I do not know if what we are witnessing is legally considered genocide, but it is deeply tragic and horrifying on a human level and that should count for something. We are witnessing, though, Lemkin's idea of 'vandalism' - the destruction of a collective identity. This is happening through the bombing of Gaza's libraries, archives and un…
I do not know if what we are witnessing is legally considered genocide, but it is deeply tragic and horrifying on a human level and that should count for something. We are witnessing, though, Lemkin's idea of 'vandalism' - the destruction of a collective identity. This is happening through the bombing of Gaza's libraries, archives and universities, which house the collective knowledge, thoughts, writings, and poetry of its people, along with the destruction of centuries old mosques and architecture and, of course, the killing of Gaza's scholars, poets, writers, artists and all those that give expression to 'collective identity'. A recent Guardian article expressed it well: "...to void the architecture of belonging..." (Article title: 'What does it mean to erase a people - a nation, culture, identity? In Gaza, we are beginning to find out' by Nesrine Malik - also worth watching the 2012 documentary 'The Great Book Robbery')
I do not know if what we are witnessing is legally considered genocide, but it is deeply tragic and horrifying on a human level and that should count for something. We are witnessing, though, Lemkin's idea of 'vandalism' - the destruction of a collective identity. This is happening through the bombing of Gaza's libraries, archives and universities, which house the collective knowledge, thoughts, writings, and poetry of its people, along with the destruction of centuries old mosques and architecture and, of course, the killing of Gaza's scholars, poets, writers, artists and all those that give expression to 'collective identity'. A recent Guardian article expressed it well: "...to void the architecture of belonging..." (Article title: 'What does it mean to erase a people - a nation, culture, identity? In Gaza, we are beginning to find out' by Nesrine Malik - also worth watching the 2012 documentary 'The Great Book Robbery')