russia

Deviants?

In a society based on the rigid moral standards of a maniacal leader almost everything is considered deviant. The simple act of thinking for yourself, deciding for yourself between right and wrong, is considered an act of deviancy. There is no room for free thinkers once a society decides to conform to the obdurate views of the unstable leadership it allows to take control. Every sense of freedom becomes hidebound to the dim reality fascism brings onto it's citizenry. Once in place, there are no cracks through which it's victims can escape. 

For the homosexual population of Nazi occupied Europe this rigid conformity of the masses began the slow walk into darkness. Neighbors, relatives, old coworkers... anyone and everyone could trade their gay acquaintances in for even the smallest token of favor from the new masters of Europe. The jackboots were now marching in the streets and the gestapo was out for the "sexual deviants" of Europe. 

Over the course of the Third Reich an estimated 100,000+ gay men and women were imprisoned and persecuted for their sexuality. They were put into work camps designed to bring about a slow and painful death. Around 15,000 were sent to death camps were they were adorned with a pink triangle and the number that replaced their identity, their name, and their previous life. Around 60 percent of those who were imprisoned and/or sent away to concentration camps would not survive the Holocaust. For these unfortunate souls their only crime for which they would die would be that of who they loved.

But who was the deviant in all reality? Was it the man or woman who was born different from the others? Was it the homosexual who found love in a way different than the prescribed method of society? Or was it the society which turned upon their own and sacrificed those they deemed different to the flames?

In the end, for that 60 percent that fell to the sins of conformity, it didn't matter exactly who was the deviant and who wasn't. The price they paid was greater than any that society would pay during or after the war. For the sin of silence, for the sin of complacency, for the sin of hate... those who were sacrificed to the insanity of one man's delusions and the hate of a complacent country could not, nor can not today, be brought back. They paid with their lives for a crime they did not commit. 

Behind The Pink Triangle

The crimes that were committed during the Holocaust against the homosexual community in Europe didn't occur overnight. Long held political and religious beliefs had paved the way for Hitler's orders to execute the gay citizenry of Europe. A German public had lived with and supported laws that had long oppressed the sexuality of their neighbors. 

In 1871 The Penal code is established in Germany and it's occupied territories. This harsh set of laws dictated most any moral codes of conduct that society could imagine. However it is paragraph 175 that would establish a legal precedent in Germany for the legal persecution of homosexuals. In no uncertain terms the paragraph made all sexual acts between males illegal and punishable in Germany's courts. The legal framework for governmental persecution of homosexuality was established in the Second Reich. 

From this point forward the homosexuals of Germany would enjoy only brief moments of "lesser" persecution as the German society pushed it's heel on their backs. Though gay members of society could find some places in Germany to meet and enjoy the facade of liberty in the early 1900s the storm clouds were gathering. The "Great War" saw Germany entering a hellish depression and a renewed religious fervency. Like the Jews and Roma, gays were targeted for persecution with every downturn in German society. 

With the rise of Nazism the roadwork for Hitler's persecution began to be relayed. During this time the government of Germany dug back to down to the Kaiser's sins and breathed new life into perverse laws. In 1932 Berlin began to crackdown on gays in the city. A new fervor was seen in Berlin as police and city leaders sought out gay bars and meeting places. The old morality laws were back in affect as the year came to a close. 

As 1933 opens the German people are introduced to their new leader, their fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. The Nazi party is declared the only legal party and is thus in complete control of the country. German society has surrendered it's freedoms, its liberties, and it's minorities to the insanity of a madman and his henchmen. For those trapped inside the country there is no end to the downward spiral their country is now taking. Yet the devil in charge has promised them the world. And for a short period of time, it almost appears that Hitler can give it to them. 

For the homosexuals the reality of what awaits them in Germany is made clear on May 10th, 1933. A collection of books and documents stolen from the ransacked offices of the Institute for Sexual Science are burned by the SA and Nazi supporters in Berlin. The reason for this book burning isn't that the books are Jewish or Communist. The reason these books are being burnt is because they are deemed unclean due to the "sexually deviant" nature of the institute from which they came. Though the doctor who ran the Institute for Sexual Science was a gay Jew, the homosexual threat was the main reason for their burning. For the homosexuals of Berlin, this book burning was their first warning... Hitler was coming for them. 

Less than a month later, June 8th, two homosexual rights organizations are outlawed. Their members and leaders are recorded as the Gestapo takes the names off any and all collected documents. Gays in Berlin rapidly respond by simply disappearing into the masses. However the hope of hiding and waiting out the Nazi government are short lived. 

