Left To The Dogs

Iraq's Minorities Threatened With Genocide

(Yazidi struggle to escape the advancing ISIS threat)

Circling like vultures, ever ready to pick at the bones of their fallen victims, the dogs of the Islamic State gather for yet another massacre. Their mouths foam with the disease that has infected the countless generations of hedonistic barbarians that came before them. This plague manifested itself with the colonialists that once spilled blood in these same fields. This disease is the same illness that once sent Europe into the dark days of the 1940s. It is the same hunger that drove on the Khmer Rouge as they turned rice patties into the killing fields. ISIS is the manifestation of the disease that has doggedly nipped at the heels of humanity for all of our existence. Its the disease that now threatens to put the final nails in Iraq's coffin.

Blood still drips from the veins of the crucified, the beheaded, and from the lifeless bodies of those left in ditches after mass executions. The mantra for this new caliphate is written in their blood, the ink of the barbarians that exploited their deaths, a medium that speaks to the indifference of the onlooking world. It is in their deaths that the foundations of Isis's terror has been laid. With every fallen victim comes a new mountain of propaganda in this depraved push for religious dominance. It is a sacrifice, a burnt offering to Isis's own insanity, that feeds the wicked intentions of Islam's radical fringe factions.

Tonight the Yazidi people are the scapegoats that are to be offered up so as to feed the lust of those who claim to fight for All-h. Their women and girls are to be used for sexual deviancy. Their men and boys to be drained of their blood as their bodies return to the sun scorched soil. Their voices to be forgotten as they, in their darkest hours, offers up one final scream in hopes that a deaf world might finally hear.

Never Meant To Be Lambs

(Yazidi Temple At The Highest Peak of Sinjar Mountains)

No community has ever faced genocide with the timidness of a lamb. Once the butcher's knife makes it's first appearance the would be victims always find ways to defy the fate they've been slated. Their voices become raised. The muscles become rigid and the heels dig in for the fight ahead. It is not in the nature of man to take that last breath in peace. There has never been a victim of genocide ready to die for the sinful lust of another. The Yazidi are no exception to this rule.

When ISIS came to Sinjar the Yazidi community already knew what was awaiting them. Due to their religious beliefs the Islamist radicals had already plotted to kill the "devil worshipers" in mass. The black flag that ISIS uses was an unadulterated symbol of their intentions toward the Yazidi minority. No quarter would be given, no mercy would be shown, and no peace could ever be obtained from the clutched fists of the barbarians that comprise Isis's forces.

But what makes the Yazidi such a vulnerable target in Isis's genocide of "non-believers"?

Much like Muslims, Jews, and Christians; the Yazidi are monotheists. They believe in one god who created all life here on earth. Yet the connection with Islam almost ends at that point alone. For it is in the Yazidi religion, Yazdanism, that the belief in one god diverges into other beliefs that Islam does not share. It's these differences that place Islamic fundamentalists at odds with the "pagan" beliefs of the Yazidi.

In Yazdanism the creator god entrusted the world to a Heptad of Seven Holy Beings who were to care for all of creation. These "angels", or heft sirr (the Seven Mysteries), are all to "bow to Adam (man)". Yet the head of the heft sirr, or archangels, does not bow to mankind. Instead, Tawûsê Melek, who was said to be created from the creator god's own illumination, refuses to bow to mankind. This makes Tawûsê Melek a special part of Yazdanism and is revered by the Yazidi faith.

Islam and Christianity have long equated the worship of these "angels" as demon worship. And it is in the worship of Tawûsê Melek that the Abrahamic faiths have created their worst offense to Yazdanism. For it is in the story of Tawûsê Melek that fundamentalists (Muslims and Christians alike) have concocted the belief that this lead angel is their demon Shaitan (Satan). Yet it is in the story of Tawûsê Melek that it becomes most evident that Yazdanism is a distinct and separate religion from Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. For it is in his story that Yazdanism's many other influences becomes more evident (including Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, and several eastern religions).

However, due to the complexity of any given faith, we will not delve too deeply into the story itself but rather look at how it has been exploited to target the Yazidi minority.

Westerners have long romanticized the Yazidi in as much the same way as they have with any other Eastern religious minority. Their faith is not explained in Western media when it so callously equates it to Islam. The religious practices aren't valued for their unique contributions to world community but are rather slighted by upholding old myths of devil worship. Their culture as a whole isn't recognized for it's depth and beauty but rather is looked at with a passing glance.

The Muslim world has long targeted the Yazidi community with pogroms and social injustices of all sorts. Imams and religious leaders within Islam have accused the Yazidi of serving Shaitan (Satan) due to their incredible lack of understanding when talking about Yazdanism. The methods of worship and prayer that are hallmarks of Yazdanism are considered pagan by Islamic fundamentalists. Throughout the centuries the Yazidi have been rounded up and killed in smaller versions of their current holocaust. Their children are targeted with forced conversions to Islam. Their women used as sexual objects, so easily discarded after they've outlived their purpose. And the Yazidi men have often been massacred by Arab neighbors. All of this because the fundamentalists could not look beyond the strangling hold their own faith places upon the overall conscience of an already ethnocentric society.

Both East and West have failed to recognize the value of a richly diverse society, a society to which the Yazidi culture and beliefs could so greatly contribute. While not all Muslims demonize the Yazidi and their beliefs, and not all Westerners dehumanize them by marginalizing their culture, the damage inflicted by those who do is already visible. In a community, like that found in Iraq's northern regions, the lack of tolerance for differing beliefs and practices is intolerable. It permits a situation in which only the largest faiths and ethnic groups are capable of surviving while minorities are forced to struggle to eek out an existence.

Now the Yazidi prepare to fight back. Now they have no other option but to stand up and defiantly look death in the eye. All because the world, as a whole, has long ignored their screams for help.

From The Hearts of Men

The Yazidi believe that all evil in this world arises not from a "great Satan" or demonic presence of any form. It is in their religion that the true nature of evil is best explained. For it is in the Yazidi faith that evil is said to be the product of man's heart, and man's heart alone. The Islamic State is proving this to be true. The apathy of the world community is proving this to be the only source of evil in this dark and dreary world.

