Remembering the Holocaust and All Genocides

There is a shameless cruelty in our societies when it comes to acknowledging other people's suffering. Either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own and/or it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. I submit to you, that the human atrocities are pent up frustrations and unresolved issues that reach a boiling point and explode into massacres and genocides. As civilized societies, we need to bring a closure to the issues through forgiveness, apology and restoration of justice. The least we can do in the process of healing is to know and acknowledge every one's pain. 

MikeGhouse
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

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Remembering the Holocaust and All Genocides  
Published in Huffington post on 01/25/2013 11:31 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/holocaust-remembrance-and-recognizing-all-genocides_b_2547164.html
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There is a shameless cruelty in our societies when it comes to acknowledging other people's suffering. Either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own and/or it amounts to infidelity to our own cause.
Unless we reload our hearts with empathy, and feel the pain and suffering of others, each one of us will continue to dwell in silos and the genocides will continue to happen. As Martin Niemoller wrote in his eternal poem, the essence of which is; first they came for communists, I did not do a thing because I was not one of them; then they came for Jews, and I wasn't one, and finally when all were wiped out, they came for me, and there was no one to defend me.

One of the most popular dialogues from a 1958 Bollywood movie "Yahudi" was, Tumhara khoon, khoon aur mera Khoon pani? -- "Your blood is blood and my blood is water? An immortal dialogue uttered by a Jew in the film, Yehudi as it is called, when the Roman emperor freezes when he learns that his son Marcus cheated Yehudi's daughter. In plain English, the inhumanity in us does not value other people as we value ourselves.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DcloW-WF7l0

By nature many of us are disgustingly selfish, nothing but our own interest matters to us. Do you recall standing in a food buffet line at a friend's wedding, a family or a community gathering? Someone said that the food may be short, but yet, the guy in front of you piled up his plate, or may be the one, knowing well that there a lot of people behind you, and some may not get the food. 

It's Not Easy
Those who build bridges understand the experiences we have encountering in organizing the sixth annual reflections on the Holocaust and genocides in Dallas on Sunday, Jan. 27 at the Unity Church of Dallas on Forest Lane. There are nearly 50 genocides in the last century, and it is humanly impossible to talk about all of them in one sitting, the selfish attitudes displayed by each group of people is amazing, each one thinks his blood is blood and others blood is water that can be ignored. 

 
Muslims
Way back in 2006, a Muslim shouts at me in a public meeting, "Why are you commemorating Holocaust of Jews? Why don't you commemorate the Holocaust of Palestinians?" I countered, all of this should be done, why don't you do it? He was belligerent; he was one of the loose mouths and not a doer. Indeed, we plan to attend to every one of the atrocity in the next few years. 

Another Muslim knocked God out of his throne, and chose to declare, "If you don't talk about Palestinians, you are not a Muslim." They don't care to read the work that is being done for both Israelis and Palestinians. The Huffington Post has published many articles on the topic and the other work is at www.IsraelPalestineDialogue.com 

Another one writes, "You are writing about the holocaust of Jews, you forgot what Stalin did?" My instant response was, "Did you forget the genocides of gays?" And you also forgot about the genocides of Native Americans, African Americans over the Atlantic... the list is a long one. Can I accuse you, that did you did not care about others?

Jews

We were criticized and asked to remove the phrase "A Muslim initiative" from the publicity material. Instead of recognizing the effort to build bridges, they were bent on not giving credit to Muslims for extending the hand of understanding. Please remember, it was not the Jews, it is the few individuals who wore the label Jews. I have known the community closely through strong interactions and conflicts, rather than superficial salaams and shaloms. Indeed, I have a whole book to write about how to improve Jewish Muslim relationships for a better society.

A few years ago a Jewish speaker canceled his speech at the event in the last minute because we were addressing the Gaza massacre as one of the seven items; he considered it anti-Israel and did not participate. However, my Jewish friends attended the event, and called him back to let him know that it was not about Israel, but about the human suffering and the brutal inhumanity in all of us. Most people don't want to face the truth, that someone from their own tradition is capable of murdering and massacring people. 

No one should be ashamed of what fellow humans from your group do, what you should be ashamed of is your own attitude toward another human.

Hindus

Several of my Hindu friends have jumped on me for not including the plight of Kashmiri Pundits, they are so obsessed with their own that others don't matter to them. We have mentioned about the plight of Kashmiri Pundits at least three times in five years, those who criticize don't come to the event, unless it is "about them." We need to stand up for everyone, and certainly stand up for others before we do for our own.