During the "Night of the Long Knives" Hitler takes the opportunity to not only destroy the SA and replace it with the SS but also orders all homosexuals to be thrown out of the military. Several SA officers and members are charged with being homosexuals when nothing else can be found to charge them with. Though these charges were most likely false, these members of the SA are not imprisoned but rather are shot. Hitler's message to the gay community in Germany is now perfectly clear to all... they are not going to be simply jailed, they are to be killed. 

As for Ernst Roehm, the SA chief, the charges of homosexuality are not false. From 1930 the position of SA Chief Roehm in the Nazi party had been a signal of false hope to the gay community in Germany. Though the homosexual community could still expect plenty of harassment and even jail terms they had not expected what would happen next. Roehm was charged with plots to overthrow Hitler along with homosexuality. On June 30th Roehm becomes a victim of the party he had fought to help establish. SS members execute Ernst Roehm for sedition and homosexuality. 

On July 13th Hitler declares himself the sole judge in Germany and that the SS would from that point forward act as his personal police force. With this the message is sent out across the country that a gay member of the SA had been executed. There would be no quarter given to the homosexuals that were now locked inside German borders. 

By the time October rolled around the SS were actively seeking out homosexuals across Germany. Himmler ordered large roundups of gays regardless of gender under the morality laws, paragraph 175. Those who were caught up in Himmler's dragnet were imprisoned, tortured, and interrogated in hopes of getting more homosexuals' names.

For the next two years mass roundups continued without relent. What had started out as a couple hundred arrests rapidly grew into the thousands. Hitler and Himmler were on a quest to rid Germany of the "sexual deviants" and preserve the "sexual purity" of the German race. For those caught in their scheme there was no hope in sight. 

In 1935 Himmler sent out an order that promised freedom to all homosexual males who would willingly subject themselves to castration as a "cure" for their  "degenerate sexual drive". Sadly for the homosexuals who had been in inhumane jail conditions (for some, years) this promise was too good to pass up. Having been brutally operated on by Nazi doctors the victims subjected themselves to experimental surgeries. Those who did not die from the neglectful treatment of the Nazi doctors and castration itself were given a mock release. Once given the hope of freedom, the castrated victims were rearrested and thrown back into the prisons from which they had been released. 

This sadistic treatment of homosexuals in Germany's new legal system would continue as the homosexuals in SS custody continued to be held without any sign of true release. For years their lives would hang in the balance as the German people ignored the plight of gay men and women across their country. Those who did speak out often faced false charges of homosexuality and were therefore thrown into the same jails where gays died from sustained abuses and neglect to their well-being.

On October 10th, 1936 just two years after Himmler took control of the Nazi roundups of gay men and women, the leader of the SS forms the Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion. This central office will allow the SS and Gestapo to compile complete lists of gays in cities and villages across Germany. From Berlin the Gestapo can monitor the arrests of gays throughout Nazi controlled Europe. They can send out demands for increased pressure on gays in any area at any time as the Nazi leaders envision threats under every rock. 

During July of 1940 Himmler cleans out the German jails of homosexual prisoners by declaring that all gays in Germany and occupied lands can be sent directly to concentration camps. In true bureaucratic fashion, the SS develop the pink triangle to fit into their numerical death machine. The homosexual community across Europe are now set to join the ranks of the Holocaust victims. 

"Work Will Set You Free"

Throughout the Holocaust homosexual prisoners were often targeted for extremely brutal punishment by camp leaders and SS camp guards. Abuses were numerous and often left up to the camp leaders themselves. The one thing every camp had in common was the use of force labor designed to bring about death through exhaustion. 

Gay camp prisoners were made to work some of the most brutal and barbaric camp task. They were made to haul stones, carry boulders, and do meaningless task designed to weaken the victims. To the SS this was meant to break the "homosexual spirit" by applying the "extermination through work program". 

Failing to do a task, no matter how menial the task might be, often led to sadistic punishments. SS leaders often enjoyed taking gay prisoners to the "singing forests" in large camps. There, on tall poles, the homosexual victim bound with their hands and feet chained behind their body. Suspended in the air from the tall pole the victim's arms would be pulled upward and behind their torso. This would cause serious injuries to the joints and shoulders of the prisoner as they screamed out in torment... thus giving the name to this form of torture. 