When Saddam tried to exterminate the Yazidi the world generalized their plight by bunching them in with the Kurdish population of Iraq. When pogroms have occurred and the Yazidi were targeted by their Arab neighbors the colonial powers wrote it off as a "ancient rivalry" of sorts. Just as with the Roma in the Porajamos, the world denied the magnitude of Saddam's crimes by denying the targeting of the Yazidi for their faith and ethnicity. Just as with the Bosnian Genocide, the world devalued the lives of the Yazidi by cheapening their plight with excuses for the aggression of the Arabs. In every genocide the Yazidi have faced there has always been an apathetic world ready to look the other way. In every struggle to survive the Yazidi have found themselves begging for help from an increasingly deaf world.

Today we watch as the most powerful nation on the planet offers only tokens of support for their plight as it refuses to commit to the promise of "never again". Cheap air strikes are all the world's most technologically advanced military will give as it's governing body refuses to do all it can to stop the genocide of the Yazidi. So as the dead and soon to be dead drift from this earth we monitor their demise with drones overhead. And as the children of the Yazidi face slavery and sexual abuse at the hands of ISIS heathens we bomb random artillery pieces and abandoned checkpoints. This is the extent of morality in our modern age. We promise the same intervention the allies inadvertently offered the Jews, and yet when the time to commit arises... we are impotent, so to speak.

It was once said, and often repeated, that the only thing that evil needs to succeed is the silence of good men. The Yazidi believe that evil arises from the hearts of all mankind. But they also believe that the good in this world also is a product of the human heart. Thus a war, of sorts, can be depicted as raging within the human spirit. A desire to create, a desire to save, and a desire to protect are all found within the heart of man. Yet the desire to destroy, to devour, and to prey upon others can also be found within the same heart; at times, simultaneously.

The salvation of modern man is the ability of mankind to overcome the evil we so often create. If mankind is truly "good" inside, if there is a hope for a better world still yet to come, then there is a way to conquer the evil tendencies of man. The first, and far from the least of which, is the apathy that so often paralyzes us in this struggle.

If communities like that of the Yazidi people are to survive in this ever shrinking world then we must surrender ourselves to empathy rather than apathy. We must adhere their afflictions to our own sense of survival and thus make their struggle our own. By denying the value of their culture, by giving into the notion that someone else will "save" them... we lose something of ourselves. In remaining silent we hand over the sword to their executioner. By no lifting a finger to stop their demise we join the ranks of the barbarians that slaughter them.

A world that believes in equality, tolerance, understanding, and the value of diversity can not bare the blight of groups like ISIS. No matter what your religion is, no matter where in the world you are, the struggle to stop the spread of genocide and hate is one that you can not turn away from. Either you are willing to fight against racism, religious violence, ethnic hatred, and bigotry or you are a contributor to it. You don't get to remain silent.

Scream Bloody Murder

Many of you won't have the option to get out there and do the physical work required to stop genocide. There probably won't be rallies and protests in support of the Yazidis. And when it comes to the political legwork many of us are intimidated by the actions required to just get the ear of our government long enough to scream for the Yazidis. But there is still the work of raising awareness. And this is a job that all of us should be doing without hesitation. It is a job that each of use are supposed to be doing for all victims of genocide, regardless of who they are and/or who the murderers are. 

In the notes below you will find countless links that are easily shared on twitter, facebook, tumblr, pintrest, and all other social media sites. These articles should be read and used in conversations so that you can help bring awareness of the Yazidis' plight. But they are just a start. You should, and will need to, continue to read more about the Yazidi people and the genocides they have endured. The more familiar you become with the people and their struggle the more convincingly you can share their story. 

In addition to being an online presence for the Yazidi community, you should also be sharing their story in your daily life as well. Each of us have countless conversations daily. Chances are you will spend some time today talking about anything and nothing at all with people from many different walks of life. These are all opportunities to raise awareness. With some tact and patience, you can usually grab the attention of at least one person who is willing to listen. And that one person is a chance to keep the information flowing. That one person is a chance to stir the heart of your fellow man and create the opportunity for positive change... to touch the "good" within their heart. 

As long as you have breath in your lungs...

You should be screaming.

So while you are talking about Gaza, Sudan, North Korea, or the Rohingya... don't forget the Yazidi. While you are talking about television shows, music, politics, sports, or simply making small talk... don't forget the Yazidi. If and when the opportunity arises... scream for them. 





Source Documents
(note: not all are listed)

The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/10/pope-francis-iraq-isis-islamic-state-religious-minorities-violence
-
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/11/yazidis-tormented-fears-for-women-girls-kidnapped-sinjar-isis-slaves
-
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/11/us-arm-peshmerga-iraq-kurdistan-isis
-
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/11/us-air-strikes-iraq-isis-minimal-impact-pentagon
-
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/france-arms-kurds-isis-iraq-military

Times
https://time.com/3099014/isis-iraq-kurdistan-yazidi/

Rudaw
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/100820145
-
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/110820144

The Daily Star (Lebanon)
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Aug-13/267050-us-troops-sent-to-iraq-to-help-trapped-yezidis.ashx#axzz3AIyfSCv5

London Evening Standard
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/uk-military-commanders-urge-david-cameron-to-commit-to-intervention-in-iraq-9665224.html

The Straights Times
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/middle-east/story/un-monitors-demand-urgent-action-stop-iraq-yezidi-genocide-20140812

The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11029765/Iraq-crisis-the-last-stand-of-the-Yazidis-against-Islamic-State.html
-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11027161/Iraq-crisis-My-night-on-the-mountain-of-hell-with-dying-Yazidi-refugees.html

The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-un-warns-yazidis-refugees-trapped-on-mount-sinjar-are-facing-imminent-genocide-from-is-militants-9665003.html

VOX
http://www.vox.com/iraq-crisis/2014/8/9/5983785/yazidi-americans-to-obama-a-genocide-is-happening-on-your-watch

Al-Arabia
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/alarabiya-studies/2014/08/11/What-you-did-not-know-about-Iraq-s-Yazidi-minority-.html

Argentina's Version of "Manifest Destiny"

The Eradication of Argentina's Wichi Peoples' Culture
(Human Extinction series)

(Wichi Girls in Northwest Argentina)

Food is something that most of us in the modern world don't really have to think about. It is always there. Driving down the street, we are bombarded with ads and plenty of places offering up one form of it or another. Here in America we can eat a hamburger and fries for lunch and then turn around and have curry or stir-fry for dinner. Pot roasts and baked potatoes are the hallmarks of a Sunday meal for many here. For others it is fried chicken and mashed potatoes that really drives home that comfort of a nice hot meal. But one thing never crosses our mind when we are chowing down on those meals that, for us at least, come far too easily... and that is where the food is coming from. 

