The Language Of Genocide

 

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”

― George Orwell

It is very easy, in the majority of cases, to become quickly inured to the world's suffering. Whether it be earthquakes and crime in Haiti, famine in Africa, or the war Russia is waging against Ukraine, we reach the point of compassion fatigue, facilitated no doubt by the lack of any apparent resolution to the dire circumstances so many experience in today's fractured world. 

One hopes against hope that the genocide taking place in Gaza may prove an exception, however, despite the efforts of so many to make the Israeli response to the October 7 attack by Hamas look both reasonable and necessary. And one of the latest to make such an effort is our own (were it not so) Stephen Harper.

Shree Paradkar writes:

On Wednesday, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper was in Jerusalem, shaking hands with the butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to his tweet, Harper witnessed "an Israel scarred by the unprovoked horrors of Oct. 7, but also united in its determination to end the threat of Hamas once and for all."

"Unprovoked." "Ending the threat of Hamas." Phrases being repeatedly used to justify the unjustifiable.

It is no doubt a human tendency to try to interpret the world along absolutist terms; things are either good or bad, thereby circumventing the hard work that critical thinking requires. For his fellow travellers, Stephen Harper is providing such a service.

But historical context is needed.

The Hamas commander named the attack "Al Aqsa Floods" saying it was meant to avenge Israel's brutal attacks on Al Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem — long a flashpoint site — during Ramadan in 2021.

Whatever one makes of that statement, it's a reminder that one can't look at what's happening without context. Insisting on erasing the context of current events — as seen with the repetition of the word "unprovoked" — is very much in Israel's interest. It allows Israel to position itself as the innocent party and to reduce the unspeakable violence it has unleashed to a "they-asked-for-it" rhetoric.

But there is much more involved here, years of abuse and repression that the world refuses to acknowledge.

There is so much mutual pain in the region that to ignore the underlying conditions of violence is to create conditions that lead to violence.

Some of these conditions include decades of repressive and vicious Israeli military occupation in Palestinian territories, with Israel routinely displacing, imprisoning and killing Palestinians. Israel's illegal blockade segregated Gazans from the world for years by banning them from travelling outside. The majority of Gazans are refugees who face sweeping restrictions on the entry and exit of goods. Israel even controlled the flow of electricity and water; more than 90 per cent of the water in Gaza was unfit for consumption before Oct. 7. A Washington Post report found there had been no natural surface water in Gaza since the early 2000s.

For even greater context, there is an array of videos available on YouTube attesting to the mistreatment of Arabs in the entire region.

Paradkar also talks about how the Palestinian cause has been conflated with Hamas and Islamic extremism, making it easier to dehumanize them, meaning

no matter how Israel treats Palestinians, whether it attacks Gaza's hospitals, kills and maims children, doctors, academics and journalists, or whether the International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel must take action to prevent genocidal violence by its armed forces, in Israel's view and in the eyes of its Western allies, it remains the wronged party.

It is this mentality that Harper has shamefully tapped into, making it easier to minimize and justify Israel's ongoing atrocities. 

Decades ago, George Orwell warned us about the destructive effects of political language. Sadly, it seems we have learned little to nothing in the intervening years.