Defending Truth and Justice is Everybody's Business: Commentary on NY Times Article, "Rohingya Recount Atrocities"

October 13, 2017

Toronto, October 13, 2017: The Zoryan Institute and its Division, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies releases commentary from Professor Herb Hirsch on the the recent New York Times article, Rohingya Recount Atrocities: ‘They Threw My Baby Into a Fire.'




By: Dr. Herbert Hirsch


"We can add another chapter to the long history of human atrocity and genocide. How is it that the United States is virtually silent and does not take a leadership role in protecting innocent people? This is, of course, a rhetorical question since we know the answer.


Historically the US has supported authoritarian regimes as even now it removes sanctions from Sudan, a nation with one of the worst human rights records and lead by a man who is an indicted war criminal and genocidaire.


Where is the empathy and the action to match the rhetoric? Where is the outrage?


When we succumb to the "new normal" we lose sight of the possibility of creating a better, more just society and world. I am also tired of the argument that "it is not practical." What does it mean to be "practical?" It means you have accepted the ground rules and play by the play book of the very society you think should be changed. What happened to Brownings' quest for the ideal?


If one does not attempt to push forward toward equality and civility it means you have been co-opted and, as Marx might have said, you collaborate in your own oppression." 

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