Other gay victims would be subjected to barbaric castrations as a "cure" for their "sexual disease". Nazi doctors and SS soldiers used knives, scissors, and veterinary tools to remove the testicles of their victim. Without medicine for the pain or impending infections, the victim was at risk or bleeding to death and/or succumbing to deadly infections from the sadistic genital mutilation.

More serious forms of punishment for homosexual prisoners were often performed in front of the rest of the camp inhabitants. Roll call would often be called when a homosexual prisoner/s would face execution. These brutal acts of violence were used to deter any and all acts of defiance by the gay prisoners. These executions were also used to punish homosexuals after one of their fellow prisoners had run into the electrical wire to commit suicide. In this aspect executions of homosexuals could be seen at times as collective punishment for both their mere existence and their persistent will to live.

In addition to work, beatings, torture, harassment by fellow inmates, degradation of all forms, and outright slaughter; many homosexual prisoners also had to face twisted medical experiments. SS doctors were given full reign in their quest to find a cure for the homosexual in German society. These experiments included the usual castrations and genital mutilations. However they also included lobotomies, shock therapy, chemical injections, and hormone injections. Prisoners who were experimented on clearly had no hope of ever being cured. And therefore once they were found to be incurable they were executed. 

Free At Last?

The German people were slow at recognizing the sins they had committed against the Jews... the Roma... the Poles. A generation of Germans would pass away without ever really having to face the crimes they forced upon the world around them. Their hands had forged the worst atrocities that Europe had ever seen. Their hatred had destroyed the lives of millions upon millions. And yet the German people were allowed to remain silent for far too long. 

For the gay victims of the Holocaust this silence felt like it could not be broken. For all the screams that had been released in those dark hellish camps, for all the suffering that had been brought upon them... the silence threatened to mask their pain. For nearly 60 years the homosexual victims of the Holocaust watched as the world ignored their stories. 

Many of those who survived decided to go back into hiding. The same method that had failed them during Hitler's reign now showed to be their only hope. The laws that had sent them to the camps were still in place when the Third Reich collapsed. Paragraph 175 clung to the books as the victims of its existence stepped out from behind prison gates. 

In December of 2000 the German government finally admitted that it had continued to use Paragraph 175 even after 1949. It was the first time that Germany had admitted that homosexuals had been victims of the Third Reich. However it wasn't until May of 2002 that the German government decided to finally pardon all homosexuals who had been convicted, tortured, and/or killed by the Nazis and German government. 

But what were they pardoned for? Who in this long history of horrific human rights abuses and genocide was the deviant? The man/woman who simply loved differently than the rest or the state and society which bore the ability to hate those they didn't understand or care to love? 

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The Reality of Marriage Inequality in Israel

Ethnic and Religious Based Restrictions On Marriage
(A Bridge Too Far series)

In 1935 the Nazis Introduced the Nuremberg Laws

Creating Marriage Restrictions On European Jews.

I have been told that to start this post I should clarify that I myself am Jewish and do have ancestors who died in Croatia during the Holocaust. I never felt compelled to make such a distinction before yet while writing a much longer post from which this article is taken it was pointed out to me such a distinction should be made. This is in part due to the fact that many of our readers seem to be under the impression that I am either Christian or Muslim. Though I have no problem with either religion, I don't belong to them. So with that said I do not take it lightly when I talk about Israel or the Holocaust. Both are dear to me and it is due to that love that I can't tolerate what I see as wrong in my beloved Israel. 

With that said, here is the portion of this new series dealing with marriage in Israel and the segregation the current system enforces. 

Marriage in America is depicted as a right that all citizens should be granted to enter into freely. Though we should not take it lightly and the current system in America may not reflect that view we are forcibly pushing for change in our homeland. It has been during this battle over equality in marriage that I could not help but look across the sea at my beloved Israel with weary eyes. For despite America's failures in removing the church from a state regulated legal contract we have at very least removed race and religion as disqualifications for marriage. This is something that I could not say about Israel. 

On August 1st of 2003 those in charge of Israel found it fitting to expand upon the ethnic bylaws for marriage in Israel. After rushing a new law through the government in Israel offered a it's Arab citizens a new set of laws that would ban the marriage of Israeli citizens to Palestinians. Arabic citizens who chose to marry Arabs from the West Bank or Gaza would therefore be forced to move out of Israel or live apart from their new spouse. The law had dictated that even when married to Israeli citizens Palestinians could not gain citizenship or residence within Israel. 

