Ethnic Cleansing Is Not A War

Ethnic Cleansing Beyond the Battlefield of Imperialism

Nov 06, 2023

One of the most tragic violent aspects of ethnic cleansing is the intentional targeting of children, as they represent the future of the targeted group. The example of Indigenous residential schools in Canada serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of such policies on children, their communities, and the enduring struggle for healing and justice. Understanding and acknowledging the historical and contemporary instances of ethnic cleansing is crucial to ensure such atrocities are not repeated in the future.

Gaza Children 0-17 Are the Biggest Group of Israeli Victims

These young individuals are seen as the bearers of culture, identity, and the future of their ethnic group. By disrupting their lives, culture, and education, the perpetrators aim to weaken the continuity of the targeted group. Children may be subjected to death, assimilation, abuse, sexual abuse, and the stripping of their cultural heritage, leaving deep and lasting scars.

Ethnic cleansing involves a deliberate and coordinated effort to displace, subjugate, or eliminate an ethnic or racial group from a particular territory. It can encompass various forms of violence, including forced relocation, discrimination, violence, and genocide. The goal is to alter the demographic composition of an area by eliminating or assimilating the targeted group.

Indigenous and Western worldviews are quite different. Indigenous views value nature and community harmony, while Western ideas prioritize humans over nature and resource use. Western thought sees humans as superior to everything else in the environment.

White supremacy has served as a foundation, upholding capitalist systems and enabling exploitation, all while severing our connection to both culture and the Earth. Rooted in colonization, this toxic ideology has been used to justify the domination of Indigenous lands and the extraction of resources for profit. It has created a hierarchical structure that benefits a privileged few at the expense of marginalized communities. This separation from culture is deliberate, as it weakens collective resistance and allows for preserving a system that prioritizes economic gain above all else.

Ethnic cleansing is intertwined with the forces of capitalism and imperialism throughout history. Economic interests and imperial ambitions fueled the desire to control and reshape territories, leading to the displacement or elimination of indigenous or minority populations.

Capitalism's pursuit of resources, labor, and markets often results in the colonization of foreign lands, where indigenous people may be viewed as obstacles to economic exploitation. Imperial powers, driven by expansionist goals, have used ethnic cleansing as a means to consolidate their control over conquered territories, enabling the extraction of wealth and resources.

In Canada, from the late 19th century until the 1990s, the Canadian government and Christian churches ran these institutions. Hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children were killed, abused, forcibly taken from their families and communities, forbidden to speak their native languages or practice their cultures, and subjected to physical and emotional abuse.

The impact on children was profound. Many suffered physical and psychological trauma, and the loss of their cultural identities left lasting scars. These schools aimed to assimilate Indigenous children into Western culture, effectively erasing their Indigenous heritage. This policy amounted to a form of ethnic cleansing, as it aimed to alter the demographics and cultural fabric of Indigenous communities.

The majority of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are living below the poverty line, deprived of essential services like education and healthcare due to conflict-related disruptions. In East Jerusalem, the forced eviction of Palestinian families from their homes further exacerbates the trauma experienced by children, pushing them into a cycle of displacement and insecurity. Israel has arrested approximately 7,000 Palestinian children. Children make up about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population. 40 percent of Palestinians killed in Gaza are children. Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military courts, and this applies exclusively to Palestinian children.

Our report reveals the true extent of Israel’s apartheid regime. Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights. We found that Israel’s cruel policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion across all territories under its control clearly amount to apartheid. The international community has an obligation to act
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

Imperialism, articulated as the final stage of capitalism by Lenin, has historically been intertwined with ethnic cleansing. Imperial powers, driven by economic interests, sought to expand their influence and control over foreign territories, often resulting in the displacement, subjugation, or elimination of indigenous or minority populations. The pursuit of resources, cheap labor, and new markets has led to the colonization of lands inhabited by vulnerable communities.

Israeli plan to push Palestinians into Egypt

Ethnic cleansing, becomes a tool of domination, as imperialist forces attempt to reshape the demographic and cultural landscape to serve their economic objectives. Recognizing the link between ethnic cleansing, capitalism, and imperialism is crucial for understanding the root causes of such atrocities and working towards a more just and equitable global future. The intersection of imperialism, capitalism, and ethnic cleansing has created a legacy of suffering, dispossession, and injustice in various regions of the world, underscoring the urgent need for global awareness and action to abolish capitalism and move into a multipolar Indigenous-led world.

Ethnic Cleansing Is Not A War

Ethnic Cleansing Beyond the Battlefield of Imperialism

Further Reading:

Discussion about this post