Never Again ?

A Powerful Article
By Layla Anwar

"Today the United Nations Department of Public Information held its second annual observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust followed by a ceremony at the UN Headquarters......

A very special day for a very special people...

A resolution echoing the first collective shout by the "civilized" nations following World War II, the shout " Never Again !"
It,in fact took millions of victims of different nationalities, different religious and ethnic backgrounds to fuel that first shout "Never again."
The United Nations itself, the International Court of Justice and the Geneva Conventions were created following that primal shout "Never again"......

Meanwhile.... and in parallel...
1948 - The Establishment of Israel by the International Community, that same international community. And since that year, a silent mass genocide takes place in Palestine, silent to the deaf ears of the world.
Millions of refugees, hundreds of detention prisons, burns by cluster bombs and other "friendly" weapons, mass starvation, mass destruction,mass graves, collective torture, concentration camps and ghettos . Ramallah, Jenin, Tul Karem, Nablus, Gaza .... name tags and discrimination, a collective rape of a people, its identity, its memory by none other than "survivors" and it goes on till this very day....Never again ?......

1990 - Present : Comes the big chunk Iraq.
Never in contemporary history has the International Community and the United Nations been a direct culprit in mass genocide like it has done in Iraq.
In 1990, the most cruel embargo and set of sanctions were imposed on the Iraqi people with the blessings and the complicity of the United Nations. That same United Nations that was born out of the birth pangs of "Never Again."

After the "liberation of Kuwait", the sanctions were maintained with vehemence and an iron fist.
Some of you may know but it is good to remind you , that over 1.5 million people died as a result of a decision taken by the Security Council in 1990 and maintained even though it had no more reason to continue maintaining it since the small oil banana republic Kuwait was finally liberated.
13 years of mass genocide and of mass murdering by the UN and the Security Council.
Not less than 1.5 million men and women dead, out of which not less than 500'000 children under the age of 5. And you know the famous phrase by Madeleine Albright the American :"The Price was well worth it."

The going rate of infant death from 1990 until the "liberation" of Irak and its invasion , ie. 2003 was 5'000 per month. 5'000 children per month... Never again ?
The total number during those 13 years of sanctions were a double Hiroshima and Nagasaki put together.......

A big ghetto of massive proportions. A huge concentration camp. No visas were given, people were stuck in mass genocide.
Those who managed, worked as waiters, garbage collectors , taxi drivers carefully hiding their university diplomas. And the less lucky ones , ended up in brothels in neighboring countries. Some as young as 14 years old, hoping to find refuge in exchange for food and shelter and a bit of pocket money promptly sent home under the benevolent eyes of the brothel's Matron.

This is just a glimpse of what happened during the sanction years under the auspices of the United Nations, the one that was born out of "Never again."
No one budged.......


Today, the 29th January 2007,Iraqis long for the days of the sanctions.
Iraq has been "liberated", from 2003 till the present.
Today in Iraq, people are collectively raped, murdered, tortured, experimented on with various drugs and drills and american bombs. Lazer bombs, phosphorus, cluster, DU....
Today in Iraq, every city has become a massive ghetto. Baghdad, Falluja, Ramadi, Mosul, Haditha,etc...
Today in Iraq, there are mass concentration, rape and torture camps.
Today in Iraq there are 3.7 million refugees seeking shelter outside.
Today in Iraq, there are 700'000 plus dead since 2003, add to this figure 260'000 children. Today in Iraq, there is no aspirin, no food, no water, no electricity, no nothing....
Today in Iraq people, are persecuted for their name tags.
Today in Iraq, there are no more universities or schools.
Today in Iraq, people have stopped selling their organs and are selling their kids instead......

Palestine, Bosnia, Iraq have one common denominator...I leave it to your intelligence to guess what it is ....


Never again ? Yes sure thing ...Bring on the UN General Assembly and the lamenting violins for me now ...
I, personally hold the International Community and the United Nations responsible for Crimes against Humanity as they are happening today in Iraq. I hold the United Nations responsible for a holocaust. I hold it and all other silent ones, apathetic, indifferent,complacent ones, responsible for this Holocaust , today, in the day of "Rememberance and Beyond."
Never again ?....."