Marriage in Israel has always been something of a contentious subject. Jews in Israel are not permitted to marry non-Jews if they want their marriage recognized by the government. Jews who are not considered Orthodox are also banned from marriage to Orthodox Jews in the fact that the state of Israel will not recognize the marriage. This was highlighted in story of Rita Margulis when she, having served in the Israeli armed forces and lived in Israel since the age of four, was denied a legal marriage by the state.

For me it has been these two main parts of the laws governing marriage in Israel that has taken my mind back to the days where we Jews were faced with similar restrictions on our decisions to marry. We all know the laws to which my mind wanders. Yet far to often it seems Jews around the world try to avoid the reality of how Israel treats marriage and how we as a people were once treated in the same light.

In 1935 the fascists in Germany introduced a series of laws that would live in infamy for the rest of time. Under Nazism the Jews of occupied Europe were officially from that point on banned from marriages with non-Jews. Any marriages that existed from that point on were considered void. The offspring of all these marriages were considered "tainted" and thus Jewish. It didn't matter in reality what amount of blood was Jewish or not, children from these marriages were targeted just the same.

"Marriages between Jews and Staatsangehörige (Germanic citizens) or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad."

~Nuremberg Laws, Section 1: Article 1

The laws regarding marriages between Jews and Germans (or non-Jews) was so important to the order of Hitler's Europe that it was the first part of the new race laws. The need to discriminate against the Jews in the aspect of marriage was so important that it couldn't wait for economic policies or property ownership to be addressed first. This was in part due to the genocidal efforts of the Nazis and the desire to limit the ability of Jews to reproduce. It was also due to the idea of "blood purity" that perverted the Nazi view of marriage.

These laws had direct effects upon the Jewish population of Germany from the very moment they were implemented.

"They also, at the same time a law took effect that did not allow a Jewish person, male or female, to go with a gentile person, male or female. At that time, I was going with a nice young lady that I had gone with for some time, and we were out camping, I remember very well. I had a kayak, and we went out camping near Hamburg, and there was a fellow and, next to us, near us, in another little camp with a tent, we slept in tents. He wanted to make a date with this young lady that I was going with, and she didn't want any part of it. He reported me to, to the Gestapo, and I was arrested for going with a gentile girl. I got six months in prison, solitary confinement in 1935."

~ Edward Adler, Born 1910 in Hamburg Germany

In Israel the laws regarding the marriages of Jews to non-Jews may not word for word reflect the harshness of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, yet the spirit of the law does. Despite the notion of being the one true democracy in the Middle East the reality remains in question when such laws are permitted. If the letter of the law is allowed to be interpreted in such a manner that it denies citizens basic human rights then the spirit of the law is dead. And without spirit the nature of democracy crumbles.

When we add in the laws that deny citizenship, revoke citizenship, or restrict the rights of certain citizens due to the religious or ethnic heritage of that citizen the spirit of democracy is faded even more. A democracy cannot tolerate the denial of human rights to any member of it's society if it desires to be a vibrant and healthy democracy. Yet in Israel, a purported beacon of democratic values, the spirit of Nuremberg taints the letter of the law when the state approaches marriage from this angle.

The most basic answer to this problem is the lack of "civil marriage" instead of Orthodoxy governed marriage is the disbanding of the Orthodoxy's monopoly upon the state sponsored establishment of marriage. For us in the United States this was supposed to be solved through the separation of Church and State. For Israel however the state is nearly governed by the Orthodoxy in the fact that despite being a democracy Israel is a Jewish state. It is an aspect of the relationship between Orthodox Judaism and the state that has long hindered any such separation.

For people like Rita Margulis this means that even being a Reform Jew in Israel means having fewer rights than those who subscribe to Orthodox Judaism. As for the Arabic Israelis, such laws add further pressures upon a portion of the population who was polled in 2007 as being 47% "less than patriotic". Such laws undoubtedly do not help create more patriotic Arabic citizens or even promote pride in "Jew-ish" citizens. And yet these laws continue to be enforced and thus help to segregate Israeli society.

Now, while I do understand that the comparison to Nazi laws may be considered offensive, this undeniable haunting reminder of such laws is meant to make you think. In a modern society should we accept the notion that religion or race should have anything to do with whether two people are permitted to marry one-another? Or should Israel be forced to rethink it's position upon marriage and the approach the state has taken to the issue thus far?