For the developing world the question of where that next meal is coming from is one that may very well not have an answer. The growling of children's stomachs does not get greeted with a snack to subdue the hunger. Milk or juice aren't available for their children as their parents struggle to find even the basic foods upon which they will survive. For the Wichi people of Argentina, this is a reality that refuses to be resolved. 

Watching The Land Die

For thousands of years the Wichi people lived upon the grasslands and in the forests that once dominated their homeland in northwest Argentina and southwest Bolivia. There they had managed to form a bond with the land that allowed them to find food where the colonial powers found none. Early Christian missionaries said that the Wichi were semi-nomadic and moved with the changing of the seasons. They hunted in the tall grasslands when the native animals migrated through their homeland. They celebrated the ripening of the algarroba fruit in their forests. And fished the rivers that flowed through their homeland. 

Yet all of this changed with the arrival of those early European missionaries. Native languages, cultures, foods, and religions were all seen as the primitive (and often depicted as barbaric) pre-Christian world. The Wichi were expected to settle down in the villages the Europeans designated for them. The missions were to be their new central government. Spanish was to be their new language.

Over the next hundred years the Wichi would suffer disease, famine, and all other forms of suffering brought upon by colonization. One of the most devastating forms of oppression was the application of the Spanish's version of faith. Catholicism had decided that it was their mission to eradicate the spirit of the native while leaving the empty shell of a man behind. Once this was complete the missionaries could fill their new vessels with the religion of Spain. The indigenous spirit was thus on the cutting block as Spain fought to subdue South America in every way. 

With the downfall of Spanish power came the rule of those who had stepped up to fill the power vacuum left behind. For the Wichi this meant little except that their oppressors changed from a tyrant across the sea to tyrants who viewed all of Argentina as theirs. The 20th century brought forth modernization. And with the rise of a nation came the worst cases of starvation the Wichi have ever faced. 

Over the last hundred years the government of Argentina has carved up the Wichi homeland. The Salta state government has refused to recognize the Wichi peoples' needs as it has allowed their lands to be sold off acre by acre. The modernization of Argentina has meant that large chunks of Wichi lands have been handed over to plantations and cattle ranchers. The forests that the Wichi had survived upon were handed over to loggers and developers. The result of all this "progress" has been the desertification of what had once been grasslands and forested acres. 

The Wichi have attempted to tell the world and Argentina that their lands are dying. The animals their ancestors had hunted are almost all gone now. The fruiting trees of the forests have been targeted for their wood rather than their fruits by Argentina's loggers. The rivers in which they fished are being dammed up by Argentina's developers. The grasslands are either being turned to soya plantations or turning to desert from shrinking rivers and disappearing streams. The Wichi have tried to tell the world that their land is dying. But nobody is listening. 

Argentine Gluttony 

Argentina's croplands have become a noose around the necks of the Wichi people. They were once isolated by geography. Now the Wichi are isolated from the outside world by the Argentine food industry. They are suffering from hunger as Argentina grows crops for export on all sides of their lands. This has been made achievable by Argentina's national and local governments by a policy of denying the Wichi people the titles to their own lands. By denying any ownership of the land itself, Argentina has usurped the very homeland of an entire people. This has left the Wichi with the scraps that Argentina could not use or did not want. 

In the United States this very tactic was used against the tribes of North America. As the white settlers spread westward under a policy of "manifest destiny" the native peoples were pushed off their homeland. Native Americans were soon redirected to patches of land that white settlers found unfavorable. These tiny scraps were defined by the United States government as "Indian Reservations". In all reality, these were large open-air concentration camps. 

Argentina has achieved the creation of "Indian Reservations" by writing and interpreting laws that permit businesses and ranchers the right to claim Wichi lands that are found to be favorable. No attention has been paid to the devastating results of deforestation and ranching in the area. Argentina has given no attention to the spreading desertification and famine in Wichi areas. The government only has taken notice as the changing landscape has turned Argentine held lands into sand. Their abuse of the delicate ecosystem is only recognized when the occupying population is affected. 

Yet the growing effects of desertification has not forced Argentina to deal with the problems it's gluttony caused. Instead of allowing the original caretakers of the land to have possession of it, Argentina has dug in it's heels. Non-native Argentine citizens have laid claim to the few fertile plots of land left. They assault and threaten Wichi men they find hunting in the few areas where game animals can be found. They threaten, physically and sexually, Wichi women who are found gathering wild fruits in the few plots of forests left. And they impose systematic forms of segregation that the government refuses to combat. 

While non-native Argentine citizens are becoming poorer from the results of their abuse of the land, they aren't the ones truly suffering. Wichi people are unable to gain an equal foothold in Argentina's weak economy. Wichi are not permitted equal representation in local and federal government. They are not given access to the same systems of commerce and trade that non-native settlers in their homeland are given. What little bit of their land they are left with is still under threat. And the food it provides is far from enough to sustain the 20-50 thousand Wichi that survive there. 

Argentina's desire to keep it's food exports strong has left government incompetent in protecting native culture and society. Local government has refused the Wichi villages even the basic accommodations of modern society (proper sewage for example) as it pushes modernization upon the Wichi people. The closest local government comes to protecting Wichi culture is it's exploitation of Wichi crafts and traditions when tourism opportunities present themselves. This of course plays into the overall exploitation of the Wichi that Argentina's government has become accustomed to.

Cultural Extinction

In the United States the end goal of manifest destiny, as a policy of expansionism, was the eradication of native culture. If the Native Americans were to be brought into the ranks of American society they would first have to assimilate to white society as a whole. After seeing entire tribes eradicated, this form of cultural extinction was preferable to "civil society". It was often viewed as "bringing the Indian into the modern age". This allowed America to believe that their "progress" was not killing a people but rather bestowing a perverse form of enlightenment upon them. 

Argentina's Wichi people may not be at a point where their entire race is at risk of extinction anymore, but their culture is. They are expected to live the same lifestyle as the settlers who have confiscated their lands. They are expected to alter their version of Protestant Christianity to match that of the rest of Argentina. Their language is not encouraged by the government or society at large. And their foods are looked down upon as second class in much the same way as they themselves are. 

With all the hallmarks of their culture under threat it is hard to look toward a brighter future for the children of the Wichi people. With starvation a real problem (in 2011 multiple Wichi children died from malnutrition) the Wichi people can not look toward the future and see a real source of hope laying ahead of them. If their lands are to be taken from them, their culture denied to them, and their children treated as second class citizens... what do the Wichi have left? 

