Rediscovering the Pain of Books
Week 3: How much I haven't seen
In August, 2014, I was in San Miguel de Allende, MX, studying Spanish in the colonial-era city known for its architecture, art, and culture … voted the #1 City in the World in 2024 by Travel & Leisure magazine.
For two weeks that August, ISIS militants wielded genocide against the Yazidis people, intent on ending their presence on the planet. It was the seventy-third massacre.
Ten years ago I was in a travel bubble and did not hear about this genocide.
Somehow, I remained uninformed until Elif Shabak’s book of fiction and this deep reading experiment opened a dark door. Otherwise, I might have skimmed right over it. This time, I added the quote to my reading journal and asked “why?”
“ Seventy-two times we have been massacred. The Tigris turned red with our blood, the soil dried up with our grief — and they still haven’t finished hating us.”
It was more than a week later when I finally looked it up and found the horror. One brave woman told her story and is still fighting for the Yazidis and against the ISIS perpetrators who have yet to be punished.
I ask Perplexity: Are there genocides going on now?
The answer: Yes, there are several ongoing genocides and situations of concern in the world today:
Gaza: A recent report by the University Network for Human Rights concludes that Israel has committed genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, resulting in over 36,000 Palestinian deaths, including more than 14,000 children.
Iraq: The Yazidi people have faced genocidal actions from the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014, with religious minorities being targeted for conversion, expulsion, or death.
Xinjiang, China: The treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang has been described as an ongoing genocide.
Ukraine: Some sources consider the Russian actions in Ukraine as genocidal.
Darfur, Sudan: Since 2003, government-sponsored militias have conducted a campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation, and displacement, resulting in an estimated 400,000 deaths and 2.5 million displaced people.
Myanmar (Burma): The Rohingya people have faced genocidal actions, as recognized by multiple international bodies.
These situations highlight the ongoing challenge of preventing and addressing genocide in the modern world, despite international conventions and awareness efforts. ***
I have no wisdom explaining what deep well cruelty, massive cruelty, springs from with such regularity … religion? land? power?
Watching our own division grow here in the United States makes me wonder if it could happen here?
Maybe it starts with justifying the deliberate murder of a CEO. Or the prioritization of profits over people? Perhaps it begins as we demonize a group of people with false claims of “eating cats and dogs.” The beginnings might seem inconsequential … locker room talk, ethnic slurs, hate-filled graffiti, social media threats, doxxing, remaining silent in the face of injustice … but the results lead to an all-too-familiar place of hatred and cruelty.
An outsider story: Coming from a country elementary to town high school I was an outsider who wanted very much to scrabble my way into the already-established groups. Two things were important: making nice with the “in” folks and avoiding at all costs anyone more “out” than I was.
One student with an odd name was a classic outsider … glasses, strange hair, bright but odd demeanor … she sat behind me in a math class. I don’t remember actually being mean to her, but I definitely avoided her. I thought about her occasionally over the years, however, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I decided to google her. Her name was unique enough that it came up immediately … her obituary … she had died just before thanksgiving.
Her life was richly commented on and the obituary was written by her husband of 57 years, lovingly, glowingly written about her as a wife, mother and teacher. One of his lines haunts me:
I was one of the ones who did not always appreciate her intelligence and beauty. She, apparently, lived a life filled with love and passion, and suddenly I felt the loss of a friend who might have been, a grief for the possibility I missed by trying to fit into a group whose doors were always going to be closed to me.
This coming year of 2025 is filled with potential. May we use it wisely, with compassion and with courage.
Yes, sadly, I was aware of the autrosities, but you did teach me a new word, doxxing.
Why? 'Animal territoriality' extends to region conflicts, colonial ambitions & even office politics.
As we all know—at least those with any historical knowledge know—that genocide is and always has been part of human culture.
I could write a long list and probably not even dent the list of genocides over time. Genocide is even approved and commanded in the Judeio-Christian Bible.
I no longer look at this behavior as an outlier to the human race but as something wired in as this behavior is so prevalent. Just a few examples:
1. European colonists decimating—note: the word decimate means killing one in ten when killing nine in ten is more likely—native Americans from throughout the new world.
2. Julius Caesar taking pride in killing over 1,000,000 Celts.
3. The St. Brice’s day massacre by the Saxons
4. Elimination of the Cathars by Pope Gregory IX
5. The Killing Fields in Cambodia ordered by aPol Pot, who had spent many years as a Buddhist monk
6. Killing all the Knight’s Templar on a Friday 13
7 total destruction of two Japanese cities by the Americans
8. Often practiced killing of everyone by the Mongols
9. Destroying of whole cities by Muslim conquerors in Spain
10. Killing everyone by the first crusaders
On and on and on.
We are not a “good” species.