When the word “genocide” is spoken, thoughts of the Holocaust are most likely to be thought of first. This is because the Holocaust is the most covered, most written about, and one of the deadliest genocides of the twentieth century. However, since the Holocaust, a number of genocides throughout the world have taken place. Despite the fact the world may have bore secondary witness to the Holocaust through violently graphic movies, moving novels, diaries, etc., there are still those who wish to persecute a group of people. Genocide still happens today and from acknowledging its existence, humanity can start to understand the reality of the world through moral and political viewpoints.
Believe it, the 9/11 attacks were an act of genocide from the command of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. According to the iPhone Application “Dictionary+” manufactured by Catalystwo Limited, the definition of “genocide” is “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation,” (Catalystwo Limited). Now if one were to consider the 9/11 attacks, it of course just looks like a terrorist act on the United States, but according to “page 11, exhibit 941 of the Massaoui trial,” (reprasentativepress) Sheikh Mohammed purpose for the attacks were written out clearly; “to wake the American people up”(U.S. Courts). Sure, this doesn’t seem like genocide, in fact Sheikh Mohammed’s purpose really has nothing to do with genocide, however, those who supported it looked at it as genocide. The followers (or majority of followers, at least) of Sheikh Mohammed and Osama Bin Laden were people who disagreed with the American way of life, and after the attacks celebrated the death of nearly three thousand people. This is genocide. A large group of people was deliberately murdered, and in many views, it was because that group was different.
On another account, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran responded to a question at Columbia Universtiy, “we don’t have so many homosexuals in Iran because we believe this act is against the human spirit and humanity.” However, reports of up to 300 executions had taken place in 2010 (Weinthal). So in response to Ahmadinejad’s statement, the reason why there aren’t so many homosexuals in Iran is because Iran is busy executing them. Also, according to Iran’s Sharia system, “Tehran punishes male same-sex intercourse with death, and lesbian sex with 100 lashes for the first three offenses and execution thereafter,” (Weinthal). So why do these actions go unpunished? It’s almost as if society turns its shoulder on the whole situation. The United Nations has a branch called the Genocide Convention, but its policies do not cover the LGBT community and therefore it practically ignores what goes on in Iran. Just because the Convention cannot intervene, they simply don’t, even though innocent people are being murdered.
It just goes to show that even though genocide is still taking place in society, there are still people who have the power to stop it, but are to weak to use that power. Not much has changed since the Holocaust.
Reference:
Catalystwo Limited. Dicitonary+. iPhone Application.
United States Court System. Substitution for the Testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Exhibit 941. Page 11. Pdf.
RepresentativePress. Purpose of the 9/11 Attacks. http://sites.google.com/site/911motive/purpose-of-the-9-11-attacks. Web.
Weinthal, Benjamin. (2011). Iran’s “Crimes Against Humanity”. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-592696?ref=feeds/latest. Web.
Nathan Fuller 