Assimilation is not a source of hope but rather is a dehumanizing form of subjugation. Even if the Wichi were to abandon every part of their culture and take upon the characterless modern world's... they are still second class citizens in their own homeland. This is the plight of a people facing the death of their identity as a people. And yet it is also in this, their resistance to Argentina's version of manifest destiny, that the world can see the Wichi peoples' resilience.

Source Documents 

(note: not all are listed)

Survival International:

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6990

http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/wichi

Chacolinks:

http://www.chacolinks.org.uk/newsletter2.asp?News_ID=79&page=home

American Photo Mag:

http://www.americanphotomag.com/photo-gallery/2012/06/argentinas-wich%C3%AD-people-facing-modern-society?page=1

BBC UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12973543

What Is Human Trafficking

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The Right To Resist

(part of A Bridge Too Far series)

(Jewish Partisans in Croatia During WW2)

This message is not to Palestinians or Muslims. This message is to those who claim to practice Judaism. This message is to those who claim to support the cause of a homeland for the Jewish people. This is a message to my brothers and sisters as well as those who support Israel. It is not a polite suggestion. It is not a message of condemnation. This is a reminder of where we came from. This is a reminder of why we, the Jewish people, should have more empathy than anyone else for the plight of the citizens of Gaza. For their present situation greatly mirrors the tragedies through which our ancestors lived. This is a reminder of our faith, our heritage, and our history.

 

 

When my ancestors watched their country be devoured by the barbarism the world called fascism there was little time to react. Yugoslavia was breaking apart. Croatia had made a pact with Hitler to help his armies take the Balkans. Everywhere my ancestors looked all they could see was a world gone mad. For them... the hope of a better life for their children was rapidly disappearing. The belief that the next generation would live in a better world than they did was all but shattered. Yet the will to fight for that hope, the will to sacrifice for that dream, had not been taken from them. 

The fascist began their assault with mass executions and gathering survivors into camps and ghettos. Among those who had fled the massacres were people like my great grandmother. These were people who either were prepared to fight for their homes, their families, or just mere survival. Ahead of them was a long war that looked hopeless. They were ready to fight with no ability to resupply their ammunition, no ability to find food, and no chance for reinforcements. Yet the will to fight was still there. Like a fire deep inside their bones, that will to resist could not be extinguished. 

What the Nazis and Ustase did to my ancestors was beyond barbaric. They took them into the mountains and found ledges upon which to execute them. Others were sent strung up publicly so as to tell their countrymen what awaited all of Yugoslavia's Jews. While others were sent to camps to work for their captors till the release of death overcame them. And yet for those who survived there was a deep seeded desire to resist. The desire to live free, to have their lives back, could not be beaten out of them. Despite all the fascists bestowed upon us in their savage desire to destroy us, we resisted. We fought back. 

During the war against the fascists my ancestors were not granted the rights given to soldiers if they were captured. All those rules made in Geneva were useless to them. If the Ustase or Germans captured them they knew that only torture and death awaited them. They also realized that in defending their families through combat meant that they were endangering entire villages. Anyone that dared to help them (or simply not give up information on them) was fair game to the tyrannical Ustase thugs and Nazi soldiers. To the ruling factions, my ancestors were terrorist. And much like today, their resistance to the oppressive rule of fascism was punishable with actions well beyond the rule of law. 

Today we are proud of our ancestors and what they did to make sure we could be here today, alive and free. We look back on their struggle with pride that can not be taken from us. It is a legacy that has endured even the worst intentions of our enemies. The price they paid in blood has not and will not be forgotten. 

Yet today there are double standards that come with remembering the price our ancestors paid for our freedoms. We tend not to think of their struggle when we look at the plight of the oppressed today. This is especially true when it comes to how many Jews look at the struggle that the Palestinians face. And it is distinctly evident when it comes to the pain inflicted upon the citizens of Gaza.

We as a people have had to fight to survive countless tragedies in our past. As Tisha B'av approaches we will find ourselves reflecting upon the countless times our ancestors were persecuted. During this time we will fast and offer up prayers as we mourn those tragedies. We will also have the opportunity to recall how our G-d delivered us to this day. We will recall how even in our darkest hours He allowed us to reach a time when our people are safe and secure. And yet there is another aspect of our heritage that we should focus upon as Israel carries out Operation Protective Edge... the long history of resistance that has enabled us to reach this day. 

To our oppressors we were once the terrorists. In their eyes we were supposed to accept our fate and go silently into history, never to be remembered. We were painted as sheep to the slaughter by even our friends. Those who had watched us suffer offered us little more than tears as they whispered "oh the poor Jews". To some we had been cast as the meek and suffering oppressed. But for those who wanted us dead, to those we resisted by fighting tooth and nail, we were dangerous terrorists who needed to be slaughtered. 

History has shown how we fought back. History has remembered the millions who perished as the survivors resisted. History has not labeled us as either sheep to slaughter or savage terrorists. It has recorded our suffering and our desire to live. As it will do so for the oppressed that suffer today. 

It is the nature of all mankind to want to live free and full lives. When that is taken from us, we as a species do not lay down and await death silently. While some may accept that life as they knew it is over, most of us will bare our teeth and bristle our manes just like any other animal that has been cornered. We are not timid when we are oppressed. We are not silent when we are tormented. And we are not easily trained to accept our suffering. 

So why have so many of us accepted the suffering of Gaza?

Gaza today rest upon a thin strip of the land allotted to it by the mandate which created Palestine and Israel. The Palestinians living there were once allowed the opportunity to leave the strip and travel elsewhere. They were oppressed in other ways then, but at very least they weren't behind a wall. Since the construction of the "separation barrier" the citizens of Gaza have been virtually stuck in a ghetto. Like our ancestors in Warsaw, they were stuck behind a wall and kept out of sight of the rest of society.

Conditions in Gaza have only deteriorated as Israel has further restricted movement of the citizens of Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza have considerably less rights than those of Israeli citizens right on the other side of the wall. They are not permitted the right to move freely but are rather kept confined like animals in a cage. Like our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe who had to seek Nazi permission, the citizens of Gaza have to seek permission from Israel to leave Gaza (or Egypt when the crossing there is open). Checkpoints are meant to "protect" Israeli citizens from danger while at the same time stripping Palestinians of their basic human rights.

