Posts by Martha Heinemann Bixby
Sudan Policy Review Released
Published October 19, 2009 @ 08:02AM PT
This morning, the Obama Administration released their policy for Sudan at a press conference at the State Department. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration discussed the policy and answered questions from the press.
The State Department released a paper, "Sudan: A Critical Moment, A Comprehensive Approach," and a statement that outline the strategy. The paper states:
The United States has a clear obligation to the Sudanese people -- both in our role as witness to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and as the first country that unequivocally identified events in Darfur as genocide – to help lead an international effort.
The White House also released a statement, saying in part:
Our conscience and our interests in peace and security call upon the United States and the international community to act with a sense of urgency and purpose. First, we must seek a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur. Second, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South in Sudan must be implemented to create the possibility of long-term peace. These two goals must both be pursued simultaneously with urgency. Achieving them requires the commitment of the United States, as well as the active participation of international partners. Concurrently, we will work aggressively to ensure that Sudan does not provide a safe-haven for international terrorists.
Initial reaction has been coming in from activists and concerned citizens via Twitter, on the Save Darfur Coalition's blog, and on the Enough Project's blog.
Genocide + The Internet: The Good, The Bad, The Questionable
Published October 18, 2009 @ 09:25AM PT
The internet. One of the best things about it is that anyone with a connection and a computer can use it to spread ideas, learn and connect with other people. One of the scariest things? Anyone with a connection and a computer can use it to spread ideas, learn and connect with other people.
Michelle recently highlighted some of the innovative ways that people are harnassing the internet to map conflict to better study and prevent it. (That's the good).
On the other end of the spectrum, the "Balloon Boy" national fascination late last week took a particularly odd and nasty turn when it revealed that instead of floating away with his father's experiment, the boy had instead been hiding in the attic. Thousands upon thousands of Twitter users repeated a short "joke" turning the other recent national fascination, Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift, into variations on:
"Yo, Balloon Boy. I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but Anne Frank had the best hiding place of ALL TIME!"
That one person wrote this -- let alone that so many people decided that something like this was worth repeating -- is clearly the bad.
And the questionable? Last week the Polish authority that manages Auschwitz created a Facebook page for the memorial. A spokesman said:
The Worst Insult
Published August 13, 2009 @ 09:04AM PT
Calling someone a Nazi is one of the worst insults out there. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most pervasive in our culture. From the famous (satirical) Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" to recent political protests, calling someone a Nazi is the go-to way to convey how mean or unfair or overbearing someone is.
Now, the insult has returned - this time resurfacing in the healthcare debate.
Rush Limbaugh recently laid out all the reasons why Democrats are just like Nazis (via the LA Times):
Well, the Nazis were against big business -- they hated big business. And of course we all know that they were opposed to Jewish capitalism. They were insanely, irrationally against pollution. They were for two years mandatory voluntary service to Germany. They had a whole bunch of make-work projects to keep people working [...] They were for abortion and euthanasia of the undesirables, as we all know, and they were for cradle-to-grave nationalized healthcare.
Now I understand that it feels like calling someone a Nazi - or line by line "comparing" their policies with those of the Nazis - makes a powerful point. Except that it doesn't. Really, it only does it minimize the horrific suffering inflicted on the millions the Nazis terrorized and killed. And it's not a particularly effective rhetorical device.
As Fox News notes (while discussing how some Democrats have described protesters' as using "brownshirt tactics"):
But an axiom in political strategy states that whoever uses the Hitler comparison generally doesn't win the debate -- unless he's participating in a debate about Nazis.
And Mike Godwin made clear in Wired over a decade ago
once a discussion reaches a comparison to Nazis or Hitler, its usefulness is over[.]
I say let's keep it that way.
Photo from the Sam Stein on the Huffington Post.
The meaning of America to a suvivor of the Holocaust
Published July 03, 2009 @ 03:27PM PT
Peter A. Zuckerman, a Holocaust survivor with a wonderful personal website, tells this story of his arrival in America:
After receiving my immigration papers I boarded the Marine Marlin, one of the 900 passengers that had a chance to start a new life in America.