Indian Muslims

A friend writes another friend's quote, "The question was why Mike forgot 2002 Gujarat Holocaust & Genocide that was lot bigger and wider than 1984 Sikh Holocaust & Genocide." I did not forget, nor will I ever forget any genocide. In April 2002, rallies were held for Gujarat in down town Dallas, when Shabnam Hashmi came to Dallas, she was hosted to show the documentaries of that genocide. If the event is dear to the people, they should express their love and commemorate it. We will do our share; each event will take its turn. 

Indians and Pakistanis

A few Pakistanis think that talking about 1971 Bangladesh genocide is an Indian conspiracy to defame Pakistan, and they resort to attacks on India instead of understanding the suffering of the people. 

The Indians on the other hand think that talking about Sikh genocides amounts to defaming India. "Why the hell do you want to bring this up; it's done with." It is not done with, the wounds are still open.


Please remember, there is a fraction of a percent of people in each group, whether religious, ethnic, nationalistic or racial, who tend to ignore facts.

Standing Up For Others

Let's learn to understand the selfishness embedded in us, if we can stand up for others, particularly for strangers, then there is a greater self nurtured within us, making us a better human to live with peace and tranquility. We have to stand up for women's right and the rights of minorities and voiceless as a part of securing the future. Each one of us has to do our share of good to the world around us, for our own good at the end. We have to stand up for others, that is the right thing to do. 

Standing in line (food or anything) to wait for your turn is one of the most human things to do. It is a sign of acceptance of equal rights of others, and others needs as much as yours. We have a list of about 50 genocides, and each year we will focus on a few. More than likely, you will find yourselves guilty of not listening or paying attention to other's tragedy but your own. Slap yourselves, if you do not think other's plight is not as important as your own.

Every year we have reflected on our failings, massacres, genocides and the Holocaust. This year, we will focus on the Sikh genocide of 1984. Dr. Amarjit Singh, will deliver the key note address on the topic. Mr. Hasan Mahmud will share about the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971, Dr. Petra Weldes will talk about the effects of stereotyping on the societies, and Kelly Obazee will reflect on current massacres around the world. I will speak about the Holocaust, our anchor event, and the need to take a stand against oppression of others. 

Please visit www.HolocaustandGenocides.com for details, the event is an initiative of the Sikh Gurdwaras of North Texas, Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress. 

I submit to you, that the human atrocities are pent up frustrations and unresolved issues that reach a boiling point and explode into massacres and genocides. As civilized societies, we need to bring a closure to the issues through forgiveness, apology and restoration of justice. The least we can do in the process of healing is to know and acknowledge every one's pain.

Follow Mike Ghouse on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MikeGhouse 
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him. 

Belligerent questions about Holocaust and Genocides

url- http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2013/01/frequently-asked-questions-about.html

 I am writing this essay as a built-in-response to address the belligerent questions that come, and they are coming from all directions, not just the ones mentioned as examples.

We are volunteers and are 100% inclusive, however, we request you to help us out. Kindly list all the genocides of the 20th Century, please remember, if you miss one, someone or the other will accuse you of ignoring “their” genocide.


By nature many of us are disgustingly selfish, nothing but our own interest matters to us. Do you recall standing in a food buffet line at a friend’s wedding reception? Someone said that the food may be short, but yet, the guy in front of you piled up his plate, or maybe you did it too, knowing well that there a lot of people behind you in the line and some will not get the food.


Standing in line to wait for your turn is one of the most human things to do. You accept equal rights of others, and others needs as much as yours. We have a list of about 50 genocides, and each year we will focus on a few, as no one will sit through the day to understand each one of them, most likely you will find yourselves guilty of not listening or paying attention to other’s tragedy but your own.Slap yourselves, if you do not think others's plight is not as important as your own.

No matter how thorough you are, you are going to miss some. Unless we have a fully funded organization where employees work full time, then we can expect a complete list and do a three day conference to address every issue. Please do not assume that we are excluding any human atrocities.

For example someone accused that “you are writing about the holocaust of Jews, you forgot what Stalin did?”  My instant response would be, “did you forget the genocides of Gays?”  In your note, you also forgot about the genocides of Native Americans, African Americans over the Atlantic… the list is a long one.  Can I accuse you, that did you did not care about the others?

Please read on to understand the selfishness embedded in us, if we can stand up for others, for strangers, and then there is a greater self nurtured within us, making us a better human with peace inside us. We have to stand up for women's right and the rights of minorities as a part of fixing the future. Each one of us has to do our share of good to the world around us, for our own good at the end.