As for Alder's Ledge it is a sad reality that such laws still persist in a country where the values of liberty and freedom are espoused by both citizens and politicians alike. We would wish to see Israel take this step as one of many initial steps toward reconciliation with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. For we cannot see a future ahead where lasting peace is established and sustained when such laws are permitted to exist. Legalized discrimination, in this form and all others, will forever be a thorn in our side as long as we continue to willingly suffer it so.

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Source Documents
(Note: not all sources listed)

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/israel-civil-marriage-ban_n_3429764.html
-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-uri-regev/why-is-it-so-difficult-for-jews-to-marry-in-israel_b_3196200.html

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/media_oi.php?ModuleId=10007695&MediaId=2711

The Devil To Pay

A Generational Sin
(Devil's Due series)

"We can kill anyone for anything. We are accountable to no one." 

~Pakistani Captain

The Arrogance Of Power

The birth of Bangladesh as a nation occurred in 1971 when the territory of East Pakistan broke free from the repressive rule of West Pakistan. It was a brutal and bloody war that threatened the annihilation of ethnic Bengali people. Through a genocidal campaign the rulers of Pakistan had decided to crush the spirit of a nation. All "kafirs" were ordered executed while the government of Pakistan planned to empty East Pakistan of all ethnic groups outside that of Pakistanis. In this sense the nation of Bangladesh was born from blood. And as with all blood violently spilled, this innocent blood still to this day demands retribution, justification, and recognition.

Every since the partition of India in 1947 the Pakistani government had encouraged discrimination and racism against the Bengali people of East Pakistan. Over the next 24 years this obsession with racial superiority would infest every aspect of the relationship between Bengali society and Pakistani rule. President Yahya Khan responded to the split that his racial laws had created by telling his troops to "kill three million of them" so that "the rest will eat our our hands". This was the extent of Pakistani desire to retain power while holding it above the heads of their victims.

Thus with the creation of the Mukti Bahini (Bengali separatist guerrillas) the desire to crush the spirit of the Bengali people came to a head in Pakistan. A movement to liberate the people of East Pakistan from exploitation, rape, pillage, torture, and massacre could not be tolerated by the Pakistani army. For this reason the military in Pakistan decided to launch "operation searchlight" in 1971. This was the move that would bring Pakistan to shake hands with the devil. This was the decision by the leaders of Pakistan to fully engage in genocide as a means of keeping control of Bangladesh.

The Ottoman Route To Hell

Within the first few days of military occupation of Bangladesh the Pakistani army set out to recreate the Armenian Genocide. Raiding the Dhaka University, the Pakistani army utilized collaborators to round up top Bengali intellectuals. Wasting no time to "cut the head off the snake" the Pakistani generals ordered the executions of all Bengali academics they could find. Anyone who could organize an intellectual offensive against the brutality of Pakistani occupation. Those who were best fit to record and report on Pakistani atrocities were removed or killed. This was exactly the same move the Ottomans had made in Armenia.

The intention to kill intellectuals shows a desire on Pakistan's part to destroy the culture and social abilities of the Bengali people. Through killing off the intellectuals, Pakistan intended to cripple Bangladesh's society for generations. Without intellectual leaders the society was supposed to decay and loose it's own sense of identity. Therefore making it more likely to accept the concept of racial inferiority through which Pakistan already viewed Bengali society.

In addition the targeting of intellectuals meant that any future attempt to organize would be done by individuals that Pakistan viewed academically inferior. This motive is driven out of the idea that people like Che Guevara are the exception. It ignores the reality that many of history's greatest catalyst have been people of modest upbringing and not generally associated with academia or politics. However, regardless of this aspect, the slaughtering of intellectuals was a progression from mass oppression toward mass extermination.

Turkification 

 

"The Bengalis will have to be re-educated along proper Islamic lines."

Though the majority of Bengalis were Muslims it was clear through official Pakistani stances of the day that the difference in adherence to Islam was a source of prejudice on the Pakistani side. Though most of the differences are not listed the desire to "re-educate" the Bengali people is often stated by the government of Pakistan throughout 1971. Yet despite this supposed desire for education the Pakistani military often used "re-education" as a synonym for massacre.

Just as the Turks "re-educated" Armenians through "turkification" the Pakistani army employed the same tactics. Rounding up Bengali men and boys, the Pakistani commanders would clear out entire villages and neighborhoods. Once the men were separated from the females the women in the targeted village could be raped and murdered with impunity. Gang-rapes were common in areas where the males had been evacuated.

