> _________________________________________________________________ > > WHAT MADE THE ACTEAL MASSACRE POSSIBLE? > _________________________________________________________________ > > By Mumia Abu-Jamal > Column Written 1/10/98 > Source: Mumia, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - Monday, 19 January 1998 - > > * > > "Brothers and Sisters; > Why? > How many more? > Until when?" > --Subcomandante Marcos > Zapatista Army; Dec. 1997 > > The brutal, premeditated massacre of at least 45 indigenous > poor men, women and children several days before Christmas, 1997, > by armed paramilitaries of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary > Party (PRI) sent shock waves through the international community. > > In a slaughter of the innocent that took over four hours in > duration, the so-called PRIistas revealed their malevolent > intent, to attack and disable the indigenous (Indian) support > network for the Zapatista Army. Thus, the ruthless killing of 45 > civilians had a clear political objective, one verbalized by the > "Red Mask" paramilitaries as, "We are going to put an end to the > Zapatista seed" (Nuevo Amanecer Press, 12/26/97). Seen in this > light, the 45 men, women and children of San Pedro de Chenalho > were but a means to a dastardly end. > > How, one wonders, can such a thing happen? Until we address > this question how can we begin to answer those posed above? > > For over 50 years, especially after the Nazi period in > Europe, psychologists have studied this destructive type of > phenomena. > > Some, like the famous Milgram Studies (of 1963) taught us of > the limits of "destructive obedience," where so-called "normal" > people shocked innocent others up to 450 volts, up to levels > reading "DANGER: SEVERE SHOCK," only because authority figures > told them to do so, with 65% obeying to the end (other Milgram > Studies found over 90% compliance). > > Scholars H.C. Kelman and V.L. Hamilton have advanced the > notion of "sanctioned massacres," no stranger to American or > world history: "within American history, My Lai had its > precursors in the Philippine war around the turn of the century - > and in the massacres of American Indians - (o)ne recalls the > Nazi's "final solution" for European Jews, the massacres and > deportations of Armenians by Turks, the liquidation of the Kulaks > and the great purges in the Soviet Union, and more recently the > massacre in Indonesia and Bangladesh, in Biafra and Burundi, in > South Africa and Mozambique, in Cambodia and Afghanistan, in > Syria and Lebanon. (Political Psychology, by N.J. Kressel, > p.223). In many of those cases, we find the "sanctioning" of > heinous massacres by authorization, routinization and > dehumanization. > > Authorization is when persons in power order or allow > atrocities to occur in furtherance of political ends. > Routinization is the internal process by which those authorized > make it "okay" to do what is an obvious evil, like slaughtering > babies. Dehumanization is the social and ideological process by > which a people are projected, perceived, and then treated as > somehow less than human. In each of the historical instances > noted above, we have seen these diabolical features at work. > > It happened in America, where the declaration of > independence wrote of "merciless Indian savages" and where > children learned the phrase, "the only good Indian is a dead > Indian" at and early age. Such a mindset made Wounded Knee an > historic inevitability. These same features were found in the > Chiapas area where minions of the state attacked the most > powerless and the most maligned segment of Mexican society: > Indians, the indigenous peoples. > > For centuries they, as well as Africans, have been subjected > to dehumanization, where, as in Chiapas they were not seen as > full human beings, with inherent rights, but as tools used in the > "dirty war" of the government against the Zapatistas. > > "How many more?," Marcos asked. > "Until when?," he wonders. > > The true shame is that we cannot say. > > Copyright 1998 Mumia Abu-Jamal. All Rights Reserved. > > * * * > > +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ > +: A N T I F A I N F O - B U L L E T I N :+ > +: NEWS * ANALYSIS * RESEARCH * ACTION :+ > +: RESISTING FASCISM * BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY! :+ > +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ > > to subscribe e-mail Tom Burghardt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ > ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++ > ++++ see: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ > > ___________________________________________________ > NUEVO AMANECER PRESS- N.A.P. > _________________________________ > Non Profit organization translating and distributing information > in support of the work in defense of human rights. > General Director: Roger Maldonado-Mexico > Assistant Director: Susana Saravia (Anibarro) > Director Spain: Darrin Wood > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
