Researching the social injustice that is ethnic cleansing, allowed us to learn about the extreme importance this issue needs to be given. Many questions arose as we all researched our case studies or organizations fighting against this discrimination. For example, Maira was in charge of researching into the Nazi regime and the injustices the Jewish people of Germany had to face. She was shocked to see how Hitler and the Nazis, or anyone for that matter, could have so much hate in their hearts to kill 6,000,000 people so gruesomely. She felt the fear for the Jewish people when she read about the gas chambers and how innocent men, women and children were burned alive just as a result of their differing religious beliefs. Naumana investigated the Bosnia-Herzegovina Genocide which took place in Bosnia, in which over 140, 000 Bosniak Muslims and Catholic Croats were murdered. This was the largest massacre in Europe after World War II. Even after researching the motives behind this massacre, she could not fathom the deaths of these people. When we discussed our case studies with each other, she shared that she was so overcome with emotions that she cried while encountering the horrific pictures that she found on a website of the remains of the murdered bodies. The Genocide in Rwanda was researched by Zoha. In the 1990’s, some of the worst atrocities mankind has ever seen took place in Rwanda. The Tutsi’s were targeted by the Hutu’s, simplicity on cause of their ethnicity. She was surprised to see that although this genocide did not take place too long ago, she had only heard about it due to the movie, Hotel Rwanda, not as a result of the 1, 000, 000 people that died within a hundred days. Samar explored two organizations, Fortify Rights and Human Watch Rights, which fight against uncovering the cases of ethnic cleansing that take place today in various parts of the world. She was not as surprised to hear of the specific case, as she is aware the issue of ethnic cleansing takes place in the world today, but she was alarmed to see that so many governments enforce discriminatory policies, as in Myanmar and Ethiopia.
Ethnic cleansing is a horrific infringement of human rights. We are in the 21st century and no one in the world should be harassed for their ethnicity or beliefs, especially to the point of rape or murder. The fact that this still occurs today is, to us, completely absurd. Helen Keller has said, “The highest result of education is tolerance”. We honestly think that education is the tool that will eradicate all prejudice in the world. You do not have to accept someone’s belief or ethnic/cultural traditions, but you do have to respect others. We are thankful to live in Canada, a country in which the majority of people are tolerant of different religions and ethnicities. We do not have to face situations in which we are harassed on cause of our religion, nor our ethnicity. We hope that with this project, people become aware of this issue and act against it, if it is in their power.
Ethnic cleansing is a horrific infringement of human rights. We are in the 21st century and no one in the world should be harassed for their ethnicity or beliefs, especially to the point of rape or murder. The fact that this still occurs today is, to us, completely absurd. Helen Keller has said, “The highest result of education is tolerance”. We honestly think that education is the tool that will eradicate all prejudice in the world. You do not have to accept someone’s belief or ethnic/cultural traditions, but you do have to respect others. We are thankful to live in Canada, a country in which the majority of people are tolerant of different religions and ethnicities. We do not have to face situations in which we are harassed on cause of our religion, nor our ethnicity. We hope that with this project, people become aware of this issue and act against it, if it is in their power.