I have made an attempt to answer as many questions as I can for this site. No human suffering should ever be denied, as it amounts to denying our own humanity. Fellow humans must develop a culture of pondering about human atrocities everywhere, as Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”


 If I am guilty of anything, it would be not focusing on the Gujarat Genocide, however, I also would have felt a sense of guilt, if I had focused on what affects me and my community first. I believe in standing up for others, at the end we all should stand up for justice and the rights of others.  A few of my Hindu friends have come forward to take up the Gujarat Genocide and I am glad they did. That is the spirit of standing up for others

Please consider the following situations;

A MINUTE: 


If you have one single minute available, you can probably recite 30 Genocide names - and if you want to add the place to the name, you can do about 20, and if you want to name the parties involved in it, you can do utmost 10/minute, with normal intelligible delivery. Does that mean you did not care about the others?

ONE HOUR


If you have one hour, you cannot do justice to more than three or four Genocides. Should the other 46 think you don’t care about them?

YEAR

We observed silent prayers and asked every one present to reflect upon the genocides and massacres that they were aware of, at least run them through their mind during the silence and honor each one of the Genocides and Holocaust. I hope collectively we do not miss any.

MUSLIMS


Way back in 2006, I was in a public meeting; one of the Muslims shouts at me in the public, “Why are you commemorating Holocaust of Jews, why don’t you commemorate the Holocaust of Palestinians?” I countered, all of this should be done, why don’t you do it? He was belligerent; he was one of the loose mouths and not a doer. I have reminded those guys a few times, not only they did not mean it, but they really do not care about it, as I had invited them to join in when we were addressing about Gaza.

Another Muslim knocked God out of his throne, and chose to declare, “If you don’t talk about Palestinians, you are not a Muslim.”

There is a lot more ignorance out there.  Perhaps, other than Dallas Palestinians, no one else has done as much work for the Palestinian cause, as I have. Check out years of work in different forums, but certainly at this site www.IsraelPalestineDialouge.com

JEWS


I have known the community closely through strong interactions, through conflicts, rather than superficial salaams and Shaloms. 25 hours of Radio programming in understanding Judaism (done on all religions too) was done during 2003-2004 here in Dallas, two workshops were conducted as well (2 for each faith over 2 years), and I write about the essence of major Jewish (and others too) festivals - so that we all can understand each other. I am not sure if any other Muslim has done this much work. We have to stand up for each other and every one. Check it out www.StandingupforOthers.com

A few years ago a Jewish speaker canceled his speech at the event in the last minute, because we were addressing the Gaza Massacre as one of the seven items; he considered it anti-Israel and did not participate. However, my Jewish friends attended the event, and called him back to let him know that it was not about Israel, but the human suffering and the brutal inhumanity in all of us.   He did not want to face the truth, that someone from his tradition is capable of murdering and annihilating people.

No one should be ashamed of what fellow humans from your group do, what you should be ashamed of is your own attitude towards another human being regardless of who it is.

I was severely criticized and asked to remove the phrase “A Muslim initiative” by a few Jewish friends, instead of cheering the effort; they were bent on not giving credit to Muslims for extending the hand of understanding. Please remember, it was not the Jews, it is few individuals who wore the label Jews. Indeed, I have a whole book to write about Jewish Muslim relationship.

INDIAN MUSLIMS

They are no different than any one, like most people; they love to shoot criticism without verifying anything. A friend writes another friend’s quote, “The question was why Mike forgot 2002 Gujarat Holocaust & Genocide that was lot bigger and wider than 1984 Sikh Holocaust & Genocide.”  Mike did not forget, nor will he ever forget any Genocide.  In April 2002, rallies were held for Gujarat in down town Dallas, when Shabnam Hashmi came to Dallas, she was hosted to show the documentaries of that genocide.  I urge fellow Muslims to do something rather than talk.  I stood up in a major meeting to include observing silence for Gujarat, and there is a lot more work done. If the event is dear to the people, they should express their love and commemorate it. We will do our share; each event is taking its turn. I have severely criticized Narendra Modi, and have become a hated person for a handful of Dallas Indians.


HINDUS

Several of my friends have jumped on me for not including the plight of Kashmiri Pundits, they, like all others are so obsessed with their own, that others don’t matter to them. We have mentioned this at least 3 out of five years, those who criticize don’t come to the event, unless it is “about them”, but loosely run their mouths. We need to stand up for everyone, and certainly stand up for others before you do for your own.

DISGUSTING SELFISHNESS

I have dealt with most communities in Dallas from Atheists to Zoroastrian and every one in between. I must confess that in every community, through our silence we are disgustingly selfish. We are so obsessed with our own that we don’t see others pain, it is me, me and me. My event is more important than others… my pain is deeper than others…

There is a shameless cruelty in our societies, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, and or it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. Shame on us that we justifying massacres by pretending and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it, they had it coming, or we simply turn the face the other way.