Health conditions also have drastically deteriorated after Israel has repeatedly bombed hospitals and health care centers. Doctors and nursing staff are far less prevalent in Gaza than in Israel. And the numbers of refugees puts a strain on any health care that remains. This does not account for the psychological trauma that goes untreated as Palestinians continue to live under constant siege (well documented at causing severe emotional and psychological trauma). In the ghettos of Europe all of these factors caused an increase in death and even depression and suicide amongst our ancestors.

Sanitation is crippled as Israel has launched aerial assaults and missile attacks on infrastructure across Gaza. Water is at times untrustworthy as treatment of it is not viable at all times. The source of life, the one thing all mankind needs, is denied to the Palestinians of Gaza by the siege Israel has placed them under. The diseases that come with such conditions were well known killers of our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe.

So at what point is it a right of the oppressed population in Gaza to resist the oppression they have been placed under? When does it become acceptable to us to see Palestinians firing rockets back at the nation who is bombing them daily? When do we stop labeling them as terrorists and start realizing that they are resisting in much the same manner as our ancestors did?

In every culture across the globe the death of a child, especially our own, is something that will provoke unmeasurable anger and retaliation. Israel has predicated this latest attack upon the death of three Israeli children. Yet when do we realize that Gaza has sacrificed countless numbers of it's own children to the siege Israel is and has placed upon it in the past? If it was your child that had taken a soldier's bullet or shrapnel from another country's missile would you remain silent?

For me personally the living conditions would have definitely made me defiant. I would obviously take every non-violent step toward dismantling my oppressor and shedding such wretched living conditions as those. But the death of my child, the death of any child, is enough to make me become the most wretched savage my enemy could ever meet. There is no form of punishment fitting for those who would slaughter the innocent for their own personal goals and desires. And for the most part, this reaction is as human as any other emotion. It is ingrained in all mankind to defend their offspring with every ounce of blood that flows through their veins.

Hamas may be far from decent in their politics and the way they fight their wars. But if it were your children being targeted by a ruthless enemy... would you not side with the devil himself if it meant your children could live?

The right to resist tyranny is as natural to man as any of the rest of our "human rights". The right to resist oppression is what led to our people out of Egypt, saved us from the pogroms, and kept us alive through the Holocaust. It is what has created the heritage of which we are so stubbornly proud. And it is the very essence of why Gaza remains defiant in the face of Israel's brutal war.

As we go through The Three Weeks and Tisha B'av let us remember the tragedies through which our people have overcome tyrants. Let us reflect upon the path our ancestors took to get us here today. And let us offer our thanks to G-d for His mercy upon us and our ancestors. But let us also take a critical look at Israel and it's actions in Gaza. Let us offer up our prayers for the suffering people of Gaza.

Most importantly, during this time of mourning...

Let us cry out for the citizens of Gaza. Let us stand with our suffering brothers and sisters. Let us defend them with our voices as we tell the world that what Israel is doing is wrong. And let us make that cry heard by our leaders and our people in Israel. Scream so loud that your voice reverberates across the distance between us and stirs up the hearts and souls of Israel.

We are here today because great men and women resisted those who would have wiped our heritage from the face of the earth. They stood up against tyranny during the darkest hours of our peoples' history. When nobody else would listen, when it seemed that nobody else even cared, they stood up and fought back. It is through their blood, their suffering, and their resilience that we were even given the chance to do the same.

Pray for Gaza.

Then scream for Gaza. 

Muhammad, Jesus, Abraham...

Turning Away From Our Principles
(Unholy War series)

Religion is a very sensitive subject. This post will address religion in a way that is offensive to some readers. It is intended to be illustrative of how religion affects the way we reach out to the world around us. It is meant to show that we need not to shrug the strict devotions to faith at times if we are to show the true messages of said faiths. That we should be willing to reach beyond our religious boundaries to help those in need. The message is at times rough and hard to read. And it is not meant to be taken as fact but a mere suggestion. If anything, the purpose of this post is to make you ask questions, not to tell you what to do. 

Ammi

(My People)

When it comes to religions there aren't many in the West that people think of as being oppressed more so than Judaism. 70 plus years ago was the most iconic time our oppression and near extermination. Yet there was also Russia's repressive role over it's Jewish population. And there is the lingering issue of antisemitism across the West. But there is also the issue of Israel itself. And it is this issue that transforms Judaism, if only in part, from victim to oppressor. 

However, before we dive into the portion of Judaism that gets a particular portion of readers foaming at the mouth... lets go back a little ways first. 

Judaism was the first of the Abrahamic faiths that depicted in it's holy book violent imagery that some could argue was in fact genocide. Entire populations were forced out of what would become Judea (later Israel) while others were killed off altogether. These somewhat barbaric "holy wars" were said to be ordained by Elohim (G-d). His holy word was said to have directed our ancestors to slaughter men, women, babies, and even the farm animals as well. Not a living soul was allowed to be spared the wrath of the Lion of Judah. And all the while we were forging what the world would later come to know as "the holy land"... a land drenched in blood from it's birth. 

So one might expect that if you are raised to believe that G-d intended His spirit to reside upon a small patch of sand and not in the heart of man, well then Israel is just the place... right? 

We did a marvelous job at turning the blood over into the soil and bringing forth olives, wheat, and other various crops. We did a great job at building upon the ruins of those who had come before us (of course this was easy since they weren't city builders). We even managed to erect the temple just as G-d had commanded (twice actually). There were kings who had giant mines to dig up the gold and precious metals that Israel's land had to offer. There were religious leaders who made sure that the laws of the land were adhered to strictly. And there were even a handful of the underclass who made sure the fun things in life weren't totally banished by the prior said class of man. All in all, we did a great job for a very long period of time when it came to building up the culture that would define Judaism for centuries to come. 

And those centuries did come and go. The Greeks came and tried to kill us all off, we remained. The Romans came and tried to kill us all off, we remained. The neighbors found religion and came over to share it (somewhat violently), we still remained. Of course some of us did pack up our things and take off from time to time. But for the most part, we remained. 

My ancestors in particular packed up and left when the neighbors over in what is now Syria had a little argument amongst themselves and a small group of them took off for Africa. Hitchhiking with the Moors, they eventually made it to Spain. Then when the party ended and the neighbors to the north got annoyed with the new kids on the block... well they took off again (just this time without their traveling companions). And hello Croatia it was. Well until the locals found a new form of faith and suddenly the neighborhood went to hell. But I digress... 