Like millions of other immigrants to America, I experienced the elation of seeing the Statue of Liberty looming up at the entrance of New York Harbor. After the stormy crossing of the Atlantic the skies cleared as if by magic. The ship floated over the smooth surface of a suddenly tranquil sea. It seemed as if the elements themselves became subdued by the torch lifted high, promising freedom to the oppressed masses of humanity.
For me and my fellow survivors the words of Emma Lazarus -- carved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty -- were especially appropriate. Our ship indeed carried the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." I experienced the exultation and emotions of joy as we disembarked in Ellis Island, the gateway for millions of immigrants to America. My sufferings came to an end. The promise of the New World, at one time unattainably distant, now became a reality. I even received a brief recognition, as the New York Herald Tribune reported our arrival (January 25, 1947).
As Americans celebrate our independence this weekend it's interesting to reflect on the many meanings of our country to survivors of genocide - those we have fought for, those we have advocated for, and those we have forgotten.
Daily Darfur: Games of all kinds
Published July 03, 2009 @ 09:47AM PT
Political Games
The Justice and Equality Movement rebel group signed a deal with a Sudanese opposition party to "push for a new transitional government," according to both sides.
The opposition Umma party is an Islamic party led by Sudan's last elected leader, former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi (deposed just over 20 years ago by Sudan's current leader, Omar al-Bashir). As Reuters notes, this move is sure to "infuriate Khartoum".
It will be interesting to see how they proceed.
Umma and JEM leaders said Sudan's government would become "illegitimate" on July 9, the date that national elections were originally due to start under the CPA.
That will leave a "constitutional vacuum that can only be addressed through a national government," Umma vice-president Fadlalla Burma Nasir told Reuters.
The question is how they plan to set up that national government. JEM's attempts at taking over in Khartoum sure haven't gone well for them in the past.
Poker Games
Genocide and the Ohio Second
Published July 02, 2009 @ 08:58PM PT
Genocide denial has become a big issue in the race for Ohio's 2nd Congressional seat.
David Krikorian, a "grandson of survivors of the Armenian Genocide" according to his candidate biography, is running against incumbent Jean Schmidt, co-chair of the House Turkish Caucus.
Last November, days before his first contest against Schmidt, Krikorian demanded in an open letter:
"her immediate withdrawal from this race and her apology to the people of the United States of America for the crime she has committed against our American soldiers and humanity by denying the undisputed facts of the Armenian Genocide."
Krikorian claimed that Schmidt, during House debate on US recognition of the Armenian genocide in 2007, said:
"The question comes to the definition of genocide and I don't think we are comfortable making that attribution at this time".
Krikorian told voters:
"The only deniers of this great tragedy which led to the Holocaust of the Jews by Nazi Germany are the Turkish Government and certain members of the United States Congress including Jean Schmidt [...] Jean Schmidt is a self-serving politician and an embarrassment to her district and to the United States of America. The people of Ohio's second district will, if they elect her on November 4th, condone her denial of the Genocide of 1.5 million Christians. And, in so doing, be guilty of a crime against humanity as the cover-up is just as bad as the crime."
Schmidt won that race with 45% of the vote. Her Democratic opponent received 37%, and Krikorian, running as an Independent, received 17%.
Daily Darfur: The debate over justice
Published July 02, 2009 @ 09:20AM PT
The International Criminal Court and its prosecutor's case against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been the topic of great discussion recently.
The Washington Post's Colum Lynch recently noted that the court is "under unusual fire," in part because of some African leader's push against the court and in favor of Bashir.
Those in favor of the court and its mission for international justice have been vocal in response. As I noted the other day, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently had an op-ed in the New York Times in favor of the court and its case against Bashir.
Yesterday, the ICC's chief prosecutor wrote in the same space about his work and the importance of support for the pursuit for international justice .
The drafters of the Rome Statute were not naïve idealists. They were the ultimate realists. In their lifetimes, they had watched the Khmer Rouge kill millions, they had let Srebrenica happen and they had let Rwanda happen. They had failed the “never again” promises of their fathers. [...]
Even critics of the court are talking about ending impunity. Sometimes the process is painful and sometimes it is controversial, but it is changing international relations forever.
A number of Nobel Laureates and African leaders agree. In a statement released recently, they said:
The people of Darfur deserve more than negotiating warlords forgiving each other for the violence – including brutal sexual violence – they have perpetrated primarily against women, children and other non-combatants.
