April 7 is the International Day of Reflection regarding the Rwandan genocide

[anon_6hv78pr714xta]

It’s one of the most horrifying events of my lifetime. If you’d like to read a book about it, this one is NOT boring and well written. It’s one of the most affecting books I’ve ever read:

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed w…

In April of 1994, the government of Rwanda called on ev…

www.goodreads.com

As an aside, or maybe a conversation starter, given what happened in Rwanda and the Jewish Holocaust, I bristle a bit when people—including Zelensky—refer to the Russian invasion as a genocide. They can both be bad but not the same.

I hate when words with a lot of meaning and baggage (like racism and white supremacy, too) are cheapened. I think it leads to apathetic responses from a large group of people whose passion and support we need to end these things when the real instances actually occur.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Along these lines I highly recommend the book Land of Second Chances. The book tells the tale of the post genocide rise of the Rwandan national cycling team. The team was coached by Jonathan Boyer. a highly accomplished American cyclist who was overcoming conviction for a sex crime. It was financed by Tom Ritchey, the inventor of the mountain bike who was recovering from a divorce, and of course the Rawandan coffee cyclist’s who were recovering from genocide. excellent read.

Amazon product ASIN 1937715205

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

As an aside, or maybe a conversation starter, given what happened in Rwanda and the Jewish Holocaust, I bristle a bit when people—including Zelensky—refer to the Russian invasion as a genocide. They can both be bad but not the same.

Is there really a need to draw equivalence for genocidal events with mass graves? I consider the chemical attacks used by Assad, mass murders in Iraq, etc. in the same vein. I thought the U.S. and others had clear reason to intervene further in Syria, even though everyone agrees it was a difficult and likely "unwinnable" situation.

If you don't think what happened in the suburbs of Kyiv impacted Zelensky, look closer at the picture of his face when he saw the remains in Bucha. Even the best actors couldn't replicate what he witnessed.

But, back to the Rawandan circumstances, I'll need to read up more about what was going on. I was too young to understand, but what were some of the reasons why countries didn't get involved? I presume (perhaps wrongfully) that it was more of a civil war of sorts than an international conflict across borders with national belligerents? How much more does that complicate the situation for the U.S. or any other foreign influencers?

 

[anon_6hv78pr714xta]

Is there really a need to draw equivalence for genocidal events with mass graves? I consider the chemical attacks used by Assad, mass murders in Iraq, etc. in the same vein. I thought the U.S. and others had clear reason to intervene further in Syria, even though everyone agrees it was a difficult and likely "unwinnable" situation.

If you don't think what happened in the suburbs of Kyiv impacted Zelensky, look closer at the picture of his face when he saw the remains in Bucha. Even the best actors couldn't replicate what he witnessed.

But, back to the Rawandan circumstances, I'll need to read up more about what was going on. I was too young to understand, but what were some of the reasons why countries didn't get involved? I presume (perhaps wrongfully) that it was more of a civil war of sorts than an international conflict across borders with national belligerents? How much more does that complicate the situation for the U.S. or any other foreign influencers?

It was a civil war and that does complicate things quite a bit.

But it was a different kind of killing: the government incited and incentivized the citizenry to kill the minority Tutsis and the majority Hutus were killing their neighbors with machetes. 800,000+ were murdered within 3 months. Robbery, rapes, murders--all by the general populace. It's like a real-life the Purge, directed at the minority group.

Rwanda genocide: 'I am a mother - I killed some children's parents'

Female perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide speak about their crimes and desire for reconciliation.

www.bbc.com

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

archive.nytimes.com

 

[Marvin the Martian]

But, back to the Rawandan circumstances, I'll need to read up more about what was going on. I was too young to understand, but what were some of the reasons why countries didn't get involved?

It was in Africa was a reason. NATO drives interventions and they were not willing to for an African country. As I recall it NATO leaders were loathe to even use the term genocide.