The Malady Lingers On

This political cartoon refers to the Bosnian genocide in general, not specifically Srebrenica or any other incident within that genocide. The first thing that jumps out at me (and, I would think, most other readers) is the image of Hitler as a devilish serpent making a reference to both the Bosnian genocide ("Ethnic cleansing...") and the Holocaust ("They're playing my song!").

I find it interesting that over the years, the United Nations has been selective of when to call a genocidal conflict "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing". This distinction may seem arbitrary, but it is not; genocide is often labeled "ethnic cleansing" when nations and organizations (i.e. the UN) do not wish to be held accountable for it.

The "official" distinction is this: ethnic cleansing refers to a deliberate removal of people, based on ethnicity, from any given area; it is acknowledged that ethnic cleansing may include killing and other acts of violence. Genocide refers to the deliberate destruction of people based on ethnicity.

It may seem to you that there is not much of a difference at all. I agree!

I think the fact that this cartoon includes Hitler referring to "ethnic cleansing" is very meaningful. His campaign against the Jews in Europe, the Holocaust, began as an attempt to drive the Jews from Germany. It then escalated to secluding Jews in ghettos. It ultimately escalated to labor camps and death camps--the deliberate destruction of the Jews.

Where is the distinction between ethnic cleansing and genocide? Will nations ever resolve this problem? Will they step up and acknowledge the hypocrisy in advocating internationally against genocide--yet allowing so-called acts of "ethnic cleansing" to occur? Ah, but the malady lingers on!