Sometimes, I sit with a heavy heart and wonder: how can we call ourselves human when we watch others being erased from the world; not by accident, not by disease, but by cruelty, silence, and violence?
Genocide is not just a word. It’s a deep wound in the heart of humanity. It means someone decided that a whole group of people; their children, their elders, their dreams had no right to live.
It’s not war. It’s not defence. It’s extermination.
What Is Genocide, Really?
Coined by Raphael Lemkin, a man who lost his family in the Holocaust, genocide means the deliberate destruction of people because of their identity. Their race, religion, ethnicity, or nationality becomes their death sentence.
Genocide is what happens when power meets hate, and the world chooses silence.
The Scars of Our Shared History
The Holocaust (1941–1945)
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Gassed, shot, starved, experimented on. The world promised never again.
Rwanda (1994)
In 100 days, nearly 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered with machetes while the international community turned away.
Bosnia (1995)
Over 8,000 Bosniak Muslims were executed in Srebrenica, it is the worst massacre in Europe since the Holocaust.
Armenia (1915)
1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire, yet some still deny it ever happened.
Cambodia (1975–1979)
Two million Cambodians died under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in the name of revolution; teachers, artists, even children.
And Now — Gaza
Right now, in Gaza, we are witnessing a tragedy that the world will one day have to answer for.
Entire neighborhoods have been flattened. Hospitals bombed. Journalists, doctors, aid workers;all silenced. Over 40,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, have lost their lives. Survivors live under rubble, hungry, afraid, abandoned.
It’s not just about war. It’s about deliberate dehumanization, the stripping away of rights, dignity, and voice. It’s about decades of occupation, blockade, and violence, and now, a systematic destruction of an entire people’s future.
And the worst part? Much of the world still looks away.
What we are witnessing is not just another chapter in conflict; it’s a genocide. And history will remember who stood up… and who stayed silent.
Why Does Genocide Happen?
It begins with words; calling others “terrorists,” “animals,” “vermin.”
Then come laws. Borders. Checkpoints. Cages. Camps.
Then guns.
Then silence.
Genocide is never sudden. It’s a slow, methodical erasure that is made possible when people turn their heads and say, “It’s not my problem.”
What We Truly Lose
We don’t just lose lives. We lose languages, songs, memories, childhoods, stories, and entire generations. We lose humanity itself.
And the survivors? They carry the trauma forever; not just of what they saw, but of being ignored.
Our Role in All This
We are not powerless. We are witnesses. And in the age of information, silence is a choice.
We must:
Speak out; in our homes, schools, streets, and screens.
Challenge narratives that dehumanize.
Support those under occupation, oppression, and siege.
Hold world leaders accountable.
Never allow comfort to dull our conscience.
“Never Again” Must Mean Something
We’ve said it before: Never Again.
We said it after the Holocaust.
After Rwanda.
After Bosnia.
But what about Gaza?
If “Never Again” doesn’t include Palestinians, it was never meant for everyone.
Final Words
History doesn’t just remember facts. It remembers feelings. Silence. Betrayal. Courage.
Let us be the generation that refused to look away. Let us be the voices for those silenced under rubble and barbed wire. Let our hearts ache enough to act.
Because genocide isn’t just about how people die
It’s about how others live with it.
May the souls of all innocent victims, in Gaza and around the world, rest in peace. May their stories live on. And may we, the living, choose to protect humanity before it’s too late.
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