STANDING UP FOR OTHERS:

Standing up for others is the right thing to do, every human goes through a period of invincibility to vulnerability, if we don't stand up for those who are vulnerable, then who will stand up for us when we are vulnerable? www.Standingupforothers.com The world becomes a better place when we all stand up for each one.

Indians and Pakistanis, Hindus and Muslims are worked up


A few Pakistanis think that talking about 1971 Bangladesh Genocide is a conspiracy to defame Pakistan, whereas a few Indians do the same; they think talking about Sikh Genocides amounts to defaming India. This was the essence of a few emails about the event we are holding; the 6th Annual reflection on Holocaust and Genocides, on Sunday, January 27, 2013. Details of the event are at: www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

it is always a few who have the passion to propagate conspiracies, while a few buy their gossip without questioning, most of them reject it. However, I thank those who made the inquiry to clarify, rather than manufacture conspiracy theories and live in misery.

It’s a human thing, a fraction of a percent of each group of people, tend to think in those terms, be it Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist or other. It is the same story with Americans, Italians, Chinese, Arabs or Mexicans as it is with Indians and Pakistanis.

Those few may be followers of Rush Limbaugh, to whom a good Republican is one who says bad things about Democrats, and a bad Republican is one who praises Obama - said around John Huntsman exit from candidacy when he refused to balk at Obama, and when Chris Christie praised Obama at the Sandy disaster.


The same mindset believes that questioning George Bush for all the disaster his wars caused overseas and the consequent messing up of America is unpatriotic. Indeed, questioning the government is the most patriotic thing to do.


Let me assure you, this event is not about condemning a nation or a group of people, it is about understanding the human suffering and the beastly attitudes among us.


A few years ago a Jewish speaker canceled his speech, because we were addressing the Gaza Massacre as one of the seven items; he considered it anti-Israel and did not participate and some did not. However, my Jewish friends attended the event, and called him back to let him know that it is not about Israel, but the human suffering and the brutal inhumanity in all of us. The speaker became friendly after he learned about it. However, he did not want to face the truth, that someone from his tradition is capable of murdering and annihilating people.


A few Muslims had the audacity to call me names in public, one said, if you don’t talk about Palestine, you are not a Muslim. A few Hindus said "shame on you for not talking about the plight of Hindus in Kashmir "…  and these men did not even attend, but kept talking, without verification.  Given the time, two hours per event, we can address only about 5, and not all the genocides.

The Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is a comprehensive event about humanity, with no exclusions, also remember in one breath you can say only so many words, and in one hour you can say only so many words.


“There is a shameless cruelty in our societies,  we either shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, and or it amounts to infidelity to our own cause.” Some of us are so selfish and stuck in our own pain that we do not see others pain, we want others just to think and talk about us.

Consider this:

        Condemning drone attacks does not amount to shaming America,
        Condemning Sikh genocides does not amount to shaming India,
        Condemning Bangladeshi genocide does not amount to shaming Pakistan.
        Condemning the ugliness at Abu-Graib prison does not amount to shaming America
        Condemning Shia and Ahmadiyya killings does not amount to shaming Pakistan
        Condemning the Massacre of Muslims in Gujarat does not amount to shaming Gujarat
        Condemning Aurangzeb or Ghazni does not amount to shaming Indian Muslims


Condemning is an expression against a disgusting act, of which we are all a part of, some by doing the wrong, and some by remaining silent and some by turning a blind eye.

As an Indian, I am embarrassed about what fellow Indians have heaped on each other, and as an American I am embarassed about the destruction we have caused in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq overseas, and in our recent past  of the slavery and treatment of Native Americans.

My father gave a sane advise during the Jabalpur (India) communal clashes, don’t blame the acts of the idiots on a community, religion or a nation. Get the bad guys, do the justice, faith in the society gets restored…blaming intangibles is as effective as the dogs barking at the wrong tree in a desert.

We have to learn to differentiate between abuse of human rights and patriotism. Patriotism is not justifying the wrongs, but speaking about it, and preventing the wrongs from happening again.

Here is the part of the press release

Every year we have reflected on our failings, massacres, Genocides and Holocaust, this year, we will focus on the Sikh Genocide of 1984, a Sikh speaker will deliver the key note address on the topic. Mr. Hasan Mahmud will share about the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971, Dr. Petra Weldes will talk about the effects of Stereotyping on the societies, and Kelly Obazee will reflect on current massacres around the world. Mike Ghouse will speak about the need to take stand against oppression of others, and Holocaust continues to be our anchor event.

Unless one attends the event, they will live in eternal conspiracies.

Full Press Release: http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2013/01/6th-annual-holocaust-and-genocides-sikh_18.html