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Absent Genocide?
Ian Barnes with Malise Ruthven, Crossroads of War թ§Չ-Չ a Historical
Atlas of the Middle East, The Belknap Press of Harvard University
Press, 224 pages, hardback ISBN 9780674598492, թԹ։25.95
A flamboyant volume indeed, with some hundred pages of brilliant maps
and another hundred of history of wars, instruments of war, devastated
countries and cultures, incessant assassinations of power holders and their
families, mass exterminations, religious intolerance and murderous
conflicts, destruction of temples, villages, towns and cities. In a nutshell,
war tales of the Middle East, all through the last five thousand years թ§Չ-Չ an
impressive scholarly achievement for sure. And all because, as one of the
authors explains in the Introduction:
թ§Չ-խThroughout recorded history the Levantine Corridor has seen the movement of
armed forces, as those who controlled this vital strip commanded the whole
Near Eastern region.թ§Չ-Չ§ (p.6)
After reaching the end of the war narratives, and having endured the
macabre tales, I somehow felt the need of an Epilogue, to better understand
the real and moral raison dթ§Չ-Չ§etre of such an awesome endeavour, having in
mind the turbulent world in which we live. I sincerely wanted to know if
the authors, having accomplished their task, do somehow believe or not
that another world is possible. And if positively so, I would have felt
enriched to know how they envisaged the transformation of that possibility
into a probability. In case of a negative stance, then, alas, թ§Չ-խvanity, all is
vanityթ§Չ-Չ§. The distinguished authors of this unique historical atlas left my
queries unanswered.
But then, I remembered a reassuring thought I read in another atlasbook,
which had filled my heart with a distilled joy, and a feeling to share
it with everyone:
թ§Չ-խHomo sapiens has been around for at least 250,000 years. Yet war and military
might have been known only in the last 5,000 թ§Չ-Չ 2% at most of our history. War
is neither a part of human nature nor, necessarily, of civilised life.թ§Չ-Չ§
The Gaia Peace Atlas, Editor, Dr Frank Barnaby
Quoted in Alternative World, by Nares Craig. (p. 160)
In one of his impressive volumes, Bertrand Russell diagnosed the malaise
of power, saying:
թ§Չ-խThroughout history, great nations have been led to disaster by unwillingness to
admit that their power had limits.թ§Չ-Չ§
Has Man a Future? (p.45)
Crossroads of War totally reaffirms Russellթ§Չ-Չ§s diagnosis. Regarding both
the tragedy of the Jewish people in the aftermath of World War Two, and
the diaspora of Palestinian refugees, the authors admit that:
թ§Չ-խThe movement of many people to Palestine, and later the State of Israel,
solved some problems for the Jews but, in turn, displaced Palestinian Arabs
became refugees, forced to live in camps in other countries where they were not
assimilated.թ§Չ-Չ§ (p. 178)
An apt juxtaposition, for sure, but I remain shocked not to find mention of
the word թ§Չ-խGenocideթ§Չ-Չ§, when most of the mass and cultural annihilations
mentioned by the authors do cry out to be acknowledged as such. It is
worth remembering the raison dթ§Չ-Չ§թԹ՝tre of Raphael Lemkinթ§Չ-Չ§s coinage of the
word Genocide (see Spokesman 93). Lemkin was adamant in saying that
Genocide թ§Չ-խhappened so many timesթ§Չ-Չ§. Curiously enough, թ§Չ-խHolocaustթ§Չ-Չ§ is
mentioned once, only to label the Jewish survivors, those who dared
survive the magnum crime.
102 Think Globally, Act Locally
Itթ§Չ-Չ§s worth pointing out that the word Holocaust was used during the
massacres of the Armenians in the 1890s to underline the religious aspect
of the tragedy թ§Չ-Չ Christian Armenians massacred by Moslem Turks and
Kurds թ§Չ-Չ as a large mass of Armenians were burnt alive in the Urfa
Cathedral in 1895. Hence the word թ§Չ-խHolocaustթ§Չ-Չ§ was used by the noted
missionary, Corin Shattuck, to visualise and characterise this horrible
event.
Etymologically, Holocaust = թ§Չ-խWhole-Burntթ§Չ-Չ§, and is intrinsically linked
with the act of sacrifice թ§Չ-Չ a sacrificial offering which is completely
consumed by fire, whereby cleansing from sins and, ultimately,
purification is expected to be attained, functioning as an atonement, or
indeed: թ§Չ-խan offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORDթ§Չ-Չ§. (The
Holy Bible, authorised King James Version, Leviticus, 1:17)
Does genocide թ§Չ-խtaketh away the sinsթ§Չ-Չ§ of the murdered community,
whether massacred, gassed or burnt? Or does it, perhaps, cleanse the sins
of the murderers for the bliss of purification? God forbid. With all respect
to all concerned, it must be said that Holocaust is an erroneous and
misleading coinage of the reality it is hoped to illustrate and define.
Nazis committed the ultimate crime against humanity, rightly expressed
with Lemkinթ§Չ-Չ§s more precise, politically pristine and religiously unbiased
word թ§Չ-Չ Genocide.
Perhaps the neglect of the term Genocide in Barnes & Ruthvenթ§Չ-Չ§s book
is a subtle way of refuting Lemkinթ§Չ-Չ§s superb trove, especially when the
distinguished linguist was adamant to remind us all that in the 20th century
Genocide happened թ§Չ-խFirst to the Armenians, then after the Armenians, took
actionթ§Չ-Չ§. (History of the Genocide, by V. Dadrian, p. 350)
The Glossary on p.218 of the Crossroads of War defines թ§Չ-խHolocaustթ§Չ-Չ§ as:
թ§Չ-խSystematic mass murder or genocide of some 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany
and its allies.թ§Չ-Չ§
Obviously, the authors have cleansed the word Holocaust of all its original,
religious attributes. When referring to the mass movements of refugees of
the Middle East, it is negligent of historical data not to mention the
survivors of the Genocide of the Armenians, who were uprooted from their
ancestral homelands in Anatolia, as a result of the meticulously planned
magnum crime executed by the proto-Nazi government of the Young
Turks. Hence, starting in 1915, hundreds of thousands of Genocide
survivors became the first Diaspora of Armenians in the Middle East.
This year, 2015, is the 100th commemorative year of that Genocide of
the Armenians. Let us hope the authors of this formidable atlas will not be
Reviews 103
charmed by the zealots of the camp who blindly refuse to acknowledge the
veracity of that historical truth.
In the last paragraph of the Introduction to Crossroads of War, Malise
Ruthven draws a parallel between the Frankish Crusaders, also named as
Outremer (from the French թ§Չ-խoutre merթ§Չ-Չ§), and the թ§Չ-խnew group of settlersթ§Չ-Չ§ թ§Չ-Չ
meaning the Jewish ones թ§Չ-Չ թ§Չ-խwhose project for an occidental state in the
Levant carries numerous echoes of Outremerթ§Չ-Չ§ (p. 13). She concludes:
թ§Չ-խToday a new Outremer remains, all-powerful, like its medieval predecessors.
But there is no guarantee that in an increasingly hostile environment it can
maintain this pre-eminence indefinitely.թ§Չ-Չ§ (p. 13)
Todayթ§Չ-Չ§s Outremer resides not in the Levant, but beyond the oceans թ§Չ-Չ an
Outre-mer indeed.
Khatchatur I. Pilikian
104 Think Globally, Act Locally
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