Over the time in diaspora some of us got a little nostalgic, and by a little I mean a desire for a few hundred years or so ago. This led to a little mingling of fact with fiction and the such. But it eventually ended up with the belief that G-d wanted all "His people" back in the land of Israel. And in this sense we almost got it right when we started to realize what G-d's temple really is (but we'll get to that later). 

Packing up and headed off to a new neighborhood was easy this time. We had been sold a belief that this was a homecoming of sorts. Some were even claiming that if we had just done this a couple decades ago those pesky Germans wouldn't have had a chance to be such bloody... I digress again. 

Arriving "home", the European Jews found that some other people had moved in while they were gone. Or so it would seem if you bought the idea that this was their land in the first place. They didn't however seem to realize that the Jews who didn't take off all those centuries ago (the indigenous population one might say) were relatively comfortable with their counterparts in what was then Palestine. Instead of realizing that integration was perhaps more preferable than a hostile takeover, the newcomers decided to take back what they viewed as being rightfully theirs. 

And this is where we slow down and really get into why Judaism has forsaken it's principles when we allow for the oppression of others in the name of our own faith. 

There isn't anything that was covered in the prior paragraphs that was meant to be a joke. Just as there isn't anything in this post that is humorous. What happened to my people over the centuries has been tragic. We have been made to suffer for our faith. We have been sent to camps, ghettos, and pits in open fields where they killed us. My family was lined up on a ledge and shot. There isn't anything in this post that is easy to write about. And what happened when my people came "home" isn't easy to write about. 

We came back to Israel to find that the people who had most recently invaded and colonized it were now well established. If you are Muslim, this is the time to admit that those we now know as Palestinians weren't the first people to be born and raised on that patch of soil. If you are Jewish, now is the time to admit that those Palestinians were born and raised on that patch of soil for generations before European Jews arrived. We came back to a land that wasn't the way we left it. In some ways it was better. In other ways it was alien and denied us the privilege of practicing our faith in the same holy places we had centuries before. 

There aren't easy answers as to how things should had been. There aren't easy ways of saying that one party was wrong or one party was just a little more wrong than the other. After all, over a long enough timeline each party comes off looking like a bunch of savages out for blood. 

The fact is that when the decisions were made to expel and kill Palestinians so that Judaism could prevail... that is where Judaism is to blame. 

We believe that G-d loves all His creation. We believe that we are to honor that love by revering G-d's creation in the same way G-d did when He breathed life into it. These beliefs are not confined to the way we conduct ourselves with other Jews but extends to all G-d's children and creation. We are to treat our brother as we would want them to treat us, but more importantly... in the ways G-d has blessed us (love, compassion, and understanding... to name a few).

This way of practicing Judaism can't be easily depicted when one looks at Israel today. Though the argument can be made that Israel is a modern state and not a religious institution in and of itself... that argument is flawed. For Israel upholds Judaism above all other faiths through laws, traditions, and policies. It's bias toward Judaism is seen in laws that can be characterized as "race laws". It's propping up of Judaism is so prevalent that it can be seen in laws regarding marriage within Israel.

The continued persecution of those who once lived upon the land where Israel rest leaves a stain upon Judaism as a whole. As long as it is perceived as being permissible within Israel to devalue the lives of a few than no life is truly valuable. This hatred, the tainting of Judaism's teachings, leaves all equally miserable. It makes life easy to extinguish in as much the same way as it was when our historical oppressors stole the lives of our ancestors. 

"... As Yourself"

Christianity is born out of blood. The creation of this faith created a new branch of the Abrahamic traditions. It took the principles of Judaism and highlighted portions while easing away from others. And in this tightrope like walk through the laws of Judaism it created opportunity for new branches of it's own faith to form. What started as being washed in the blood of the Lamb of G-d soon just became a bloodletting. From the wars of Europe to the conquest of the New World, Christianity has spread through the desires of man rather than the will of G-d. From the death of one man, Jesus of Nazareth, came the deaths of martyrs and victims alike. 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." ~ John 13:34 

Christians did start out being persecuted. It's in fact their desire to branch away from Judaism that first got them put out on the road in the first place. The Jewish leaders of the day didn't care much for the new heretics in town. So the Christians got thrown to the Romans, who decided to kill them to start with, where they found European converts. Eventually the Romans softened up and backed away from the whole circus bit. And in the end the Christians end up with an entire city in Rome that acts as it's own little nation within a nation (however over the years I've been told by Protestants that Catholics aren't real Christians... and the same the other way around). But the just because you have the heart of an empire doesn't mean you stop there...

Christians spread out to the Germanic tribes, over Spain, and the British isles. They got held up in Romania for a bit when the empire died back. But Russia and the Eastern Europeans eventually came under the cloth as Christianity fought to claim as much of Europe as it could before the new kids down in the Middle East could come rushing north. From Greece to the Balkans Christianity was actually doing alright it seemed (given the local religions were subdued or erased all together). All Christianity had to do was make a few adjustments here and there to mask prior beliefs across the continent (examples: Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, St Patrick's...). This cultural genocide was alright of course since the message out of Rome was that Christianity spread civilization (with a little barbarism to enforce said civilization). 

Once the initial bloodshed was finished then the in house fighting began. This long period of bloodshed is partially to blame for sending some Christians out on the road again. Over a length of time those wandering groups of Christians would eventually end up on new lands far from home. One batch would become the seeds from which the United States would grow (somewhat exaggeratedly so). However, just as any new species can be once introduced to a new environment, these seeds quickly became invasive.

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

~Philippians 2:3-4 

Native languages, cultures, and ways of life were rapidly displaced as Christians took to what some were selling as the promised land. Spanish Christian armies stole gold, silver, and slaves in the name of their god (greed) and country. English Christians came to fine religious freedom while openly denying even basic liberties to the native peoples and the slaves they brought with them. French Christians did a less invasive method of Spanish expansion yet still managed to spread disease (not really their fault, but had they stayed home...) wherever they went. The Dutch Christians and other assorted allotments tried to grab what they could before France and England divided up most of the north while Spain clung to the south. All the while the message of Christianity was that Europeans had a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of anything native peoples had prior to their arrival. 