This method of genocide was encouraged for multiple reasons. The architects of the genocide believed that any children born from rape would be susceptible to influence by the Pakistani government due to a blood bond with the rapist. This perverted desire for power meant that Pakistani soldiers were given a green light when using their lust as a weapon of war.

Rape was also tolerated by Pakistani commanders since it was seen as a cheap way to increase moral amongst troops in the field. It could also be utilized as a method to break the fighting spirit of rebels in and around the areas where it was deployed. In addition, rape could create more casualties in the fact that women were at times raped till they died of the trauma inflicted during the abuse.

Re-education was achieved for the Bengali men and boys through mass executions. This form of re-education was not intended to educate the victims but to educate the families and communities from which they came. It was designed to show the viciousness of Pakistani rule while intending to deter future questioning of it.

Every Last Drop

By the time Bangladesh declared independence there were an estimated 3 million victims of the Pakistani perpetrated genocide. These victims had been killed just as President Khan had ordered. And yet the "others" did not eat out of the Pakistanis' hands. Instead the violence and blood spilled had given birth to a nation. From the suffering of a people came a country they could call their own. 

It is from here, halfway around the world, that one might look at Shahbag square and wonder why then the nation has not moved past this wretched crime? Have they not suffered enough? Why this desire to open up a wound such as this one? 

The answer is yes, they have suffered more than enough. And it is for this reason that the protest at Shahbag began. It was not simply to pick at the wound that genocide left behind but to force the world to recognize the wound exists in the first place. Without reconciliation, without justification, without recognition there can be no moving forward from this crime. Genocide must be recognized, it's perpetrators must be brought to justice, and the anguish it left upon Bengali society must be reconciled. That is the only path forward from Shahbag... it is the only path forward for Bangladesh. 

As long as men like Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (just one example) are allowed to avoid true justice there will always be a Shahbag. Every drop of innocent blood must be accounted for. The devil's due is required when a nation suffers his folly. Genocide cannot be ignored. It cannot be forgot. And it will never fade far from the minds of those whom it has most affected. 

A look at those fighting for justice...

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Source Documents
(note: not all sources listed)

The Financial Express
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMDZfMjdfMTNfMV8zXzE3NDQwMQ==

Bangladesh Genocide Archive
http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/

Ethnic Purity

A Tyrant's Pipe-dream
(The Darkness Visible series)

(In Burma its the man with the gun that writes the law.)

When the Serbian nationalist launched their war against the other states that had once made up Yugoslavia the world sat on the sidelines and watched. We watched as radical nationalism led to the same sins that it had produced in Germany. We watched as the barbwire went back up. We watched as rape camps were established. We watched as men and boys were worked to death and starved till they became the walking dead. We watched as what we had called genocide in Germany was renamed "ethnic cleansing". All along we knew it was absolutely wrong. All along we sat silent as the sins of our past were marched back out for the world to see. 

Just as radical nationalism took root in Serbian extremists it can now be seen skulking beneath the surface in the Arakan State of Burma. Like a serpent it slithers just below the facade that the radicalized Rakhine mobs have crafted. The lies that hid for a short while in Serbia are building up the "cause" the Rakhine extremist monks claim to be fighting for. Those who deny it exist refuse that ethnicity lay at the root of the Burmese movement. 

For the past year many have claimed that the Rohingya are spreading Islam where it never existed prior to this outbreak of violence. They claim that the Rohingya are invaders. They claim that the Rohingya are the aggressors. Yet history refuses to back these claims. For lack of evidence, these pillars of the radical Buddhists' movement are left unsupported. 

Without religion to fall back upon, the Rakhine mobs can only rely upon the ethnicity of their victims to rally support amongst poor Rakhine communities. Slurs such as "kalar, ogres, and unclean" float the hate filled message of the true aggressors. These draw upon old ethnic bigotry that the monks were well aware already existed. Islam is just the latest excuse to be added to their arsenal of reasons to attack. 

Yet the Rakhine monks are far from the main reason for the apparently sudden outburst of ethnic violence in Burma. For decades the Burmese military junta have been pushing ethnic minorities toward the borderlands. Those who are not considered ethnically pure are mercilessly attacked. Villages are torched, the inhabitants driven off into the forest and mountains, and the scorched earth filled with landmines. This is a war for ethnic purity. It is a war that has been raging without relent every since the generals hijacked Burma's government.

