Ethnic cleansing: Difference between revisions

 

== Etymology ==

 

An antecedent to the term is the Greek word {{lang|grc-Latn|andrapodismos}} ({{lang|grc|ἀνδραποδισμός}}; lit. "enslavement"), which was used in ancient texts. e.g., to describe atrocities that accompanied [[Alexander the Great]]'s [[Battle of Thebes|conquest of Thebes]] in 335 [[Common Era|BCE]].<ref name="Booth">{{cite book|year=2012|title=The Kosovo Tragedy: The Human Rights Dimensions|editor-last=Booth|editor-first=Ken |first=Carrie |last=Booth Walling |contribution=The History and Politics of Ethnic Cleansing|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-1-13633-476-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4MsBgAAQBAJ|page=48}}</ref> The [[expulsion of the Moriscos]] from Spain between 1609 and 1614 is considered by some authors to be one of the first episodes of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing in the modern western world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saldanha |first1=Arun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bRvAAAAQBAJ&q=ethnic+cleansing&pg=PA51 |title=Deleuze and Race |date=2012 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-6961-5 |pages=51, 70 |language=en}}</ref> [[Raphael Lemkin]], who coined the term "genocide", considered the [[Native American genocide in the United States|displacement of Native Americans]] by American settlers as a historical example of genocide.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McDonnell |first1=M. A. |last2=Moses |first2=A. D. |author2-link=A. Dirk Moses |date=2005 |title=Raphael Lemkin as historian of genocide in the Americas |journal=[[Journal of Genocide Research]] |volume=7 |pages=501–529 |doi=10.1080/14623520500349951 |s2cid=72663247 |number=4}}</ref> Others, like historian Gary Anderson, contend that genocide does not accurately characterize any aspect of American history, suggesting instead that ethnic cleansing is a more appropriate term.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Sousa |first=Ashley |date=2016 |title=Ethnic Cleansing and the Indian: The Crime That Should Haunt America by Gary Clayton Anderson |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/soh.2016.0023 |journal=Journal of Southern History |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=135–136 |doi=10.1353/soh.2016.0023 |s2cid=159731284 |issn=2325-6893}}</ref> Circassian genocide, also known as "[[Tsitsekun]]", is often regarded by various historians as the first large-scale ethnic cleansing campaign launched by a state during the 19th century [[industrial era]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richmond |first=Walter |title=The Circassian Genocide |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8135-6068-7 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA |pages=66|chapter=3: From War to Genocide}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Levene |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Levene |isbn= 1-84511-057-9 | title=Genocide in the Age of the Nation-State Volume II: The Rise of the West and the Coming of Genocide |year=2005|pages=298–302|chapter=6: Declining Powers |publisher=175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010}}</ref> [[Imperial Russian]] general [[Nikolay Yevdokimov|Nikolay Yevdakimov]], who supervised the operations of [[Circassian genocide]] during 1860s, dehumanised Muslim Circassians as "a pestilence" to be expelled from their native lands. Russian objective was the annexation of land; and the Russian military operations that forcibly deported Circassians were designated by Yevdakimov as “''ochishchenie''” (cleansing).<ref name="Richmond 2013 96, 97"/>

 

== As a military, political, and economic tactic ==

[[File:Bundesarchiv R 49 Bild-0131, Aussiedlung von Polen im Wartheland.jpg|thumb|[[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany]]. Poles are led to trains under German army escort, as part of the ethnic cleansing of western Poland annexed to the [[German Reich]] following [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|the invasion]].]]

[[File:Evstafiev-bosnia-travnik-girl-doll-refugee.jpg|thumb|A group of [[Bosniaks]] from the [[Lašva Valley]] close by [[Travnik]], Bosnia and Herzegovina that were forced out of their homes and villages by [[Croat]] forces in 1993]]

[[File:Мухаджиры.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Portrait of Circassian refugees evicting their towns and villages after the [[Russian invasion of Circassia]]. According to some authors, Russian military forces massacred and forcibly deported between 95 and 97% of all native Circassians during the [[Circassian genocide]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Adam |year=2016 |title=Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KC8lDwAAQBAJ&dq=Yevdokimov+circassian+deportations+deaths&pg=PA110 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-317-53386-3 |pages=108–110|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Richmond |first=Walter |title=The Circassian Genocide |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8135-6068-7 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA |pages= 97, 132}}</ref>]]

The [[resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire]] in the 9th and 7th centuries BC is considered by some scholars to be one of the first cases of ethnic cleansing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ethnic cleansing |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnic-cleansing |work=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

 

During the 1980s, in [[Lebanon]], ethnic cleansing was common during all phases of the conflict, notable incidents were seen in the early phase of the war, such as the [[Damour massacre]], the [[Karantina massacre]], the [[Tel al-Zaatar massacre|Siege of the Tel al-Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp]], and during the [[1982 Lebanon War]] such as the [[Sabra and Shatila Massacre]] committed by Lebanese Maronite forces backed by [[Israel]] against [[Palestinian refugees]] and [[Lebanese Shia]] civilians. After the Israeli withdrawal from the Chouf, the [[Mountain War]] broke out, where ethnic cleansings (mostly in the form of tit-for-tat killings) occurred. During that time, the Syrian backed, mostly Druze dominated [[People's Liberation Army (Lebanon)|People's Liberation Army]] used a policy they called "territorial cleansing" to "drain" the [[Chouf]] of Maronite Christians in order to deny them of resisting the advance of the PSP. As a result, 163,670 Christian villagers were displaced due to these operations. In response to these massacres, the [[Lebanese Forces (militia)|Lebanese Forces]] conducted a similar policy, which resulted in 20,000 Druze displaced.