All this was done as Christians had to swallow their faith's principles and give into the lust of man. Their colonialist of the world would become known as the "white man's burden" for the native peoples they conquered. However it wasn't the white peoples' race that was often held up as the reason for their massive excesses across the globe (however it was one of the reasons given, i.e. racism), it was their religion that was given as justification. The church often rationalized the cost the native populations had to pay by telling itself that Christianity would at least save their souls. So even if they did die from disease, hunger, or outright murder; at least their souls would be with G-d. 

Today this hatred in the West can be depicted as being confined to religiously based hate groups that scatter across Western civilization. And for the most part that is right. However, in countries where religion has not been separated from state, the pushing of Christianity as "the culture" rather than allowing diversity... the hate that fueled colonialism still persist. 

Jesus replied; "Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it, 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. All the Law of the Prophets hinge upon these two commandments." 

~Matthew 22:37-40

Christianity teaches it's followers that love is the greatest commandment of all. First they are to love G-d above all other things in this life. Secondly they are to love their fellow man in the same way they would love themselves. These two commandments in Christianity allow little room for hatred of others or other cultures. They show that Christians should be willing to express the same love for their fellow man that G-d has shown for them. If they have been blessed by their creator with freedoms, liberty, and health; then they should fight for those things for others who have not been given such blessings. Not so that those others will turn to Christ but so that in doing these things they are serving the Lord their G-d. For showing love is the basic principle of Jesus's message to his followers. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." ~1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"... of Mankind"

The third and final branch of the Abrahamic faiths is Islam. And like it's predecessors, Islam first arose from blood and still mingles with blood to this day. The Prophet Muhammad brought forth a faith that was meant to be the final word of G-d. It preached peace, love, and tolerance (for the Jews and Christians at least). Yet in it's implementation and founding in the deserts of Arabia it spread at first by the word and then eventually by the sword. Through no fault of it's own (of course) Islam had taken the path of the religions that came before it. It sought converts (like Christianity) and the rule of law (like Judaism). And somewhere in that rough start the message seems to have gotten lost. 

"The blessed of mankind is the one who is the most beneficial for mankind." ~Prophet Muhammad (s) in Beyhaki 6/112.

Groups like the Turks (Ottomans) really took things to a level that made the whole "peaceful religion" portion seem to be a fallacy of sorts. Their excesses, however occurring way down the road chronologically speaking, showed to the modern world how Islam had been abused since within the Middle East. Yet if we look back to the Moors in Spain we can see how Islam was abused far before that. It was only when the Moors started to lose their war of conquest that the Moors sought help from Muslims in northern Africa. While the Moors had been very tolerant of Christians and Jews, the incoming reinforcements were barbaric in their treatment of Jews and European Christians. It was in the excesses of these Muslims that the reconquista by the Christians really gathered steam. Blood begot blood in amounts that drenched Andalusia in waves. 

The Turks just expanded upon this belief that Islam was superior to the other "peoples of the book". Their abuses against the Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians became so pronounced that they surpassed the levels of pogroms and entered the realm of genocide. Entire communities were labeled as enemies of the state... a state based on religion, and thus enemies of Islam. This created deep divides amongst the communities that still persist to this day (100 years later). 

Where the Prophet Muhammad had told his followers that the "blessed of mankind" are those who bless their fellow man; some followers had gone astray. And as with every religion, these stray followers did not just cast a stain upon themselves, their country, or their particular ethnic group. No, these followers became a blight upon all of Islam due to the reality that outsiders (especially those being killed off) do not make such distinctions when all they have been shown it hate. 

This is where Islam's presence in governments like that of Sudan continues to create a blight upon the faith itself. If a man who claims to have been blessed with a religion of superior intellect is seen firebombing villages and killing women and children... well that person's faith becomes a particularly rigid subject of debate. While another Muslim can claim that that one (or that group) isn't Muslim, to the outside world they are the poster child of Islam. And that's sadly how religions are portrayed no matter what faith it is. That whole "one bad apple" saying carries some weight.

 "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself " ~Hadith #13

Actually Being A Blessing To Our Fellow Man

Regardless of religion, we all should be striving to be a blessing to our fellow man. Those of us who have been born into a life of freedom and prosperity have a duty to fight for those things for all mankind. Especially when there is a history of our given faith being the source of their repression. We may not be able to right all the wrongs in the past. But we can struggle every day to heal the wounds those events did create. This goes for our personal lives and in our struggle for human rights. 

We aren't perfect. Our religions aren't perfect. We will make mistakes when it comes to how we treat others. Other members of our faith will go well beyond just making mistakes. It is in how we conduct ourselves that we change the image of what it means to be religious and a supporter of human rights. By reaching out to all of mankind and not just with whom our faith is concerned, it is in this that we show the love of which all our faiths speak. 

Just as importantly, it is in showing that love and being a blessing to our fellow man that we help the causes that we do hold dear to us. You can no more uphold the rights of one oppressed community when you deny the oppression of another. After all, "love does not dishonor others". It is fair in all things. And it is far from blind. For it is the love our fellow man that convicts us to act in the first place. 

A Beautiful Soul

A Powerful Scream

There are a few people in each of our lives that leave such a mark that our lives becomes defined by their presence in it. The moments we spend in their presence prepare us for the battles that still lay ahead and heal our wounds from the wars we have already fought. The love they show us isn't earned, it never could be, and yet these beautiful souls show us love in a way we are hard pressed to find anywhere else. With just a few kind words they can alter the course of a day, change our moods for weeks, and lift our eyes to the future that rest just over the horizon. 

In the lives of those who work here at Alder's Ledge there is one such soul that we all cherish deeply. Her story is one that has touched us all in ways we could have never prepared ourselves for. Her actions, her words, and the way she looks at each new day are all a light that guides us. Because she has always been there for us in our times of need. She has always offered us comfort when we felt like giving up. And she never ask for anything in return. 

Each of us at Alder's Ledge have come to a point over these past few months where we have felt like we wanted to quite and just walk away. For me personally it has been a war between ending what I started and pushing past old scars. A sense of guilt for the seemingly selfishness of it all only made things worse. Yet there she was... ready to start our next chapter, together. Ready to fight the next battle right by my side even as I tried to push everyone else away. And yet there she was, my little sister.

So we are all still here...

And we are getting back to work...

But we all owe this to one beautiful soul with one powerful scream.

The Heart Of A Screamer

"...and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people."

~The Holy Qur'an 

Several years ago I had the good fortune of meeting a young girl who's story never seemed to match the light that still shown in her eyes. When our mutual friend introduced us she had told me that this young girl had the heart of a screamer. At the time I thought being a screamer meant being loud and relentless... both of which I may still be. Yet here was a young lady who had suffered throughout her childhood some of the worst offenses anyone could imagine. And she saw the act of screaming in a way that would redefine it for all of us. 