The Rakhine mobs are simply the willing tools of the "reformed" government. Their targets are highlighted in the same way the Nazis spread across Europe, in a blitz. With government supported propaganda the communities to be "cleared" are highlighted for the mobs. The mobs build, the tension rises, and the stormtroopers come rushing in. All that is left is the lebensraum that the government of Myanmar desired in the first place. 

Radical nationalism is much like genocide in this way, it has patterns. You can check off its rise in stages. And yet we often overlook it's presence with every occurrence of its wretched growth.

In Burma we were shut off from what was happening behind the shroud that the Junta had created. However the moment the door was cracked we should have been able to identify the lies Burma's leaders were feeding us. Instead in the darkness of Burma's past we saw a glimmer of hope for its future.... however misguided that may have been.

The first step for radical nationalism to take root is for the political landscape to be divided into an "us vs them" scenario. If the radical nationalist cannot segregate a party and isolate its members they will resort to ethnic divides to isolate a group to dominate. Once under control the movement can begin to spread its cancer across the landscape.

Much like the Nazi movement and that of the extremist Serbian movement, radical nationalism is alluring to the impoverished and isolated. It offers a cause greater than themselves to which they can attach themselves to. It offers hope to a portion of society that has old scores to settle. And by offering a path forward, even the most extreme views can be swallowed.

When the extremist can seduce their followers to an ideology of "us vs them" they simply have to switch the bait to "you are the oppressed" and "this is your land". With this the extremist become more than just ethnically centered but create the myth that nationalism can be defined by ethnicity and ethnicity alone. With this the excuse for action to right the imagined wrongs can lead to acts previously unimaginable.

In Burma this has meant that select ethnic groups have been given the green light to "retake" lands that they were told were taken from them. Ethnic groups that find themselves on the wrong side of this rewritten history of Burma are pushed out. This has led to the Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kaman, Rohingya, and other minorities being driven to the edges of their homelands. Through being declared "invaders" they have been written out of Myanmar's existence.

We watched the same thing occur in Bosnia. When the Serbs needed excuses to retake their "homeland" in Bosnia they used the same excuse Hitler had for invading the Sudetenland. Ethnic purity and ethnic heritage had given them a perverted justification for genocide. And just as the Serbs and Nazis proved, there is always somebody who just doesn't belong. There is always another undesirable to be removed.

In this aspect ethnic purity is a dream of the radicalized mind. Even if the Rohingya were gone tomorrow there would always be another group that the Burmese majority would need to remove. For at the core of radical nationalism is the need for that "us vs them" mentality. Without it the need for radicalized nationalism ceases to exist.

So now we must ask ourselves; are we going to set on the sidelines in Burma? Will we watch as the same sins of our past are dragged out for the world to see? Are we to watch as the Rohingya are starved to death in camps as the barb wire goes back up? Or will we take this opportunity to learn from the lessons history is attempting to teach us yet again?

The blockades that existed prior to the cyclone still exist. Food, clean water, and medicine are still being withheld from Rohingya as they die in the squalor of Burma's version of concentration camps. With every passing day they perish from diseases that could have been easily prevented. With every passing hour they fall to starvation and thirst.

For my ancestors who suffered under the yoke of radical nationalism there were liberators in the form of resistance. Brave young men and women took up arms against a foe that appeared to be impregnable. Through their actions the blood of my ancestors was not lost to the pages of history. With their courage came freedom.

We may not be able to storm the beaches of the Arakan with guns blazing. Yet our resistance is just as dangerous in this modern age. As Stalin said, "ideas are more dangerous than guns...". Our voices are our ammunition.

So take this opportunity to resist. Take this opportunity to scream for those who have been made voiceless. Pick up your weapon and join the fight.

How to Scream:

• Share articles like this one on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterist, Blogger, Tumbler, and other social media outlets.
• Write your local and federal Representatives in government and ask that they stand up for the Rohingya.
• Join "tweet storms" and other social media protest in support of the Rohingya. 
• Share the plight of the Rohingya with your family and friends (maybe even the old fashion way, you know... face to face). 
• Email your religious organizations the story of the Rohingyas' plight in Burma. 
• Contact local leaders in your community and ask them to support the Rohingya in any way possible. 
• And just get creative in ways to spread the message as far and wide as possible (please keep it legal though). 

Literally thousands of lives rely upon you, the free world, to speak up and join the fight. So use your freedoms in the way that they were meant to be used... to help others.