Little sister may have grown up a Buddhist, like most people in her part of the world, yet the first thing she wanted me to know was her favorite verse from the Qur'an. I had asked her what "screaming" meant to her. That was all I had asked. And the answer was that quote from the Qur'an. She looked me in the eye and smiled as she quoted it. That smile that burns an impression on the soul itself with it's unique sincerity. 

Maybe it's the lack of such sincerity in the world today that makes her heart for the whole of mankind so refreshing. Maybe it's the beauty in her eyes when she smiles while helping others that lights up the staff at Alder's Ledge. For me it's just the love that we see radiate from her that changed everything about how Alder's Ledge operated. 

When we started we had a stern focus on the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. As funny as that is to realize looking back, seeing as how we started with one Jew (me) and not a single Armenian on staff... Yet looking back it is clear to see that we had a very narrow mission statement, to say the least. 

Then came our little sister...

All she had to do was introduce us to her story of how she was trafficked as a kid and we all changed how we screamed. Suddenly we started screaming about human trafficking because it had touched us personally. We wanted to partner with this amazing young woman who had already begun to change us in ways we hadn't even fully begun to realize. It's funny how that works when you meet someone like this... when they enter your life and start to change things you felt would never change. All she had to do was be the same wonderful woman she has always been. And in just doing that she was inspiring us all just by letting us see her gentle spirit... her love for others. 

We started talking about other genocides more and more. What one of us didn't know another would chip in and help teach us all. And for the most part our educations, all we had read over the years, and all we had learned from each other seemed to be missing one thing... something that is vital to screaming... 

A personal connection. 

A relationship with the people we so often looked at the "victims" or the subject of the conversation. It was this part that our little sister helped us with all those years ago. And still does on a daily basis. 

For me that lesson was made most evident by simply watching my beloved sister as she took it from just words and applied it in actions each day. I had always known that she took food, medicine, and other basic needs to street kids and prostitutes. What inspired me was knowing that she did so out of what little money she had. Here was a someone who had never had any money of her own all her life and was now able to earn some that she got to keep. But instead of doing what all the people her age do here where I live, she took that money sought to meet the needs of others before bothering with the things she might want for herself. 

When you see that, when you have a bond to someone like that, it makes you look at your own life differently. It makes it hard to tell yourself that you can't live without that next cup of coffee from the chain store or that next phone upgrade. It makes it hard to justify eating out every night or buying yet more clothes that you won't wear much anyway. After all, I'd always had more than I could ever need or really justify wanting. So seeing her selflessness created yet more change in a lot of us at Alder's Ledge.

With just the forming of that relationship our sister we were all growing closer and ever more focused on what it meant to be a "screamer". That one addition to our team all those years ago had created a change that now defines Alder's Ledge. Our relationship with our baby sister has defined who we all are today and how we work as a team. For that we are all thankful... for she is a blessing to each of us each and every day.

What Is A Screamer...

So what is a screamer?

We have always defined a screamer as someone who witnesses or becomes aware of genocide and refuses to remain silent. 

Sounds simple enough. All you have to do then is just get out there and raise hell till someone listens. Just go out there and make  your voice heard as you try to spread awareness of genocide. And yet if it was that easy then it would be far less effective. Because in all reality, nobody is going to listen to you just because you won't stop talking. In our modern world there is always the ability to mute, block, ignore, or un-friend you. People are less likely to listen in our world because all there is anymore is just noise. And if all you are doing is screaming... all you are doing is creating yet more noise. 

A screamer has to be able to make a connection between the genocide itself and the people he/she is trying to reach out to. The relationship between the crime and the witness is one that has to be made personal. It is one that has to be imprinted upon the heart of the witness for it to carry real weight in the daily life of those who are asked to bare witness to such a horrific crime. Otherwise the information given will elicit some sympathy right before it is forgotten and pushed aside. 

A screamer has to be able to view the world beyond the confines of religion, race, or nationality. There is nothing more hindering to reaching out to all of humanity than a world view that only sees people in given groups. This part of screaming means that you may have to admit your own prejudices and work past those views. If you are not able to make a personal connection with others beyond your own given religion, race, or nationality for any reason... your desire to scream will always be limited and that limitation will always be evident to everyone around you. This limitation makes any screaming you might do seem partisan and bias. Which in the end will turn more people away from the information you are trying to spread. 

A screamer must be able to stay committed to the act of screaming itself. Once you start to scream on behalf of any given cause you have to keep the fight up relentlessly. People who are watching you will notice if you start to jump from one cause to the next when things get hard or boring to you. There are countless people out there who will pick up on a "humanitarian cause" because it is the latest trend or a celebrity is preaching it at the time. If you want to scream you can't be seen as doing so because it's trendy. That alone is enough to make any information you are trying to get out there seem questionable. And it makes your sincere desire to help others seem fake in the eyes of those who watch you. 

A screamer has to know when to engage and when to bow out of a fight. Tenacity is good to a certain extent. While a screamer must be relentless, you can't become insensitive to the audience you are trying to reach. If your wording something in such a way that it no longer engages the people you are talking to but rather offends them... that is a moment to bow out and wait try again later. Timing is an art in reaching out to others when it comes to such subjects as genocide. You won't touch their heart if you can't first get past the defenses your audience will always have erected. Their prejudices and world view has to be taken into account before engaging. 

A screamer must have a network of others to help them, to hold them accountable, and to refresh their spirit in times of need. Whether you have other screamers to reach out to or just close friends, this is one of the most important parts of being a screamer. The people like our little sister here at Alder's Ledge make those rough patches easier and more survivable. We have watched countless others throw in the towel because they didn't have anyone else to help them... or refused help when they needed it most. The subjects we are screaming about take a toll on all of us. These subjects hurt emotionally and exhaust the soul. Thus, we all need the support of others to keep up this fight. 

On A Personal Note...

All of us here at Alder's Ledge would like to close this post by thanking our little sister for showing us just what it means to scream.

Thank you dear sister for always being there when we needed your support, your love, and the blessing of your friendship. Thank you for always being willing to listen to our problems and never judging us even when we deserved it. Thank you for always showing us what loving others is supposed to be like. But most of all, thank you for letting us be there when you needed us most... that is a blessing that each of us will forever remember.